Prompts for Kimi: long context, document analysis, and deep research

How to write prompts that get the most out of Kimi's large context window and strong document-understanding capabilities.

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What makes Kimi different

Kimi supports very long context windows — you can paste entire documents, lengthy codebases, or multiple sources without hitting length limits quickly.
It handles long-range dependencies well: questions that require connecting information from different sections of the same document.
Strong at structured document understanding: contracts, research papers, technical specs, and multi-section reports.
For deep research tasks, Kimi can hold a large volume of reference material in context while answering focused questions about it.
It tends to be thorough; set an explicit length limit if you want concise output.

Patterns that work well with Kimi

Paste the full document first, then ask your question at the end — Kimi reads everything before answering.
Use section markers to help Kimi navigate large documents: label sections with '=== Section: [name] ===' for clear anchoring.
For multi-document tasks, separate sources clearly with headers and tell Kimi which source to prioritize if they conflict.
Ask Kimi to cite the specific passage it's drawing from — this surfaces exactly where in the document the answer lives.
For research tasks, give Kimi a list of sources and a specific question; ask it to synthesize across all sources rather than answering from just one.
When accuracy is critical, ask Kimi to flag anything it's uncertain about instead of filling gaps with inference.

Templates

Long-document Q&A with source anchoring

Answer questions about the document below using ONLY the content in the document.

Rules:
1. For each answer, quote the relevant passage (max 2 sentences) before your response.
2. If the answer is not in the document, say: "Not found in document."
3. If information appears in multiple sections, note each location.
4. Do not add outside knowledge.
5. If a question is ambiguous, ask one clarifying question before answering.

=== Document Start ===
[paste the full document here]
=== Document End ===

Question:
[your question]

Opens on home with the prompt prefilled.

Open in Promptea

Multi-source research synthesis

You will receive multiple sources. Synthesize them to answer the research question below.

Research question: [your question]

Sources:
--- Source 1: [title or description] ---
[paste source 1]

--- Source 2: [title or description] ---
[paste source 2]

--- Source 3: [title or description] (optional) ---
[paste source 3 or remove this section]

Instructions:
1. Answer based only on the provided sources — do not add outside knowledge.
2. When sources agree, state the consensus and cite which sources agree.
3. When sources conflict, state the disagreement explicitly and do not pick a side without evidence.
4. End with: gaps — what the sources do NOT cover that would be needed for a complete answer.
5. Keep the total response under 400 words.

Opens on home with the prompt prefilled.

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FAQ

How large a document can I paste into Kimi?

Kimi's context window is large enough to handle book-length documents. For practical accuracy, focused questions on specific sections work better than open-ended 'tell me everything' prompts. If accuracy is critical, split very long documents into logical segments and query each segment separately before synthesizing.

Does Kimi work well for technical research papers?

Yes — Kimi handles technical language well and can track terminology across long academic documents. For research papers, specify exactly what you want: a summary of the methodology, the key findings, limitations, or a comparison with other cited works. 'Summarize this paper' is too vague; 'summarize the methodology section in 3 bullets and list the stated limitations' gives consistent results.