Kilo CLI Integration
AVELIN API works with Kilo CLI — the command-line client for Kilo Code. Kilo CLI connects directly to AVELIN and provides terminal-based AI coding assistance with file operations, command execution, and multi-step task automation.
Why AVELIN + Kilo CLI? Get access to frontier coding models through Kilo's terminal interface with 1M-token context windows, automatic failover, and competitive pricing.
Quick Setup
Step 1: Get your AVELIN API key
Sign up at avelin.ai and generate an API key. It will look like sk-ave...xxxx.
Step 2: Install Kilo CLI
Prerequisites: Install Node.js (v18.0 or later).
npm install -g @kilocode/cli kilo --version
If a version number displays, the installation was successful.
Step 3: Configure Kilo CLI
Create the configuration file at ~/.config/kilo/config.json:
{ "$schema": "https://kilo.ai/config.json", "provider": { "avelin": { "npm": "@ai-sdk/anthropic", "name": "AVELIN AI", "options": { "baseURL": "https://api.avelin.ai", "apiKey": "sk-a... }, "models": { "avelin-coding-pro": { "name": "Avelin Coding Plus", "options": { "thinking": { "type": "enabled", "budgetTokens": 32768 } } }, "avelin-coding-fast": { "name": "Avelin Coding", "options": { "thinking": { "type": "enabled", "budgetTokens": 32768 } } }, "avelin-coding-ultra": { "name": "Avelin Coding Architect", "options": { "thinking": { "type": "enabled", "budgetTokens": 32768 } } }, "avelin-fast": { "name": "Avelin Fast" } } } } }
Step 4: Start Kilo CLI
kilo
Kilo CLI will automatically use AVELIN as the backend.
Recommended Models
Primary Recommendation: avelin-coding-pro
For everyday coding tasks:
Alternative Models
Why AVELIN for Kilo CLI?
1. Cost Optimization
Kilo CLI sessions can be long with large context windows. AVELIN delivers frontier-tier coding quality at sustainable economics:
- Prompt caching: ~80% cost reduction on repeated system prompts
- Competitive pricing: Lower per-token costs than direct provider APIs
- Pay-per-token: No subscription lock-in
2. Model Diversity
Access multiple frontier coding models through one API. AVELIN routes your requests to a diverse set of frontier models across multiple cloud providers, ensuring high availability and consistent quality. If one provider is slow or unavailable, your request automatically routes to the next best option.
3. Reliability
- Automatic failover: If one provider is slow or down, AVELIN switches to another
- Retry logic: Transient errors are handled automatically
- 99.9% uptime: Enterprise-grade infrastructure
4. 1M Context Windows
Kilo CLI works best with large context. AVELIN's coding models support 1M tokens — load entire repositories without chunking.
Example Session
$ kilo ╭─ Kilo CLI ──────────────────────────────────╮ │ Model: avelin-coding-pro │ │ Provider: AVELIN (api.avelin.ai) │ ╰─────────────────────────────────────────────╯ You> Refactor the database layer to use the repository pattern. Kilo: I'll refactor your database layer to use the repository pattern. Let me examine the current implementation... [Reads database files, service layer] Current state: - Direct database calls in service files - No abstraction layer - Difficult to test and maintain Here's my plan: 1. Create repository interfaces for each entity 2. Implement repositories with database operations 3. Update services to use repositories instead of direct DB calls 4. Add dependency injection for testability 5. Write tests for repositories and updated services Shall I proceed? You> yes Kilo: [Creates repositories/user.repository.ts] [Creates repositories/product.repository.ts] [Updates services/user.service.ts] [Updates services/product.service.ts] [Creates tests/repositories/user.repository.test.ts] [Runs tests — all passing] Done! I've refactored the database layer: - Created repository interfaces and implementations - Updated all services to use repositories - Added dependency injection - Wrote 15 passing tests The codebase is now more testable and maintainable.
Advanced Configuration
Multiple Providers
You can configure multiple providers in ~/.config/kilo/config.json:
{ "$schema": "https://kilo.ai/config.json", "provider": { "avelin": { "npm": "@ai-sdk/anthropic", "name": "AVELIN AI", "options": { "baseURL": "https://api.avelin.ai", "apiKey": "sk-a... }, "models": { "avelin-coding-pro": { "name": "Avelin Coding Plus", "options": { "thinking": { "type": "enabled", "budgetTokens": 32768 } } } } }, "avelin-anthropic": { "npm": "@ai-sdk/anthropic", "name": "AVELIN AI (Anthropic)", "options": { "baseURL": "https://api.avelin.ai", "apiKey": "sk-a... }, "models": { "avelin-coding-pro": { "name": "Avelin Coding Plus", "options": { "thinking": { "type": "enabled", "budgetTokens": 32768 } } } } } } }
Thinking Budget
The configuration includes budgetTokens: 32768 for thinking. This allocates tokens for the model's reasoning process:
- Higher budget (32K+): Better for complex refactors, architecture decisions
- Lower budget (8K): Faster responses for simple edits
- Disabled: For quick questions where speed matters most
{ "avelin-fast": { "name": "Avelin Fast", "options": { "thinking": { "type": "disabled" } } } }
Model Switching
You can switch models on-the-fly in Kilo CLI:
kilo --model avelin-coding-ultra
Or set different models for different tasks in your config.
Troubleshooting
Related
- API Quickstart — First API call in 5 minutes
- Hermes Agent Guide — Another terminal-based coding tool
- Claude Code Guide — Anthropic's CLI tool
- OpenCode Guide — Terminal-based AI coding tool
- Model Catalog — Full model comparison
- Kilo Code — Official Kilo Code website