Kilo Code v7.3.53 Changelog

This release is a big maintenance update that pulls in a bunch of "upstream" improvements (that means changes from the original base project that Kilo Code is built on). It matters most to developers who use the tool daily, because it makes the AI chat faster, stops background tasks from lagging, and fixes a bunch of annoying interface bugs.

What's new

• Background agents update instantly: Experimental background agents (AI helpers that run tasks behind the scenes) now get live updates pushed to them, instead of constantly asking "are we there yet?" (which is called polling).
• Custom session data: You can now save custom metadata (extra info or tags) to your chat sessions using the API or SDK (the tools programmers use to talk to the app).
• Smarter settings loading: If you open a project in a specific folder, the app now looks at that folder first and works its way up to find settings. This means folder-specific rules actually work predictably.
• Workspace manager: The text interface (TUI) now has a new menu to easily manage and switch between different workspaces.
• Plugin cleanup: Added a dispose hook for plugins, which is a fancy way of saying plugins can now cleanly clean up their memory and processes when they're closed.

Improvements

• Faster config switching: Switching between AI models and settings in acp-next (a way to integrate external tools) is now much faster, and the first session starts up quicker.
• Better terminal UI: The text box where you type your prompt now automatically resizes to fit the width of your computer terminal, and you can manually configure its size.
• Faster scrolling: Scrolling through "diffs" (the code changes the AI suggests) in the terminal is now noticeably faster.
• Better AI reasoning: For certain newer AI models (like Anthropic's Opus 4.7+), the app now handles "adaptive reasoning" (the AI thinking through a problem) much better, keeping the summarized thoughts instead of showing blank spaces.
• OpenAI WebSockets: Added an experimental way for OpenAI to send responses using WebSockets (a live, two-way connection between your computer and the server), which can be turned on with a specific flag.

Fixes

• Broken text files: Fixed a bug where reading large text files would chop off special Unicode characters (like emojis or special symbols) in a way that made the output completely unusable.
• Hanging connections: Added a headerTimeout so that if an AI provider (like OpenAI) takes more than 10 seconds just to connect, the app stops waiting instead of freezing forever.
• Zombie tools: If you paused a session while a tool was running, it used to leave "orphaned" tools running in the background. Resuming a session now cleanly stops these interrupted tools.
• Google tool calling: Fixed a bug where Google's AI completely broke its ability to use tools (like searching the web or reading files) because of a messed-up ID system.
• MCP server cleanup: Dynamically added MCP servers (external tool servers) now actually disconnect and clean up properly when you remove them.
• DigitalOcean login: DigitalOcean inference now uses your direct login token instead of creating a temporary access key (MAK), which is simpler and more secure.
• UI glitches: Fixed a bunch of visual bugs in the terminal, like a missing "thinking" spinner, misaligned text when tool rows wrapped to a new line, and broken session navigation when the prompt menu was open.
• Password rules: Fixed an issue where you couldn't use colons (:) in your passwords.

Breaking changes

No breaking changes in this release.