kill9 is a desktop workspace where AI agents help you build software. You bring your own AI provider, describe what you want, and specialist agents plan, implement, test, and review the work.
The workspace rail
kill9's main window is organized around a slim rail on the left side of the app. The rail holds your inbox, your chats, and your project initiatives, plus icons that open auxiliary panels around your chat.
Inbox is where work arrives. GitHub issues, Linear tickets, and agent notifications all land here. Open it from the rail icon or with Cmd/Ctrl+I (Cmd/Ctrl+T also works). Click Work on this on any item to start an agent on it immediately.
Chats are where you talk to agents, ask questions, and direct work. Each initiative and story gets its own chat session with full context and history. Hover the Chats icon in the rail for a flyout of your open chats; Cmd/Ctrl+1 through Cmd/Ctrl+9 jump between open chat tabs.
Initiatives live in a per-project flyout off the rail. Open it to see the initiatives in your current project and jump straight into one.
Around the chat, the rail icons open auxiliary tabs:
- Browser — a built-in browser panel
- Terminal — a terminal next to your work
- Changes — the git diff viewer. Examine agent-made changes, accept or reject files, and request revisions.
- Assets — documents and mockups for your project
- Memories — what your agents remember across sessions
- Files — opens an editor panel over your codebase
- Planning — your initiatives and how they move through workflow states
- Studio — a full-screen mode, toggled with Shift+A or Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+W
The bottom of the rail holds the tools around the app:
- Search (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+F) searches across your workspace
- Command palette (Cmd/Ctrl+K) jumps to anything — including Change theme
- Notifications shows recent agent activity
- Settings (Cmd/Ctrl+,) opens preferences
- Extensions drawer (Shift+E) manages integrations and extensions
A branch switcher (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+B) lets you move between git branches without leaving the app.
What the agents do
Agents are specialists with defined roles:
- kdev writes and edits code
- ktest verifies that code works
- kreviewer finds bugs and problems
- karch makes technical decisions
- kpm defines product requirements
- klead breaks work into stories
- k9 orchestrates the whole pipeline
You describe what you want in a chat, and the right agents are dispatched. For a feature, kpm writes the PRD, karch writes the ADR, klead breaks it into stories, kdev implements them, ktest verifies, and kreviewer checks the code. For a bug, kdev reproduces it, presents fix options, implements the chosen approach, and ktest adds regression coverage.
Platforms
kill9 runs on macOS Apple Silicon, macOS Intel, and Linux x64. Windows builds are coming soon.
Related pages
- Getting started — your first ten minutes with kill9
- Agents — the full agent roster and when to use each
- Workflows — how work moves through states