The Assistant by Kagi
The Assistant by Kagi combines the top large language models (LLMs) with optional results from Kagi Search, making it the perfect companion for creative, research, and programming tasks — alongside everything else you can think of! All this is included in a single subscription!
NOTE: We’re excited to announce that Kagi Assistant is now available to all users across all plans, expanding from its previous exclusivity to Ultimate subscribers.
Features
- Access to the latest and most performant large language models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google, Mistral, Amazon, Alibaba and DeepSeek.
- Multiple custom assistants
- The ability to control whether the Assistant has web access (powered by Kagi Search)
- Applying Kagi Search Lenses and Personalized Results to the Assistant searches
- Switch between multiple threads within a single window
- Saving Assistant threads
- Uploading files to use as context
- Altering the Assistant configuration within the thread
- For example, you can ask the initial question with web access enabled, and then disable it for subsequent questions!
- It is also possible to switch to a different LLM in the middle of a thread
- Code syntax highlighting
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Export conversations to markdown format
- Share threads with others using a link
- Voice input
Privacy
When you use the Assistant by Kagi, your data is never used to train AI models (not by us or by the LLM providers), and no account information is shared with the LLM providers. By default, threads are deleted after 24 hours of inactivity. This behavior can be adjusted in the settings.
Using the Assistant
The Assistant can be accessed via the Control Center located in the top right corner of all Kagi pages or by clicking on the link in the top right corner of the Kagi homepage. The direct link to the Assistant can also be used.
When you first access the Assistant, you will be greeted by a familiar-looking landing page, allowing you to get right into using it. You can either type your prompt or use voice input by pressing the microphone symbol. You can choose which LLM you wish to use by opening the dropdown menu just below the prompt field.
The Assistant's web access can be toggled via the button below the prompt field.
Which model to choose
We maintain the Kagi LLM Benchmarking Project to measure model quality in various scenarios.
Another important aspect is the privacy policy of the model provider. See our LLM Privacy Comparison for a detailed overview of how each provider handles your data.
Threads
The Assistant supports threads, allowing you to keep your bagel topping ideas separate from your weekend projects.
The search bar enables you to search for that one elusive thread. Currently, the search only looks through your thread titles.
By default, threads are kept for 24 hours after the last message. If keeping threads alive permanently better fits your workflow, you can adjust this setting in Assistant Settings. Please note that the thread saving setting is applied when the thread is created.
Threads can be renamed, added to Quick Access, shared, deleted, and downloaded via the ⋮ button which is displayed when you hover over the thread.
The Quick Access feature can be used to better organize your threads, but it will not influence the thread saving setting. In other words, threads added to Quick Access will also be deleted after 24 hours, unless you have chosen otherwise in the settings.
You can also preserve threads with the star symbol, located to the left of the thread title. Preserved threads do not expire.
Uploading Files to Assistant
The Assistant by Kagi supports file uploads, allowing you to provide additional context or information for your queries.
This can be useful for tasks like:
- Summarizing a document
- Extracting key insights from a report
- Analyzing data in a spreadsheet
- Describing an image
- Distilling main points from an audio file
To upload a file:
- Click the paperclip icon in the prompt input box.
- Select the file or image you wish to upload.
- Provide a prompt with instructions to process the file or leave it blank to summarize it.
Important considerations for file uploads:
File size limit: The maximum file size for uploads is 16MB. Processing time: Larger files may take a few moments to process. Context retention: Uploaded file content remains in the conversation context for subsequent messages.
The Assistant supports various file formats across different categories, including:
| File Type | Supported Formats |
|---|---|
| Text | txt, text, md (and other text-based formats) |
| Rich Format | pdf, docx, pptx |
| Spreadsheets | csv, tsv, xlsx, json, jsonl |
| Image | jpg, jpeg, png, gif, tiff, tif, webp |
| Audio | 3gpp, aa, aac, aax, act, aiff, amr, ape, au, awb, dct, dss, dvf, flac, gsm, iklax, ivs, m4a, m4b, m4p, mp4, mmf, mp3, mpc, msv, ogg, opus, ra, rm, sln, tta, vox, wav, wma, wvpla |
Note: Unsupported formats may be treated as binary files.
Fetching online content
Assistant can fetch webpages and online documents (up to 50 MB) to use them as context for your conversation. To use this feature, simply paste the URL in your Assistant conversation (make sure the Entire Web toggle is on).
Custom Instructions
Do you prefer a more personalized Assistant experience? You can provide custom instructions in the Assistant Settings. These instructions can be utilized to refine the Assistant responses. You can, for instance, instruct the Assistant to be more succinct or to consider your profession and location.
Custom Assistants
You can create Custom Assistants in the Assistant Settings. It is possible to customize the LLM, settings (the use of web access, lenses, and personalized results), and the instructions for each Custom Assistant.
The Assistant comes with a built-in Code Custom Assistant that is optimized for programming tasks. It uses Claude 3.5 Sonnet and has web access.
For more details, refer to the Custom Assistants page.
Keyboard Shortcuts
The following keyboard shortcuts are available in the Assistant by Kagi on Mac and PC.
| Mac Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘ + K | New Thread |
| ⌘ + Shift + S | Toggle Sidebar |
| ⌘ + Shift + C | Copy Last Response |
| ⌘ + Shift + E | Edit Last Message |
| ⌘ + Shift + Backspace | Delete Current Thread |
| ⌘ + / | Focus Prompt Box |
| ⌘ + . | Show Keyboard Shortcuts |
| PC Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + K | New Thread |
| Ctrl + Shift + S | Toggle Sidebar |
| Ctrl + Shift + C | Copy Last Response |
| Ctrl + Shift + E | Edit Last Message |
| Ctrl + Shift + Backspace | Delete Current Thread |
| Ctrl + / | Focus Prompt Box |
| Ctrl + . | Show Keyboard Shortcuts |
LLMs Available in The Assistant
The Assistant provides access to the following LLMs:
You can learn more about how these models compare in the Kagi LLM Benchmarking Project page.
For more information about each model and its privacy practices, including details about providers, see our LLM Privacy page.
Bangs
You can quickly access The Assistant using the following bangs:
!ai,!as,!assistant,!research,!answer,!discuss,!expert,!llm,!custom, and!asst: These bangs direct you to the general Assistant interface for various types of queries.!chat: This bang accesses The Assistant with internet access turned off.!code: Use this bang to access the built-in Code Custom Assistant, which is tailored for coding-related queries.!ki: This bang accesses The Assistant with the Ki profile, providing a specialized interaction.
Each bang is designed to optimize your search experience by directing you to the most appropriate version of The Assistant for your needs.
URL Parameters
You can specify a particular model in the Assistant's URL by including a profile parameter. https://kagi.com/assistant?profile=gpt-4o&q=%s The available model names can be found in the table above.
This can also be used with custom assistants, as described on the custom assistant documentation.
The internet parameter can be used to turn on and off internet access, set to true to enable, anything else to disable. This overrides the internet setting of the profile used.
The lens parameter can be used to set the lens if internet access is enabled. The value of this is the lowercase format of the lens name, for example, https://kagi.com/assistant?lens=programming&q=%s will use the Programming lens.
Here is an example of a URL that disables internet access, uses the Claude 3 Haiku model, and applies the Programming lens:https://kagi.com/assistant?profile=claude-3-haiku&internet=false&lens=programming&q=%s
Availability
The Assistant is available to all members. However, premium models are only available in our Ultimate plan. If you are on a different plan and you need access to these models, you can upgrade from the Billing Settings page.
We also offer an Ultimate upgrade for Family Plans, you can upgrade from the Family Management page.
Usage Limits
Context window limit
The context window refers to how much of the conversation Assistant will take into account to respond to the last message in a conversation.
While we optimize the internals and user experience of the Kagi Assistant, we have limited the number of context tokens but these arbitrary restrictions will be removed soon.
The current context window limits are:
- 32,000 token sliding window maximum for all conversations
- Rolling window of recent exchanges consisting of:
- Your 7 most recent exchanges (14 messages total)
- Plus your first exchange (2 messages)
Input limitations
Text input
- Maximum 100,000 characters per message
- Text exceeding this limit will be automatically truncated
File uploads
- Maximum total size: 16 MB (applies to single or multiple files)
- URL content: 50 MB maximum retrievable size
Custom Instructions
- Maximum 5,000 characters for custom Assistant instructions
Fair Use Policy
We use a value-based usage system to maintain high-quality service for all users:
- Your monthly plan determines your token usage allowance.
- For example, a $25 monthly plan provides up to $25 worth of token usage across all models.
- For yearly plans, you get access to the full year's worth of token usage at the start of the plan.
- For instance, the Ultimate yearly plan allows up to $270 worth of token usage for the entire year.
- A 20% margin markup is included in token usage cost calculations to cover search queries, infrastructure, and development costs.
- For example, $25 token usage consists of $20 for raw token costs and $5 for operational costs.
- Users will receive an in-app reminder as they near their usage limit. If the limit is exceeded, new AI interactions will be disabled until they either renew their plan early or the next billing cycle begins.
- Note: We will soon introduce the option to purchase top-up credits, allowing you to extend Assistant usage beyond fair-use limits with an amount of your choice. These credits can then also be used for other Kagi products such as the API.
For additional questions about these limitations or policies, please contact our support team.
Tips to reduce token usage
Here are some suggestions to reduce token usage:
- Use less expensive models for simple tasks like summarization or basic information extraction. Our LLM Benchmarking project page contains cost information for the different models.
- Create new threads for unrelated questions rather than continuing in the same conversation.
- Be specific and concise in your prompts to get more focused responses.
- Use the "Edit Prompt” feature (pencil icon) to refine your question instead of sending multiple clarifications.
- Disable web access when you don't need internet information.
- Limit file uploads to only what's necessary for your query.
- Break complex tasks into smaller, focused questions across multiple threads.
- Use custom instructions to request consistently concise responses.
- Leverage specialized custom assistants optimized for specific tasks.
- Download and delete completed threads to avoid accidentally continuing old conversations.
FAQ
Q: What is Kagi’s stance about using LLMs in search?
A: We continue to relentlessly focus on the core search experience and build thoughtfully integrated features on top of it. Read more about it in our AI Integration Philosophy page.