Kilo Code 4.17.0: New Tools, Portable Settings, and UI Refinements
This release focuses on improving your workflow with a refined user interface, new settings import/export capabilities, and enhanced AI model support
We're excited to announce the release of Kilo Code v4.17.0! This update brings many improvements designed to make your interaction with our AI coding agent smoother, more powerful, and more flexible. As always, we're committed to building Kilo Code as a superset of the excellent features found in Roo Code and Cline, and this release continues that journey by integrating changes from Roo Code v3.13.2 alongside our own enhancements.
These are just a few highlights of the improvements in this release. Read on to check out all of the great updates below.
Streamlined User Interface
We've listened to your feedback and focused on refining several key areas of the Kilo Code interface in this release. We aim to provide a more intuitive and visually polished experience as you interact with the AI.
The core UI redesign comes from Cline's "UI Glam Session" makeover (contributed by Sacha Sayan), which completely revamps the TaskHeader, ChatView, HistoryPreview, and WelcomeView components. This includes collapsing the task header by default and providing a cleaner, more streamlined appearance.
Our team has built upon this foundation with several important fixes, including resolving button overlaps in the chat window and prompts view (thanks to community member @Aikiboy123), and reorganizing the UI controls for better usability on all screen sizes.
You'll notice improvements in the views for creating New Tasks, browsing your History, and managing MCP Servers. We've also addressed specific layout issues, ensuring buttons and elements behave better, especially on smaller screen sizes.
Import & Export Your Settings
Managing your Kilo Code configuration across different machines or backing up your preferences just got much easier! Version 4.17.0 introduces commands to import and export your settings, developed by our team members Kevin van Dijk with contributions from Johan Otten.
Export: Simply open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P) and run Kilo Code: Export Settings. You'll be prompted to save a .json file containing your current Kilo Code configuration (API keys, modes, preferences, etc.).
Import: Run Kilo Code: Import Settings from the Command Palette, select your previously exported .json file, and Kilo Code will apply the settings.
This feature is perfect for maintaining a consistent setup, sharing configurations with teammates, or simply keeping a backup of your tailored environment.
Gemini 2.5 Flash Thinking Support
For users leveraging Google's Gemini models, we've upgraded our integration to use the latest @google/genai SDK and added support for Gemini 2.5 Flash Thinking variants. This enhancement was contributed by Chris Estreich in Cline, with additional pricing and token limit fixes from Nico Bihan.
You can now select models ending with :thinking (e.g., gemini-2.5-flash-preview-04-17:thinking) in your API configuration. You can also configure a thinking token budget using a thinking variant in the model settings. This allows you to fine-tune the balance between tokens used for internal computation ("thinking") versus tokens used for generating the final output, potentially optimizing for complex tasks or cost efficiency.
New append_to_file Tool
We've added a new tool to your arsenal: append_to_file. This tool, contributed by Sam Hoang Van in Cline, provides a straightforward way to add content to the end of an existing file or create a new file if it doesn't exist.
Previously, appending content might require reading the file, modifying the content, and then using write_to_file for a full rewrite, or crafting a precise apply_diff. The append_to_file tool simplifies common use cases like adding entries to log files, appending data to CSVs, or adding configuration snippets without needing to manage the existing content directly. Just provide the <path> and <content> within the tool tags.
Bug Fixes & Usability Enhancements
This release also includes several important bug fixes and usability improvements:
UI Overlaps: Fixed issues where buttons in the chat window and the feedback button in the prompts view could overlap other elements, especially on smaller view sizes. (Big thanks to community member @Aikiboy123!)
Image Thumbnails: Resolved a problem where image thumbnails might not display correctly immediately after pasting an image into the chat input. (Thanks again, @Aikiboy123!)
Diff Edit Reliability: Made improvements to the underlying logic for applying diffs, including better handling of end_line markers (contributed by Matt Rubens), leading to more reliable file modifications.
Task Header: The task header in the chat view is now collapsed by default and has been visually streamlined for a cleaner look (part of Sacha Sayan's UI redesign).
Context Window Visualization: Fixed context window bar colors and improved visual feedback (contributed by Matt Rubens).
Slash Commands: Added support for slash commands that fire only at the beginning of the chat box, letting you quickly access common actions.
File Editing Indicator: Added an icon to indicate when a file outside the user's workspace is being edited.
Additional Improvements
Enhanced Rules Management: Added Cline rules popover under the chat field for easily managing workspace or global rule files (from Roo Code).
Message Editing: Added ability to edit past messages with options to restore workspace to that point (from Roo Code).
Expanded Model Support: Support for OpenAI o3 & 4o-mini models (thanks @PeterDaveHello and @arafatkatze), and Azure's DeepSeek model (thanks @yt3trees) — all from Roo Code.
Terminal Improvements: Better detection of Ctrl+C termination in terminal and improved handling of commands with large output (from Roo Code).
Development Documentation: We added a dedicated DEVELOPMENT.md file to the repository (by Brendan O'Leary), making it easier for contributors to start building and debugging the extension locally.
Tool Usage Tracking: Added comprehensive tracking of tool usage metrics (by Chris Estreich) to help provide insights into AI performance.
Bedrock Improvements: Fixed image support in Amazon Bedrock (by Smartsheet-JB-Brown).
We're thrilled to have Kilo Code 4.17.0 in your hands! Update your extension via the VS Code Marketplace to start using these new features and improvements. As always, your feedback is invaluable, please join us on Discord or Reddit to share your thoughts and experiences.
Happy coding! 🧑🏻💻