# How to use Kimi: a beginner guide to the Moonshot AI chatbot and its open models

> Kimi is an AI chatbot and a series of language models from Moonshot AI, a company in Beijing. You chat at [kimi.com](https://www.kimi.com/), give it long documents, and ask for slides, sheets or websites. Its newest models, K3 and K3.1 Pro, have open weights and a context window of one million tokens. Keep private files out of the hosted chat.

Mindket editors · Published 2026-11-06 · Updated 2026-11-06 · https://mindket.com/learn/tools/kimi

## In short

- Kimi became known for reading long texts, and its K3 models take one million tokens.
- Besides chat it makes documents, sheets, slides and websites, and Swarm splits a big task across sub-agents.
- The K3 weights are open, but under a custom license, and the model is far too big for a home computer.
- The hosted chat runs on Moonshot's servers, so keep private data out and check your workplace rules.

## What Kimi is

Kimi is an AI chatbot and a series of large language models made by Moonshot AI, a company based in Beijing. Yang Zhilin, Zhou Xinyu and Wu Yuxin founded Moonshot in March 2023, and the company released the first Kimi chatbot in October 2023, according to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonshot_AI). The name comes from Yang's English nickname.

Kimi first became known for reading long texts. Its first version handled up to 200,000 Chinese characters in one conversation, and in March 2024 Moonshot said it could handle 2 million. Newer models keep that focus on long context.

On 6 November 2026 the latest family is K3. Moonshot released Kimi K3 on 16 July 2026 with 2.8 trillion parameters, and published its weights on 27 July, [Wikipedia reports](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimi_%28AI%29). Kimi K3.1 Pro followed in October 2026. Both take text, images and video and have a context window of one million tokens. Moonshot serves Kimi through the web, an API and Kimi Code, a command-line coding agent.

## What Kimi is good for

- **Long documents**: reports, contracts, papers and book-length text. K3 and K3.1 Pro both list a one-million-token context window on their model cards.
- **Documents, sheets and slides**: a [2026 tutorial by Penolopie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAi-h_ZrDUI) walks through Kimi Docs, Sheets, Slides, Design and Websites. Wikipedia adds that the OK Computer agent mode, added in September 2025, builds multi-page websites and editable slides from a prompt.
- **Big research jobs**: its Swarm feature splits a task across many sub-agents at once, which Wikipedia says Kimi uses for deep research.
- **Pictures and video as input**: K3 understands text, images and video inside one model, so you can ask about a chart or a clip.
- **Coding**: Kimi Code runs in your terminal, and the K3 model card says K3 [works best](https://huggingface.co/moonshotai/Kimi-K3) with it as the agent framework.
- **Your own apps**: the API is on [platform.kimi.ai](https://platform.kimi.ai/), where you select `kimi-k3`, and it follows both the OpenAI and the Anthropic formats.

## When to use Kimi, and when to pick another

| Your job | Use Kimi? | Or try |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Summarize or question a long report, paper or contract | Yes. Long context is its trademark | Claude, Gemini or NotebookLM, which also take long files |
| A slide deck, a sheet or a simple website from a prompt | Yes. Slides, Sheets, Docs and Websites are built in | ChatGPT or Claude, which also make files |
| A research report from many sources at once | Yes, try Swarm for the wide search | Perplexity, for a cited answer in one pass |
| Private files, client data or anything under a workplace rule | No. The hosted chat runs on Moonshot's servers | Ollama or LM Studio, with a small open model on your computer |
| Running the model on your own computer | No. K3 has 2.8 trillion parameters | A small open model such as Qwen or Ministral, through Ollama |
| Coding in a terminal | Yes, with Kimi Code | Claude Code or GitHub Copilot |

## How to use Kimi, step by step

These steps follow the web chat. Kimi adds features often, so follow the names on your screen where they differ from the names here.

1. **Open Kimi.** Go to [kimi.com](https://www.kimi.com/) and start a chat. Kimi's own tutorial also shows a desktop app called Kimi Work, with its download and install step.
2. **Sign in.** Create an account or log in when the page asks.
3. **Ask a question.** Type in the message box. Say what the answer is for, such as a summary for your manager or a study guide.
4. **Look at the model menu.** Check which model the chat is set to. Moonshot lists K3 and K3.1 Pro as its newest, so see whether the menu names one of them.
5. **Give it your material.** Paste a long text into the box, or use the attachment control if the box shows one. A whole report fits in one message.
6. **Ask for the file you need.** For a deck, a sheet or a page, choose the matching tool, such as Slides, Sheets, Docs or Websites, and describe what it should hold.
7. **Hand a big task to Swarm.** For a job with many parts, such as research across many sites, switch on Swarm and let Kimi split the work. Keep the instruction short and specific.
8. **Check what matters.** For a figure, a quote or a legal point, find it in the source before you rely on it.

1. Type your question in the **Ask Anything...** box in the middle of the page, then press Enter to send it.
   ![An illustration of the Kimi start page with a gold ring around the Ask Anything message box.](https://mindket.com/blog/screens/kimi-1-message-box.webp?v=69ffe4c3cf51)
2. Press the **K3** pill at the bottom left of the box to open the model menu. This picture shows **K3.1 Pro** and **K3**.
   ![An illustration of the Kimi model menu open, with a gold ring around the list that shows K3.1 Pro and K3.](https://mindket.com/blog/screens/kimi-2-model-menu.webp?v=21c25418689b)
3. Press the paperclip at the left end of the box to attach a file. A shorter text can be pasted straight into the box.
   ![An illustration of Kimi with a gold ring around the paperclip at the bottom left of the message box.](https://mindket.com/blog/screens/kimi-3-attach.webp?v=3317fbdeb13e)
4. Choose **Slides**, **Docs**, **Sheets** or **Websites** under the box when you want a file instead of a chat answer, then describe what it should hold.
   ![An illustration of Kimi with a gold ring around the row of Slides, Docs, Sheets and Websites chips under the message box.](https://mindket.com/blog/screens/kimi-4-tools-row.webp?v=1a0e36e3b266)

*AI-made illustrations of Kimi's screens, drawn on 6 November 2026 to match these steps. They are not screenshots, so the real app may look different: follow what you see.*

> The tutorials at the top of this page show these steps on screen.

## An example to try

Paste a few pages of any text you know well, such as an article you wrote, after this prompt. You can judge the result because you know the source.

````text
Below is a text. Do three things.
1. Summarize it in five bullets.
2. List the three claims that most need a source.
3. For each claim, quote the exact sentence it comes from.

[paste your text here]
````

- Look up each quoted sentence in your text. A quote that is not there word for word is the model inventing evidence.
- Check the five bullets against what the text says, and note anything it added or left out.
- Ask for the same summary at half the length, then compare which points survive. That shows what the model thinks matters.

## Tips for better results

- Put the document first and your question last, in the same message.
- Name the form you want: five bullets, a table or a two-page brief.
- For a long file, ask for a quote with every claim, so you can check it fast.

## Privacy, licenses and limits

The hosted chat runs on Moonshot's servers, so what you type goes there. Moonshot is a Chinese company, and Wikipedia reports that in April 2026 a US House committee pressed two American companies over their use of Kimi models for engineering work. Read Moonshot's privacy policy, follow your employer's rules and keep client files and personal details out of the chat.

The K3 weights are open, but the [Kimi K3 License](https://huggingface.co/moonshotai/Kimi-K3) is custom. Wikipedia says it asks large inference providers to sign a contract with Moonshot and asks the largest products to show attribution, so it is open-weight, not open source in the strict sense. A 2.8 trillion parameter model also needs data-centre hardware, so treat the weights as something to read about, not to run at home.

Features and plan names change quickly, as the arrival of Kimi Work shows. Check the app for what your plan includes today, and expect wrong facts now and then, as with any assistant.

## YouTube tutorials

- [Get Started with Kimi Work - Tutorial #3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I0rsO7x9vc) (Kimi AI)
- [Use Kimi AI better than 99% of people (Beginner to Pro)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAi-h_ZrDUI) (Penolopie)
- [The Only AI Tool You Need: Kimi Does It All (12 Minutes)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fsz1UJdtIQ) (Beyond Tahir)
- [Kimi K3 Complete Tutorial 2026 ❤️](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug3amzqf_WI) (Hello World)

## Learn more about Kimi

- [How to summarize a PDF with AI and check the summary](https://mindket.com/learn/ai-for-work/summarize-documents-with-ai)
- [Best AI for research in 2026: deep research tools, paper search and notebooks compared](https://mindket.com/learn/ai-tools/best-ai-for-research)
- [Which AI model should I use for my task?](https://mindket.com/learn/ai-basics/choose-an-ai-model)

## Frequently asked questions

### What is Kimi?

It is an AI chatbot and a series of language models from Moonshot AI, a company in Beijing founded in March 2023. The chatbot launched in October 2023.

### Is Kimi free?

Wikipedia lists paid Kimi plans from 2024, and several 2026 tutorials show a free way in. Read the plans page in the app for what each tier includes, because they change.

### What is Kimi K3?

It is Moonshot's flagship model, released on 16 July 2026 with 2.8 trillion parameters. It takes text, images and video and has a one-million-token context window. Its weights came out on 27 July.

### What is Agent Swarm?

It is a Kimi feature where the model splits a task across many sub-agents that work in parallel. Wikipedia says Kimi uses hundreds of them for deep research.

### Is Kimi open source?

Its models are open-weight, so the files can be downloaded. The K3 license is custom and asks large providers to sign a contract, so it is not open source in the strict sense.

### Can I run Kimi on my own computer?

Not Kimi K3. It has 2.8 trillion parameters and needs data-centre hardware. For a local model, try a small open model such as Qwen or Ministral with Ollama.

### How do I use the Kimi API?

Create a key on [platform.kimi.ai](https://platform.kimi.ai/), then point an OpenAI or Anthropic compatible app at it and select `kimi-k3`. The K3 model card gives that name on 6 November 2026.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Kimi (AI)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimi_%28AI%29) (read 2026-11-06)
- [Wikipedia: Moonshot AI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonshot_AI) (read 2026-11-06)
- [Hugging Face: moonshotai/Kimi-K3](https://huggingface.co/moonshotai/Kimi-K3) (read 2026-11-06)
- [Hugging Face: moonshotai/Kimi-K3.1-Pro](https://huggingface.co/moonshotai/Kimi-K3.1-Pro) (read 2026-11-06)
- [YouTube: Kimi AI, Get Started with Kimi Work Tutorial 3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I0rsO7x9vc) (read 2026-11-06)
- [YouTube: Penolopie, Use Kimi AI better than 99% of people](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAi-h_ZrDUI) (read 2026-11-06)
- [YouTube: Beyond Tahir, The Only AI Tool You Need Kimi Does It All](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fsz1UJdtIQ) (read 2026-11-06)
- [YouTube: Hello World, Kimi K3 Complete Tutorial 2026](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug3amzqf_WI) (read 2026-11-06)

[Start the lesson](https://mindket.com/learn/ai-for-work/summarize-documents-with-ai)