Kapi CLI or Kapi Desktop?
Both run the same engine on the same kapi projects, flows, and tools: a project you set up in one opens in the other, and you can switch any time. The only question is how you like to work.
Kapi CLI, the command-line tool
A single binary that operates directly on your files. Reach for it when you want to:
- automate: scripts,
maketargets, CI gates that fail a PR on a bad check; - stay in the terminal: flags, pipes,
--jsonoutput you can feed to other tools; - work offline or at scale: batch a whole directory, no server, no GUI;
- drive it from your AI assistant: over MCP or
the Agent Skills, Claude calls
kapito read, check, and fix your content.
Start with the Kapi CLI guides.
Kapi Desktop, the visual app
A native app where a person reads and edits the context a project goes by, with no YAML and no flags. Reach for it when you want to:
- read and edit the context: the voice profile in force at a point, the terms, the content memory, and what applies at a given file;
- see where the project stands: content and governance on two axes, and a point map of what sits where;
- work the Checks and Review surfaces: a finding leads to the rule that fired, and the review queue puts source and target side by side;
- run tools and flows from the Toolbox, and manage plugins and AI models through a UI rather than config files.
Start with the Kapi Desktop overview.
Which should I pick?
| If you… | Reach for |
|---|---|
| live in a terminal and want to script or gate things | Kapi CLI |
| write with Claude and want it to check and translate for you | Kapi CLI over MCP; Claude drives it |
| prefer clicking to typing, and want to see what governs a file | Kapi Desktop |
| are setting up a repo's governance and gates once, to commit and share | Kapi CLI (your first project) |
| are editing the voice and terms, or reviewing translations, day to day | Kapi Desktop |
You don't have to choose permanently. The kapi.yaml recipe a teammate authors in the
CLI opens in Desktop, and vice versa: same project, same results.
Next
- Installation: install either (or both).
- Projects: the one model both surfaces share.