Agent setup

Set up Kilobat in Windsurf

Cascade can find why a dependency won't download, check DNS and trace a route from your Mac, with Kilobat's MCP server.

Free CLI and MCP servermacOS 14 or laterChecked: 30 October 2026

Install the CLI

The Kilobat CLI is free and open source, and it includes the MCP server. Install it with Homebrew:

brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat

Check it with kilobat --version. kilobat doctor says whether the Kilobat app is running, its network filter is on and Pro is active; the tools work without the app, which adds Wi-Fi names, history and rule enforcement. The CLI needs macOS 14 or later.

Connect the MCP server

  1. In Cascade, open the MCP menu and choose Open MCP config file. Current builds keep it at ~/.config/devin/mcp_config.json; older Windsurf builds use ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json.

  2. Add Kilobat under mcpServers:

    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "kilobat": {
          "command": "kilobat",
          "args": [
            "mcp"
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  3. Press the refresh button in the MCP menu. Kilobat's tools appear in Cascade.

The newer Devin Local agent in the same app reads Devin CLI's config instead: devin mcp add -s user kilobat -- kilobat mcp.

An app opened from the Dock doesn't always see the PATH your shell uses. If the server doesn't start, replace kilobat with the full path that command -v kilobat prints: /opt/homebrew/bin/kilobat on Apple silicon, /usr/local/bin/kilobat on Intel.

Add the skills

Nine Agent Skills teach the agent to read Kilobat's measurements and to ask before changing settings. Install them for all your projects with skills.sh:

npx skills add seifip/kilobat-skills -g -a windsurf

This puts them in ~/.codeium/windsurf/skills/. Leave out -g to install them for the current project only, or leave out both flags to pick agents from a list.

The kilobat skill is the entry point: it holds the setup and safety rules and sends the agent to the skill that fits, such as mac-network-troubleshooting or mac-agent-runs. See all nine skills.

Try these prompts

Ask in plain words. The agent picks the tools; these are the ones each request usually needs.

AskMCP tools
npm install hangs on registry.npmjs.org. Find the layer that fails.diagnose_connection
The internet feels slow. Find out why and tell me what to fix first.diagnose_network, get_status
I'm about to pull a 6 GB Docker image. Is now a good time, or am I on a metered network?get_conditions
Pages are slow to start loading. Compare DNS resolvers and tell me if switching would help. Don't change anything yet.benchmark_dns, diagnose_network
Trace the route to github.com three times and tell me where the delay starts.trace_route, get_route_history
Something is uploading a lot. Which app is it, and how much has it sent in the last hour?get_status, get_app_bandwidth

What Windsurf can and can't change

Kilobat's MCP server marks every tool as read-only or as a change, and each change tool's description tells the agent to get your confirmation first. The kilobat skill holds the same rule: read freely, ask before changing.

Runs without asking

  • Measure Wi-Fi, router, internet and DNS latency, and per-app traffic: diagnose_network, get_status, get_wifi, scan_wifi.
  • Find the layer that stops one host, trace a route and compare resolvers: diagnose_connection, trace_route, benchmark_dns.
  • Read history, sessions, rules and approvals: get_usage_report, list_sessions, list_rules, list_approvals.
  • Ping for latency spikes with run_stutter_test, which sends pings only.

Asks you first

  • A speed test, which uses up to 80 MB (run_speedtest; on a metered network, 10 MB or less), and a five-second LAN test (run_lan_test).
  • Looking up your public IP with Cloudflare (get_exit_path with public_ip).
  • Profiles, app rules, blocked hosts, the new-app mode, budgets, quotas, a network's data cost and pausing updaters (set_profile, set_app_rule, block_destination, set_new_app_mode, set_budget, set_app_quota, set_network_cost, set_updater_pause).
  • DNS, which macOS also guards with an administrator password prompt (set_dns).
  • Keeping the Mac running with the lid closed, every time (keep_awake with lid_closed). A plain keep_awake changes no settings and ends when it expires.

Can't do

  • Let a waiting app connect on its own: decide_approval can block at once, but allowing opens Kilobat's approval window for you to confirm.
  • Change AirDrop visibility: set_airdrop_visibility opens System Settings for you.
  • Change sleep settings, another app's settings, or anything outside Kilobat. It never reads prompts or replies.
  • Enforce rules without the Kilobat app and its network filter (Pro). Without them, rules are saved, not applied, and the agent should say so.

Keep Cascade's tool confirmations on for Kilobat's change tools.

If the agent can also run shell commands, the kilobat CLI can do what the MCP tools do. The skills tell it which commands to run freely and which to ask about.

Track agent runs

Windsurf has no hook setup in Kilobat yet. Without hooks, Kilobat goes by an agent's traffic and CPU, so a quiet run may be done or waiting for you. An agent with its own hooks can call kilobat agent-event start|working|waiting|done|failed --agent <name> --session <id> --cwd <folder>; the command prints nothing and always exits 0. Add --verbose to see what happened when you try it by hand. See Connect agents in the docs.

Sources

Checked on 30 October 2026. Agents change their settings often; if a step no longer matches, tell us at the support address.

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