TL;DR: Kit is an open-source Electron desktop app that puts your code editor, browser, terminal, git panel, agent, email, calendar, whiteboard, and workflow automation all in one window — with AI woven through all of them, not bolted onto one.
The Problem Nobody Talks About
Count how many windows you have open right now while working.
There's the editor. A terminal (or three). A browser with twelve tabs — documentation, Stack Overflow, a GitHub PR, maybe localhost. A separate tab for your AI assistant. A git GUI, maybe. Email. Slack. A notes app.
Every one of those tools is isolated. Your AI assistant doesn't know what file you have open. Your terminal doesn't know what docs page you're reading. Your git panel doesn't talk to your editor. You're the one stitching everything together, carrying context from window to window in your head.
The cost is invisible. But it's real.
That's the problem I wanted to solve with Kit.
What Kit Actually Is
Kit is not another AI chat sidebar stapled onto an existing editor. It's a ground-up rethink of what a developer workspace looks like when AI is the nervous system — not a feature.
Everything in Kit shares context. When you ask the AI a question in the terminal, it already knows what file you have open, what page you're currently browsing, your calendar events for today, your saved bookmarks, and your working directory. You don't copy-paste. You don't re-explain. The context is just there.
The Pieces
✏️ Code Editor (CodeMirror 6)
Built on the same engine powering CodeSandbox and Replit. Multi-tab, syntax highlighting for every major language, auto-save, session restore, and Markdown live preview in a split pane. F12 jumps to definition. Ctrl+Shift+P opens the command palette.
The status bar has three one-click AI actions on any open file: Summarise explains what it does in plain English, Check for errors does a strict review with line numbers, and Generate tests writes comprehensive unit tests with the right framework auto-detected.
🌐 Browser (Real Chromium)
Not a webview. A full Chromium browser with tabs, history, and bookmarks. The AI in the terminal reads the page you're currently browsing as live context. Open the Express docs, ask /ai how do I add rate limiting — it reads the page. No copy-paste required.
💻 Terminal with Context-Aware AI
A full shell where every system command works. The AI commands are where it gets interesting:
/ai <prompt> # sees your file, browser, calendar, bookmarks automatically
/ai code <description> # generate code from a description
/ai fix <error> --file # fix a specific bug in the current file
/ai review --file # full code review
/ai convert <lang> --file # convert the file to another language
Conversation memory persists through the session. The AI remembers what you were doing.
🔀 Git Panel
Visual git UI in the status bar. Current branch, commit SHA, modified/untracked files, ahead/behind count — live, updating every 3 seconds. Stage, commit, pull, push without typing a single git command.
🤖 Kit Agent — Autonomous Task Execution
Give it a task in plain English. It thinks, plans, and executes in a loop using real tools until it's done.
Tell it "Scaffold a REST API with authentication in Express, add rate limiting and write tests" — it creates every file, installs dependencies, writes the code, and reports back.
The five tools it uses:
| Tool | Behaviour |
|---|---|
read_file |
Runs silently |
list_dir |
Runs silently |
search_project |
Full-text grep, silently |
write_file |
Asks permission first |
run_command |
Asks permission first |
Before any file write or shell command, Kit shows you exactly what it's about to do. Allow once, Allow all, or Deny. You stay in control.
Drop a .kitrules or AGENT.md in any project folder with your coding conventions and preferred libraries — the agent reads it at the start of every task. Works with OpenAI and Anthropic.
🪜 Stairs — Workflow Automation
A visual pipeline builder. Chain four step types: AI (prompt any model, reference previous output with {{prev_step.output}}), Shell, HTTP, and File. Build it once, name it, run it whenever.
🎨 Whiteboard + 📧 Email + 📅 Calendar
A freehand canvas with mind map mode (Ctrl+W). A full IMAP/SMTP email client that works with Gmail, Fastmail, Outlook, any provider. A local calendar stored in ~/.Kit/calendar.json — no accounts, no cloud — visible to the AI as context.
Install
Download from the Releases page.
macOS: .dmg → drag to Applications → run.
Linux:
chmod +x Kit-*.AppImage
./Kit-*.AppImage
Build from source:
git clone https://github.com/raiyanyahya/Kit.git
cd Kit
npm install
npm start
On first launch, click the key icon in the status bar and add your OpenAI or Anthropic API key. Everything else is ready.
Why I Built This
I kept context-switching. Everyone does. The AI tools I used were powerful but isolated — they didn't know what I was doing, only what I told them. I wanted a workspace that thinks with me.
Kit is my answer. It's opinionated in places and still evolving. If the idea resonates, try it and tell me what's missing.
→ github.com/raiyanyahya/kit — a ⭐ goes a long way.
