Config Overrides

Kimi CLI configuration can be set through multiple methods, with different sources overriding each other by priority.

Priority

Configuration priority from highest to lowest:

1. Environment variables - Highest priority, for temporary overrides or CI/CD environments
2. CLI flags - Flags specified at startup
3. Configuration file - ~/.kimi/config.toml or file specified via --config-file

CLI flags

Configuration file related

Flag	Description
--config <TOML/JSON>	Pass configuration content directly, overrides default config file
--config-file <PATH>	Specify configuration file path, replaces default ~/.kimi/config.toml

--config and --config-file cannot be used together.

Model related

Flag	Description
--model, -m <NAME>	Specify model name to use

The model specified by --model must be defined in the configuration file's models. If not specified, uses default_model from the configuration file.

Behavior related

Flag	Description
--thinking	Enable thinking mode
--no-thinking	Disable thinking mode
--yolo, --yes, -y	Auto-approve all operations

--thinking / --no-thinking overrides the thinking state saved from the last session. If not specified, uses the last session's state.

Environment variable overrides

Environment variables can override provider and model settings without modifying the configuration file. This is particularly useful in the following scenarios:

• Injecting keys in CI/CD environments
• Temporarily testing different API endpoints
• Switching between multiple environments

Environment variables take effect based on the current provider type:

• kimi type providers: Use KIMI_* environment variables
• openai_legacy or openai_responses type providers: Use OPENAI_* environment variables
• Other provider types: Environment variable overrides not supported

See Environment Variables for the complete list.

Example:

KIMI_API_KEY="sk-xxx" KIMI_MODEL_NAME="kimi-k2-thinking-turbo" kimi

Configuration priority example

Assume the configuration file ~/.kimi/config.toml contains:

default_model = "kimi-for-coding"

[providers.kimi-for-coding]
type = "kimi"
base_url = "https://api.kimi.com/coding/v1"
api_key = "sk-config"

[models.kimi-for-coding]
provider = "kimi-for-coding"
model = "kimi-for-coding"
max_context_size = 262144

Here are the configuration sources in different scenarios:

Scenario	base_url	api_key	model
kimi	Config file	Config file	Config file
KIMI_API_KEY=sk-env kimi	Config file	Environment variable	Config file
kimi --model other	Config file	Config file	CLI flag
KIMI_MODEL_NAME=k2 kimi	Config file	Config file	Environment variable