Feature Request: CLI/TUI rules selector & global rules toggle

[SolomonHD]

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Summary

Add a terminal UI (or CLI commands) to view and toggle global and project rules for Kilo Code when using the CLI, similar to the “Use global rules” toggle and rule management UI in the IDE.

Right now, the CLI always loads global rules from ~/.kilocode/rules plus project rules. There’s no easy way to temporarily disable or selectively apply those rules from the CLI itself.

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Problem / Motivation

When using Kilo Code via the CLI:

• Global rules are always “on” as long as they exist in ~/.kilocode/rules.

• There is no CLI equivalent to the IDE’s “Use global rules” checkbox or other rule management UI.

• The only practical way to disable global rules is to:

  • Rename/move ~/.kilocode/rules out of the way, or
  • Try to override them with project-specific rules.

This is clunky if you:

• Work on multiple repos with very different constraints.
• Have strong global rules (e.g., “don’t touch certain files” or very opinionated style rules) but sometimes want a “clean” environment for a particular project or session.
• Want to quickly experiment without nuking or editing your global rule set.

In short: IDE users get an explicit toggle, CLI-first users don’t.

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Proposed Solution

Introduce a simple rules selector for the CLI, ideally as a TUI but a small set of commands/flags would already be a big win.

1. Session-level flags

Add CLI flags to control global rule usage per run, e.g.:

# Disable global rules entirely for this session
kilocode --no-global-rules

# Use only project rules and ignore any global Memory Bank
kilocode --local-rules-only

This lets users keep their global setup intact but opt out when needed.

2. Optional TUI: /rules or kilocode rules

Provide a TUI or interactive view for rules when running in interactive mode, for example:

• Command: /rules inside the CLI, or
• External command: kilocode rules from the shell

The TUI could:

• List global rules and project rules separately.

• Show which sets are currently “active” in this session.

• Let the user:

  • Toggle all global rules on/off.
  • (Bonus) View and toggle individual rule files by name.
  • (Bonus) See which mode-specific rulesets are loaded (e.g. rules-architect, rules-debug).

Even a simple first version that only offers:

• [x] Use global rules this session
• [x] Use project rules
• [ ] Use Memory Bank

would be extremely helpful.

3. Config-level default

Allow setting a default behavior in a config file (e.g. ~/.kilocode/config), for example:

[cli.rules]
use_global_rules = true      # default: true
use_project_rules = true     # default: true

Then allow per-session overrides via flags as in (1).

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Benefits / Use Cases

1. Safer experimentation

   • Temporarily turn off strict global rules to prototype or spike something in a project without editing/deleting your global rule set.

2. Per-project behavior

   • Some repos may want “bare minimum” rules, others want the whole global rule stack. Picking that from the CLI per session is much easier than filesystem hacks.

3. Parity with the IDE

   • Users familiar with the IDE rule toggle expect similar control when they switch to the CLI. This makes the mental model consistent: same rules system, similar control surface.

4. Scripting & automation

   • With flags like --no-global-rules, scripts and CI jobs can intentionally bypass global rules while keeping developer local sessions richer.

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Possible UX Sketch

$ kilocode --workspace my-project
> /rules

Rules for this session:
  [x] Project rules (.kilocode/rules)
  [x] Project mode rules (.kilocode/rules-<mode>)
  [x] Global rules (~/.kilocode/rules)
  [x] Memory Bank

Use ↑/↓ to move, space to toggle, q to close.

Changes would apply to the current session only unless explicitly written back to a config file.

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Acceptance Criteria

• There is a documented way to run the CLI with global rules disabled without renaming/moving ~/.kilocode/rules.
• The CLI can clearly show whether global/project rules are currently active for the session.
• (Nice to have) A TUI or interactive command (/rules or similar) that allows toggling rule sets on/off during an interactive CLI session.

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Happy to answer questions, rename flags, or test early builds.