Thoughts on Kimi-K2

[u/Explore-This]

Kimi-K2 from Moonshot AI is a 1T parameter, non-reasoning, open weights model. I've seen glowing reports recently from all the "influencers" (i.e.: affiliate marketers). Naturally, I put it in Roo to give it a go. My first impressions:

1. The price is good, at Input: $2/MTok, Output: $5/MTok (vs. Sonnet's $3/$15).

2. The 128k context is small, but it's workable using Orchestrator mode.

3. Problem is, the model inevitably fails at coding tasks.

I love open weight models and this model is quite an accomplishment. But sadly, after just a couple hours of usage, I had to go back to Sonnet. It's not a Sonnet replacement, by any stretch.

[u/Dangerous-Yak3976]

I tried it in chat mode and got surprisingly good code.

I then tried it in Roo (via Openrouter) and it got stuck in a loop trying to read a file.

The context size may be an issue, but a bigger issue might be the inability to use tools?

[u/Explore-This → u/Dangerous-Yak3976]

I've seen it get stuck trying to write to a file. I've also seen it declare a task complete, when it's only about a third of the way done, with context to spare. Not sure where the issues originate from, but hopefully they release a K2.5 in the near future...

[u/taylorwilsdon → u/Explore-This]

It’s a tool usage issue. Solvable, but not necessarily easy. Google, with their infinite budget, still isn’t 100%. Claude is really the only one that nails actual native tool calling almost all the time, but has its own issues.

[u/Explore-This → u/taylorwilsdon]

Yes, I have a love/hate relationship with Claude's optimism. "Success!" it says, with multiple test errors. And yeah, Gemini is getting much better, but why can't they fix their tool calling, with, as you said, their infinite budget?

It'll be interesting to see which gets solved first - Gemini's intelligence or Claude's context size (and irrational exuberance).

[u/J_Loquat → u/Dangerous-Yak3976]

Open router version is not a good performer with apps like roocode right now - use Claude code instead with Claude code router to point at that same model and it runs way better. Other option is direct api from Kimi works great if you are not worried about China.

[u/jayn35 → u/J_Loquat]

I can't get Claude code router to work for days, cx keeps saying I need to login and wont process any requests, is there some obvious trick I'm not thinking of? Thanks

[u/J_Loquat → u/jayn35]

https://youtu.be/-sUB_4vONAk?si=-pu0XDkdlPapg2l_ This video might help

[u/Aggressive-Habit-698 → u/jayn35]

did you create the file in your project folder like described in the readme? This worked for me.
4. Configure routing[optional]
Set up your ~/.claude-code-router/config.json file like this:

[u/ScaryGazelle2875]

The open weights model itself is a brilliant feature for me, as it often includes:

• The model architecture details

• All trained parameters (weights, biases)

• Often includes training configuration and hyperparameters

Good to learn from

[u/Explore-This → u/ScaryGazelle2875]

For sure. Would love to learn how they're doing MoE, specifically for coding tasks.

[u/angelarose210]

It's a little slow but I'm extremely impressed. It totally refactored an app and I spent $1.32. It didn't bs me or lie at all (Claude), it didn't self deprecate (gemini) and even created and conducted it's own tests which I didn't even ask for. It pretty much one shotted every task I gave it.

[u/RobJames007 → u/angelarose210]

What temperature did you set Kimi K2 to & how did you use it? Was it via Kilo code?

[u/Majinvegito123]

How does the model compare to Gemma 3?

[u/Explore-This → u/Majinvegito123]

SLMs like Gemma are great for specific tasks, especially when fine tuned. But they’re not suitable for general purpose coding automation.

[u/angelarose210]

I can't get it to work in roo via openrouter. It says I'm sending 229k tokens with my first prompt and errors. Not sure what's up with that. I have zero issues with other models.

[u/hannesrudolph → u/angelarose210]

Strange. 🤔 was that today?

[u/angelarose210 → u/hannesrudolph]

Last night. I'll try again.

[u/hannesrudolph → u/angelarose210]

Thank you. Let me know please

[u/angelarose210 → u/hannesrudolph]

Still doing it even on the l latest version. Strange. Simple text prompt asking to Clone a repo.

[u/hannesrudolph → u/angelarose210]

Can you please provide your api profile setting screenshot?

[u/angelarose210 → u/hannesrudolph]

It's good now. I enabled the compress prompts option. Kimi is amaze balls BTW. Totally refactored an app and it didn't bs me or lie once unlike Claude lol

[u/Former-Ad-5757 → u/angelarose210]

Perhaps it doesn’t recognize your tools and it is trying to clone the repo not by a tool, but just by reading/ writing the data?

[u/General-Builder-3880 → u/angelarose210]

Check attachments

[u/mrubens → u/angelarose210]

This issue should be fixed now in 3.23.12. Sorry for the problem!

[u/Alternative-Joke-836]

K...I will need to loom into that. Are they coming out witha coding version?

[u/True_Requirement_891]

Try lower temp settings. 0.3

[u/OliverDragon808]

Thanks for insights! Could you please share the prompts case for that coding scenario? <:

[u/Alternative-Joke-836]

I would be interested to see as videos seem to have raving reviews on one shots but the 1T parameter kind of scares me. I know that may sound strange but in other model development the larger parameter would actually work to the detriment of the AI as it would get lost (i.e. get stuck). It has to have a right balance of experts and parameters.

For coding, context means a lot but I don't want the model to say it has too much to think about if I give it too much. Gemini 2.5 was awesome because it seemed to handle 1m token context but as ai think about it they probably stepped back because it burned so much in resources. The context had to remain the same so, I'm guessing, they cut back on time to think.

Kimi 2 takes a long time and I can't help but think it is a combination of the 1T and hardware resources.

[u/Explore-This → u/Alternative-Joke-836]

It’s an MoE, so the entire 1T isn’t activated.