# DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs Kilo Code CLI

> Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) to DeepSeek Harness's 49.2 (D) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-18

Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) on agent readiness against DeepSeek Harness (dsh)'s 49.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. DeepSeek Harness (dsh) leads on payments & pricing. Both do agent harnesses.

- DeepSeek Harness (dsh): grade D, 49.2/100, rank #909 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepseek-harness.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepseek-harness.json
- Kilo Code CLI: grade BB, 73/100, rank #98 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kilo-code-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kilo-code-cli.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 713 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### DeepSeek Harness (dsh) (D)

Good for: Developers who use DeepSeek models and want a scriptable harness with ACP, a JSON event stream and a Python SDK.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 50

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.0 against 2.3 out of 5

Watch for: By default each request to DeepSeek's official API carries the session log, including message text, tool arguments and results, up to 8 MiB a request

### Kilo Code CLI (BB)

Good for: Developers who want an open-source terminal agent with per-tool permission rules, an optional sandbox and a choice of provider, and the same engine in VS Code and JetBrains.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 85 against 33
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 77
- Security & auth, 64 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 71
- Transparency & trust, 76 against 50

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: Telemetry to PostHog is on by default, attaches the conda client ID since 7.8.10, and the privacy policy doesn't mention it


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | DeepSeek Harness (dsh) | Kilo Code CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 33 | 85 | Kilo Code CLI +52 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 90 | Kilo Code CLI +13 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 68 | 72 | Kilo Code CLI +4 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 40 | 64 | Kilo Code CLI +24 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 50 | DeepSeek Harness (dsh) +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 87 | Kilo Code CLI +16 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 50 | 76 | Kilo Code CLI +26 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -6 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **49.2 · D** | **73 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | DeepSeek Harness (dsh) | Kilo Code CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | DeepSeek | Kilo Code Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-17 | 2026-10-15 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-09-30 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-05-29 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | yes |
| Popularity | 245k npm/wk | 28k stars, 33k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (4) | 2.3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**DeepSeek Harness (dsh).** Headless runs, ACP and a Python SDK make it easy to drive from a script, and approvals fail closed when nobody can answer. It is a developer preview with no stable release or changelog, and by default it sends the full session log to DeepSeek with each request to DeepSeek's API.

**Kilo Code CLI.** Shell commands ask before running by default, and an optional operating-system sandbox blocks writes outside the workspace and outbound network. Telemetry to PostHog is on by default and the sandbox is off, so an unattended `kilo run --auto` approves everything not denied unless both are configured first.

## Before you call either

### DeepSeek Harness (dsh)

1. Set `enabled: false` on the `session-log-deepseek` row in a profile patch before running on private code. Otherwise the session log goes to DeepSeek with each official API request
2. Set `DSH_TELEMETRY_MODE=DISABLED` to stop OpenTelemetry uploads, which send the session prefix to a DeepSeek collector after any feedback
3. Treat exit code 1 and the `turn_end` reason as failure. A `--json` stream can end with a `final` event for a failed run
4. Run in a disposable container or VM. The sandbox doesn't confine reads or network, and SAFETY.md says the project has had no security audit
5. Pin the version. npm `latest` (0.2.0-rc.2) and `next` (0.2.1-rc.2) differ, DeepSeek's changelog asks for 0.2.1-rc.1 or later, and the README warns of breaking changes

### Kilo Code CLI

1. Set `sandbox.enabled` to true in the global `kilo.jsonc` before `kilo run --auto`. `--auto` approves every permission request not explicitly denied
2. Set `experimental.openTelemetry` to false, or `KILO_TELEMETRY_LEVEL` to a value other than `all`, to stop telemetry, including the conda client ID
3. Add needed hosts to `sandbox.allowed_hosts` in global config. MCP tool calls are unavailable while network restriction is on
4. Without `--auto` a non-interactive run rejects every permission prompt and exits 1
5. Confine subagent writes with a session-level edit rule. From 7.8.13 a custom agent's own `edit` denies no longer bind the subagents it starts

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, DeepSeek Harness (dsh) or Kilo Code CLI?

Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) on agent readiness against DeepSeek Harness (dsh)'s 49.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. DeepSeek Harness (dsh) leads on payments & pricing.

### Are DeepSeek Harness (dsh) and Kilo Code CLI open source?

Yes. DeepSeek Harness (dsh) is open source (MIT). Kilo Code CLI is open source (MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-harness-vs-kilo-code-cli.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-harness-vs-kilo-code-cli.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "deepseek-harness", "b": "kilo-code-cli"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare deepseek-harness kilo-code-cli`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepseek-harness.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kilo-code-cli.json

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