feat!: remove the kimi-cli backend

[devswha]

Summary

Removes the kimi-cli backend. Kimi Code takes the prose as a --prompt argv value that other local users can read from the process list, which is why the skill helper already refused it (backend_argv_exposes_input). The Kimi/Moonshot HTTP presets (--provider kimi|moonshot) and the hosted kimi provider stay. Policy: docs/WORKFLOW.md

No Issue: part of the owner-requested 2026-09-26 dead-feature sweep (Tier 2 "kimi-cli backend").

• Deleted src/backends/kimi-cli.js, scripts/research/kimi-study-transport.mjs, tests/unit/kimi-study-transport.test.js, tests/unit/kimi-isolation.test.js.
• Registry, selector heuristic (--model kimi-*), batch safety entry, default model, help text, skill-helper guard and SKILL.md sentence, AUTHENTICATION (+KR), CLI.md, FLAG-PARITY.md, .env.example, live-quality help text.
• Research harness: the kimi transport branches in model-evaluation-transport.mjs, the kimi-only profileIdentityVerified path in study-journal.mjs (acceptedStudyIdentity now takes the call only), and the studySemantics file list.
• Tests: kimi cases removed from backend/auth/cancellation/model-default/adapter-noise/review roundup #2 (low): preview entity crash, base-href trust, ouroboros/score-gate exit edges, JSON-extractor siblings, +10 #527/auth-login/skill-invocation suites; the fake-CLI isolation capture that only Kimi used is gone.

Scope and risk

• Contract impact: --backend kimi-cli now exits 2 (Unknown backend: kimi-cli); --model kimi-* no longer routes to a local CLI and stays on openai-http; patina auth login kimi-cli is gone.
• Not changed: --provider kimi / --provider moonshot, KIMI_API_KEY / MOONSHOT_API_KEY for those presets, the hosted kimi provider, detection, scoring, prompts.
• Research: journals from the closed 2026-09-05 Kimi study can no longer be replayed; the study's published results in docs/research are unchanged.
• Size: 33 files, +52 / −710. scripts/rewrite-ab.mjs keeps a string-only kimi-cli judge-family mapping; the dev-tools PR deletes that file.

Verification

• Rewritten backend-selection tests (kimi-* stays on the HTTP default, kimi-cli is an unknown backend, the fallback hint lists five backends) failed on the unmodified tree (3 fail) and pass after the change.
• npm test → 0 (2120 tests: 2119 pass, 1 skipped, 0 fail)
• npm run lint → 0 (architecture: 109 modules, 357 edges, 0 violations)
• npm run release:check, npm run check:no-private-assets, npm run dogfood, git diff --check → 0
• echo … | node bin/patina.js --backend kimi-cli --lang en → exit 2 listing the five remaining backends; --list-backends has no kimi row.
• Base: origin/dev 9108a63.

Release and rollback

• Semver impact: removes a backend value. Minor per the 2026-09-26 owner policy (9.1.0), stated in the release CHANGELOG semver rationale.
• Rollback: revert the squash commit.

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Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated
patina	Ready	Preview	Sep 26, 2026 8:16am UTC

[devswha]

Independent review (read-only, one pass): APPROVE (after one fix round)

Reviewer: separate read-only gate-review agent (did not write the change).

• Round 1: REQUEST_CHANGES. Blocker: docs/FAQ.md and docs/FAQ_KR.md still offered a logged-in "Kimi CLI" in prose, which the kimi-cli grep missed. Fixed in c9b69b0, which also renames the sample backend error in tests/unit/batch.test.js.
• Round 2 (same reviewer, follow-up commit only): APPROVE. No current-behavior doc mentions a Kimi CLI any more.
• Non-blocking, kept on purpose: scripts/research/study-journal.mjs still recognises the 'cli-request-trace' / 'cli-session-trace' evidence values, so the journals of the closed 2026-09-05 Kimi study keep being read faithfully. The rewrite-ab kimi mapping is gone with chore: remove retired and duplicate dev tooling #955.

Verified by the reviewer: HTTP kimi/moonshot presets and the hosted kimi provider untouched; claude/codex/gemini/agy routing, caps, and defaults unchanged; research harness semantics identical for the remaining transports; 14 targeted test files 175/175; check-architecture 0 violations; --backend kimi-cli exits 2 listing five backends.