Kagi AI

Spend the Assistant allowance on reasoning and synthesis. When the active plan includes unlimited Summarizer or Translate usage, use those tools for direct transformations and reserve the allowance for harder work.

Choose the lane

The Assistant allowance is separate from API credit. A plan's monthly value sets its token allowance across Assistant models. Premium models, web access, large files, and long thread histories consume more of that allowance.

Start with live account state

kagi auth status
kagi assistant models
kagi assistant custom list

Use only model slugs and assistant names returned by the account. When the model catalog is empty, use the account default instead of guessing a slug. Kagi Quick and Kagi Research are usable through --assistant only when they appear in the assistant listing.

Use Assistant deliberately

Use a closed model call for reasoning that needs no current information:

kagi assistant \
  "find the weakest assumption in this design and propose a simpler one" \
  --no-web-access \
  --format markdown

Enable web access when the answer needs current sources:

kagi assistant \
  "compare these database options for this workload and cite current limits" \
  --web-access \
  --format markdown

Choose a live model explicitly only when its cost, speed, or capability matters:

kagi assistant \
  "review this migration plan for data-loss risks" \
  --model MODEL_SLUG \
  --no-web-access \
  --format markdown

For a model comparison, send the same bounded prompt to each model in a fresh thread. Compare correctness, latency, and usefulness, not prose style alone.

Analyze files

Attach only the files needed for the answer. Assistant accepts documents, spreadsheets, images, and audio; one upload can be at most 30 MB.

kagi assistant \
  --attach ./report.pdf \
  "extract the decision, evidence, risks, and unresolved questions" \
  --no-web-access \
  --format markdown

Uploaded content remains in the thread context. Start a new thread when the next task should not inherit it.

Require structured output

Use a built-in contract for reusable decisions, plans, and checklists:

kagi assistant \
  "decide whether this service is ready to launch" \
  --contract decision \
  --format json

Use --contract-file PATH when the consumer needs a different small JSON shape. Contract mode validates the response and makes one repair attempt.

Budget discipline

1. Use subscriber Summarizer or Translate for direct transformations when the active plan includes them.
2. Use the account default or a lower-cost model for simple work.
3. Disable web access for closed-context work.
4. Keep prompts specific and attach only relevant files.
5. Start a new thread for an unrelated task.
6. Reserve Research assistants and premium models for work that needs their extra tools or reasoning depth.

Completion criteria

AI work is complete when:

• the selected lane matches the task;
• every explicit model or assistant came from live account discovery;
• web access and attachments are limited to what the answer needs;
• structured output passes its contract when a machine will consume it;
• the response answers the task instead of spending allowance on avoidable transformations; and
• you changed or deleted account state only when the user asked.