KinBot

Overview#

KinBot is an open-source self-hosted AI agent platform maintained by the MarlBurroW organization, with the slogan "AI agents that actually remember you." It addresses the core limitations of mainstream LLM conversations: lack of cross-session persistent memory, insufficient deep integration with external systems, and inability for multiple agents to collaborate effectively.

Core Capabilities#

Persistent Memory & Intelligence#

• Persistent Memory: Dual-path retrieval via SQLite (FTS5 full-text search + sqlite-vec vector similarity), retaining cross-month conversation context
• Knowledge Base / RAG: Upload documents for automatic indexing with Q&A support
• Session Compacting: Old messages compressed into telescope-style merged summaries; original messages always preserved (no deletion policy)
• Sub-agents: Agents can spawn workers to handle sub-tasks
• Inter-agent Communication: Kins can converse, delegate, and collaborate, sharing context through memory
• Continuous Sessions: Never-reset conversation flows

Automation & Integration#

• Cron Scheduling: Automated planned execution via Croner
• Webhooks: External system event-driven triggers
• HTTP Request Tools: Agents can proactively make external API calls
• 6 Messaging Channels: Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Matrix
• MCP Server Support: Model Context Protocol integration (specific compatibility list TBD)
• Custom Tools & Mini Apps: Extensible tools and lightweight applications
• Plugin System: Community + custom plugins with create-kinbot-plugin scaffolding
• Contacts: Agents can maintain user relationship networks
• Human-in-the-loop: Critical decisions require human confirmation
• 23+ AI Providers: Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Mistral, DeepSeek, Groq, Ollama, OpenRouter, Cohere, xAI, covering LLM, embedding, image, and search providers
• Multi-Provider Auto-detection: Automatically selects available providers

Security & Privacy#

• AES-256-GCM Encrypted Vault: Secrets never exposed in prompts; redaction mechanism prevents leakage into summaries
• Role-based Authentication: Role-based access control via Better Auth
• Invitation System: Controlled user registration
• 100% Self-hosted: Data never leaves the user's server

User Experience#

• 8 color palettes + Dark/Light/System themes
• English & French bilingual support (i18next)
• @mention autocomplete, file upload, image generation
• Real-time SSE streaming responses

Architecture#

Single-process architecture built on Bun + Hono + React 19 with SQLite single-file storage (FTS5 + sqlite-vec). Key design mechanisms:

• Queue per Kin: Each Kin processes one message at a time; user messages take priority over automated messages
• Global SSE: One SSE connection per browser tab, multiplexed by kinId, no per-Kin polling overhead
• No message deletion: Compacting compresses old messages into date summaries; originals always retained in the database
• Secrets stay in vault: Vault secrets never exposed in prompts; redaction prevents leakage into summaries

Channels (Telegram/Discord/Slack/WhatsApp/Signal/Matrix)
          │
┌─────────┴──────────────────────────────────────┐
│              KinBot (single process)            │
│  ┌──────────────┐    ┌─────────────────────┐   │
│  │ React + Vite │◄──▶│ Hono REST API + SSE │   │
│  │ Tailwind 4   │    └──────────┬──────────┘   │
│  │ shadcn/ui    │               │               │
│  └──────────────┘    ┌──────────▼──────────┐   │
│                      │ Vercel AI SDK       │   │
│                      │ Kin Engine          │   │
│                      └──────────┬──────────┘   │
│  Queue(FIFO) · Croner(cron) · Mini Apps · Plugins │
│                      ┌──────────▼──────────┐   │
│                      │ SQLite + FTS5       │   │
│                      │ + sqlite-vec        │   │
│                      └─────────────────────┘   │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
          │                               │
  AI Providers (23+)               Integrations
                                  (MCP, Webhooks, Tools)

Deployment#

Docker (Recommended)#

docker run -d --name kinbot -p 3000:3000 -v kinbot-data:/app/data ghcr.io/marlburrow/kinbot:latest

Open http://localhost:3000; the setup wizard handles subsequent configuration.

Other Methods#

• One-click script: install.sh in the project
• Docker Compose: Provided in docker/ directory
• Manual installation: Requires Bun >= 1.0

Development Setup#

git clone https://github.com/MarlBurroW/kinbot.git
cd kinbot
bun install
bun run dev    # Vite dev server (5173) + Hono backend (3333)

Key Configuration#

Use Cases#

• DevOps Assistant: Connect GitHub Webhooks to auto-classify issues, review PRs, run CI checks, remembering codebase conventions and historical decisions
• Smart Home Hub: Integrate with Home Assistant via MCP, learn user daily habits, adjust lighting/heating based on context
• Personal Knowledge Base: Upload documents, meeting notes, project specs; agents index via RAG and answer questions with cross-month accumulated context
• Multi-Agent Teams: Dispatch agents to specialized sub-agents (code/ops/writing) with shared context through memory
• Business Monitoring: Ingest sales data/tickets/server metrics via webhooks, build mini-app dashboards, send Slack daily reports
• Family Assistant: Multi-user shared instance where different Kins manage shopping/schedules/chores, each remembering member preferences

Unconfirmed Information#

• First release date: 75 releases exist, README doesn't note the initial release time
• Maintainer/team size: Only GitHub org "MarlBurroW" found, no clear individual or team background
• Commercial licensing details: README mentions discussion via issue, but no public pricing or terms
• Plugin registry online URL: registry/ directory exists in repo, but no public online plugin marketplace URL found
• Documentation site domain: Docs in docs-site/ directory, independent deployment URL unconfirmed
• MCP Server compatibility list: README mentions MCP support but doesn't list specific compatible MCP Servers