Kimi K3
Kimi K3 is Moonshot AI's 2.8T MoE model with a 1M token context window, native multimodal vision, and frontier-tier coding performance for complex agents.
moonshotKimiJuly 16, 2026About Kimi K3
Learn about Kimi K3's capabilities, features, and how it can help you achieve better results.
Architecture and Scale
Kimi K3 is a third-generation flagship model from Moonshot AI, utilizing a massive 2.8 trillion parameter Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture. The model activates 16 out of 896 experts for each token, allowing for high computational efficiency without sacrificing the intelligence depth associated with extreme parameter counts. It introduces Kimi Delta Attention and attention residuals to maintain high factual accuracy and stability across its full 1,048,576-token context window.
Multimodal Capabilities
The model is natively multimodal, capable of processing text, images, and video frames within a unified framework. This integration enables sophisticated agentic workflows, such as visual auditing of generated code or analyzing long technical videos for information retrieval. Kimi K3 is specifically designed for long-horizon tasks, including autonomous research and complex software engineering, where visual feedback loops are essential.
Performance Positioning
Kimi K3 competes directly with closed-source models like Claude 3.5 Opus and GPT-5 tier systems. It holds high rankings on the LMArena Frontend Code Board, demonstrating proficiency in web development and 3D procedural generation. By combining open weights with frontier-level reasoning, the model provides a platform for developers to build specialized autonomous systems that require deep technical understanding and large-scale data processing.
Use Cases
Discover the different ways you can use Kimi K3 to achieve great results.
Long-Horizon Agentic Coding
Executing autonomous multi-hour coding sessions that involve thousands of tool calls and self-correction based on terminal output.
3D Procedural Game Development
Generating functional browser-based 3D environments using 3JS and WebGPU from high-level natural language descriptions.
Autonomous Chip Design
Utilizing open-source EDA tools to design, optimize, and verify custom ASIC chips in 24-48 hour autonomous runs.
Scientific Literature Synthesis
Reviewing massive repositories of PhD-level scientific papers to implement complex astrophysical or chemical calculations.
Interactive Data Visualizations
Processing large historical datasets to build drill-down research dashboards and interactive web-based reports.
Multi-Agent Orchestration
Coordinating complex networks of heterogeneous agents to manage large-scale parallel search and execution tasks.
Strengths
Limitations
API Quick Start
moonshotai/kimi-k3
import OpenAI from 'openai';
const client = new OpenAI({
apiKey: process.env.MOONSHOT_API_KEY,
baseURL: 'https://api.moonshot.cn/v1',
});
async function main() {
const completion = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: 'kimi-k3',
messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Design a procedural 3D forest in 3JS.' }],
stream: true,
});
for await (const chunk of completion) {
process.stdout.write(chunk.choices[0]?.delta?.content || '');
}
}
main();Install the SDK and start making API calls in minutes.
Community Feedback
See what the community thinks about Kimi K3
“Kimi K3 just three-shotted a complex game for me using 600k tokens. The era of Chinese labs being far behind is officially over.”
“The long-horizon capabilities are insane. It worked through multiple errors in a finetuning task without asking me for a single hint.”
“It's basically the 'Linux moment' for reasoning models. We're seeing frontier logic available with open weights.”
“K3 makes the Opus tier feel obsolete for coding. It's on par with the absolute top tier but at a fraction of the cost per task.”
“The model was available on Kimi Code at rollout. Two variants: K3 Max for chat and K3 Swarm Max for parallel processing.”
“I'm pretty sure I'm hitting the limits of what 1.5TB if memory can do for a 2.5T parameter 1M context model.”
Related Videos
Watch tutorials, reviews, and discussions about Kimi K3
“This is a model that is called Kimiko 3, 3 trillion parameters, and a model that is on par with Opus.”
“Kimiko 3 essentially just has better information routing, so it can get more intelligence out of the same amount of compute.”
“The benchmarks suggest it's beating Fable 5 in coding benchmarks.”
“I'm interested to see how it handles the full 1 million context window in the real world.”
“The fact that this is open weights is a huge development for the ecosystem.”
“The elevator logic is correct. People wait properly and get picked up one by one... K3 is right up there with the top models.”
“The moment you give it a real, messy, long-horizon task, K3 pulls ahead of both Opus and GPT-5.6.”
“It three-shotted a complex game for me using 600k tokens.”
“Its native vision allows it to fix visual bugs in real-time.”
“The pricing is actually very competitive compared to other frontier models.”
“Kimi K3 didn't just catch up with Opus and GPT-5.5, it caught up with Fable and GPT-5.6.”
“There is a huge step up when we go from GLM 5.2 to Kimi K3 in terms of UI asset generation.”
“The 2.8 trillion parameters explain why it feels so much smarter at logic.”
“It's able to process video frames for visual auditing of code.”
“Moonshot AI is definitely leading the open-weights movement right now.”
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Pro Tips
Expert tips to help you get the most out of Kimi K3 and achieve better results.
Leverage Kimi CLI
K3 is highly optimized for the Kimi CLI harness; using this interface provides the best performance for long-horizon agentic tasks.
Use Visual Feedback Loops
Provide the model with screenshots of its generated UI; its native vision allows it to identify and fix visual bugs in real-time.
Optimize for Caching
Take advantage of prompt caching to reduce input costs by up to 90% for repeated context blocks in large documents.
Set Thinking Effort
Adjust the reasoning parameter to 'max effort' for mathematical proofs or chip design to fully utilize the MoE routing logic.
Testimonials
What Our Users Say
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Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about Kimi K3