Head to head · Agent harnesses · October 2026 research run
Kilo Code CLI vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) on agent readiness against Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)'s 59.8 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do agent harnesses.
Best agent harnesses and coding agents · All 713 harnesses comparisons
Which one, for what
Best 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 52
- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 66
- Security & auth, 64 against 52
- Payments & pricing, 50 against 20
Also in its favour
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Free to start without a card
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
Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API) C
Best for Teams that want one agent across an interactive terminal session and API-started cloud runs, including Claude Code and Codex runs on Warp's infrastructure or their own workers.
Also in its favour
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.3 against 2.3 out of 5
Watch for
The warp CLI has no print or headless mode. Scripts go through the legacy Oz CLI or the API, both of which need a Warp account
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Kilo Code CLI | Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API) | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 85 | 52 | Kilo Code CLI +33 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 90 | 89 | Kilo Code CLI +1 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 72 | 66 | Kilo Code CLI +6 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 64 | 52 | Kilo Code CLI +12 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 50 | 20 | Kilo Code CLI +30 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 87 | 84 | Kilo Code CLI +3 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 76 | 72 | Kilo Code CLI +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -1 | |
| Total | BB 73/100 | C 59.8/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Kilo Code CLI | Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API) |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Kilo Code Inc. | Warp |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | ||
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Mixed. The client, including the warp and oz binaries, is AGPL-3.0 with the warpui_core and warpui crates under MIT. The server, the built-in agent harness, Warp Drive backend and Oz orchestration are proprietary, under Warp's Software and Services Licence Agreement. The SDKs are Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-15 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-30 | |
| Privacy policy last updated | 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 | 28k stars, 33k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 2.3/5 (4) | 3.3/5 (4) |
Verdicts
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.
Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
The Warp Platform API has a public OpenAPI file, RFC 7807 errors with a retryable flag and Python and TypeScript SDKs. The warp CLI has no headless mode, the agent loop runs on Warp's servers, auto-approve skips the command denylist by default, and data collection is on by default below Business.
Before you call either
Kilo Code CLI
- Set
sandbox.enabledto true in the globalkilo.jsoncbeforekilo run --auto.--autoapproves every permission request not explicitly denied - Set
experimental.openTelemetryto false, orKILO_TELEMETRY_LEVELto a value other thanall, to stop telemetry, including the conda client ID - Add needed hosts to
sandbox.allowed_hostsin global config. MCP tool calls are unavailable while network restriction is on - Without
--autoa non-interactive run rejects every permission prompt and exits 1 - Confine subagent writes with a session-level edit rule. From 7.8.13 a custom agent's own
editdenies no longer bind the subagents it starts
Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- For unattended work, call
POST https://app.warp.dev/api/v1/agent/runswithAuthorization: Bearer $WARP_API_KEY. ThewarpCLI is interactive only - Use an agent key, scoped to one cloud agent and given an expiry, for CI rather than a personal key. Keys are created in the Oz web app or the Warp app
- Set
auto_approve_bypasses_command_denylist = falseunder[agents.warp_agent.other]before startingwarp --auto-approve - Read
codeandretryablein error bodies. A 429resource_unavailablemeans capacity is full and the platform retries the task itself - Pin a version with
WARP_TUI_VERSIONat install, or setgeneral.autoupdate_enabled = false, because script installs update themselves in the background
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Kilo Code CLI or Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)?
Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) on agent readiness against Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)'s 59.8 (C), and leads in every scored category.
Are Kilo Code CLI and Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API) open source?
Yes. Kilo Code CLI is open source (MIT). Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API) is open source (Mixed. The client, including the `warp` and `oz` binaries, is AGPL-3.0 with the `warpui_core` and `warpui` crates under MIT. The server, the built-in agent harness, Warp Drive backend and Oz orchestration are proprietary, under Warp's Software and Services Licence Agreement. The SDKs are Apache-2.0).
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Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-warp.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/kilo-code-cli.json·/api/v1/tools/warp.json - From a terminal
anchor compare kilo-code-cli warp(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "kilo-code-cli", "b": "warp"}at/mcp, no key