Kai Version 1.1
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The Kai 1.1 release, RAD Studio’s agentic AI extension, is a significant architectural enhancement over the original 1.0 version.
The 1.1 release changes how Kai interacts with the various AI agents and the local CLI engine. As a result, it has several configuration and integration incompatibilities. In some cases, it is necessary to remove previous configurations to avoid incompatibilities – not in Kai, but in newer versions of the third-party CLIs.
Kai 1.1 Installation
Starting with Kai version 1.1, installation has fewer dependencies, thanks to the ACP registry.
The installer now ships only GitHub Copilot completions support (separate from chat support, delivered via the ACP registry) and support for both chat and completions for local engines.
Kai 1.1 Features
This section details the core features in Kai version 1.1.
Kai UI Redesign
The Kai UI redesign has been extensive, focusing on many details, icons, colors, and more.
Kai 1.1 introduces:
- Monochrome icons and glyphs.
- Better spacing.
- An editing chat area color is more consistent with the “editing” operation.
- A new toolbar for the chat window.
- Cleanup configuration pages.
- Checkboxes at the bottom of the chat window for boolean options.
Below is the UI of the Kai chat window, with the new toolbar, icons, and overall look and feel:
ACP Registry Support
Tools > Options > Kai > Chat > ACP Registry
With the new ACP Registry support, Kai no longer includes pre-installed providers (except for local models), and users no longer need to install the Claude Agent ACP manually via NPM.
Kai now supports a much wider range of agents, which users can manually install from the ACP Registry configuration page. The ACP Registry currently includes 35+ agents: all the agents Kai supported previously remain available, and more well-known agents have been added, such as Cursor, Devin, Kilo Code, Junie, etc.
You can view the full list and general information about the ACP Registry here: ACP Registry - Agent Client Protocol.
Zed Industries and JetBrains maintain the registry, and Embarcadero has no control over or responsibility for the registry or the agents downloaded from it.
Select the agents you want to download, click the Install button, and use them in Kai immediately.
Other agents are only available via NPX (node.js) or UVX (PyPi Python); in this case, an extra confirmation is required before installing. To install those agents, the user must manually configure their computer to support the underlying technology. For example, you need to install Node.JS to have support for NPX agents. Kai does not automatically install Node.JS on your system. Once the core engine (like Node.JS) is available, clicking Install makes the corresponding package available, rather than downloading a package binary directly.
Each agent is available in the latest version; if an update is available, an Update button appears (as shown above). Once the agent is installed, it appears in the chat New session and Import sessions dropdowns. It also appears in the Tools > Options > Kai Chat.
MCP Servers Update
Tools > Options > Kai > Chat > MCP Servers
Kai version 1.1 divided the MCP Servers settings into two categories: Built-in and Custom. Now, the built-in MCP tools have a separate settings page that lists all tools with their names and descriptions. Additionally, a separate settings page for adding servers and customizing properties.
Tools > Options > Kai > Chat > Built-in
Use the built-in settings to see a list of all the built-in MCP endpoints and choose which to apply.
Tools > Options > Kai > Chat > Custom
Use the Custom settings to add servers and create custom properties.
Enhancements and Improvements
The following are more relevant changes to Kai version 1.1:
- The loading of sessions is now done via ACP instead of from the local files.
- There are no preloaded sessions anymore, so the chat now starts empty.
- Added a new Import sessions button to import the sessions for the current working directory of the active engine. If there are none, a message is shown.
- Closing the tab will delete the session only if the agent supports it.
- Authentication in Tools > Options > Kai is now done via ACP (Agent Client Protocol). Clicking one of the buttons imports the sessions for the current working directory as new tabs.
- All of the available authentication methods are now pulled directly from the agent.
- Gemini now has OAuth support via the browser and 3 different API key methods.
- The Copilot login will now open a terminal window that displays the device code to enter in the browser.
- Improved local support via the new Native LM Studio ACP AI agent we are shipping with Kai. Despite the name, this agent works for both LM Studio and Ollama.