Files

Browse and edit the files in your chat's workspace from a Files tab, so you can read and change code alongside the conversation. The tab is scoped to the workspace, so what you see matches what the agent is working with.

Browse the workspace

The file tree shows the files in your workspace. You can:

  • Search the tree to jump to a file by name.
  • Refresh to re-scan the folder — the tree also updates on its own when files change on disk.
  • See git status decorations (added, modified, deleted, renamed, or untracked) when the workspace is a git repository.

Open and edit files

Select a file to open it in the editor with syntax highlighting.

  • Notebook (.ipynb) files open in a Notebook tab.
  • Markdown (.md) files can be viewed in a rendered preview or as source code, with links to other workspace files clickable inline.
  • Images open in a preview.
  • Files that can't be shown — such as binaries or very large files — open read-only or explain why they can't be previewed.

Save with Cmd/Ctrl+S. If the file changed on disk since you opened it, Kilo Desktop surfaces a conflict instead of overwriting, so you can reload the latest version, overwrite it with your changes, or cancel. Closing a file with unsaved changes prompts you first.

Mention files in chat

Type @ in the chat to search your workspace files and insert a mention. The mention resolves to the file's path, so the agent knows exactly which file you mean.

When the agent references a file in its response — including a specific location, like src/api.py:42 — it renders as a clickable link rather than plain text. Click it to open that file at that line in the Files tab.

The agent can also open a file for you directly, jumping to the relevant line.

Open in another editor

Prefer your usual editor? Open the current file in an external editor you have installed, such as VS Code, Cursor, Zed, or a JetBrains IDE. Kilo Desktop remembers your preferred editor for next time.