Features
Described plainly, including the limits. Most of these exist because something specific went wrong and was fixed.
Pausing stops the transfer and keeps what has been downloaded, along with a record of which source it came from. Starting again continues from that point.
Kairo only continues when the source is the same one those bytes came from. If it has moved to a different mirror, or the file is gone, it starts cleanly instead - mixing two sources would produce an archive of exactly the right size and entirely wrong contents.
Cancelling deletes the partly downloaded file. That is the difference between Cancel and Pause, and it is why the temp folder does not silently fill with abandoned archives.
Anything left behind by an interrupted session is swept on startup - but never a file a queued or paused job still depends on, and never one less than six hours old.
When you have not picked a source, Kairo checks whether each candidate is alive before committing to it. Deliberately cautious: only an explicit "this file is gone" skips a source, and a source you chose by hand is never skipped.
If a source fails mid-transfer, Kairo moves to the next and the log records which source failed, why, which one it moved to, and how many remain. When they are all exhausted it says that plainly rather than showing a generic error.
Archives split across many files stay one job. Every part must be present and verified before extraction begins, so a missing part fails early with a clear reason instead of halfway through unpacking.
Import a .torrent you already have and Kairo uses its bundled engine.
The file and its history are not published anywhere, and torrent support is for
content you are entitled to.
Repaints used to be tied to animation frames, which stop entirely while a window is minimised or hidden - so a download would appear frozen at 0% while it was actually finishing. A hidden window now keeps its progress current, and there is a test that runs the real interface with animation frames suppressed to prove it.
A large game needs room three times over: the downloaded archive, the temporary copy during extraction, and the installed game. Kairo estimates all three.
| What | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Drive choice | Pick which disk takes the install, with free space shown for each before you commit. |
| Archive space | The download itself, which for a large game can exceed the installed size. |
| Extraction headroom | Both the archive and the extracted files exist at once during install. |
| Temporary folder | Kept separate from the library so it can be swept without touching installed games. |
| Archive retention | Optional. Keep the downloaded archive after install, or let Kairo delete it. |
Every install writes a record into its own folder. On startup Kairo reads those records back, so the library is not just whatever the app happened to remember.
Removing a game is judged by whether the installed folder is gone - not by counting deleted paths. A deleted shortcut once counted as success, which dropped the library entry while the game stayed on disk.
Full reinstall deletes the installed folder and installs a fresh copy, leaving nothing from the old build behind. Reinstall and replace files installs over the current folder, so saves and mods kept inside it survive - and so do leftovers from the previous build. Full is the default because it is the one that repairs a broken install.
Kairo refuses to delete a folder that is not a game folder: a drive root, a library root, a personal folder such as Documents, or a Windows folder. In that case it stops rather than quietly installing over the top instead.
No single method covers a whole catalogue, so Kairo layers them and says which one answered. What decides a save path is the mechanism, not the game - and each mechanism leaves evidence in the game's own folder.
Kairoapp.info, and that is its LocalLow folder; an Unreal game's project folder sits beside Engine, and its saves under Saved\SaveGames; a Godot game keeps its .pck beside the executablesteam_emu.ini is read as statedDocuments\Kairo Saves - outside Kairo's own data, so a reset or an uninstall leaves them alone
Nothing inside a save file. A backup copies the bytes whole and a restore puts them
back whole. Kairo reads the Steam install path from the registry and the numeric
folder names under userdata, and never opens loginusers.vdf
or any account file. An account id folder is enumerated; nothing about whose it is
is read.
One button walks every drive and your profile for complete game folders Kairo did not install, and offers each in a sheet with a checkbox. Taking one in moves it into the Kairo library on the drive it is already on and sets it up exactly as an install would.
An executable beside a mechanism: an emulated Steam API, Online-Fix's files, an engine's player or layout, the archive formats studios use. A program with a game-like file beside it is still a program - a Chromium runtime, a Python, a Java - and a repack's tools and a release's digital artbook are never taken for the game.
A game page shows where else the game is sold - Steam, GOG, the Epic Games Store, the Microsoft Store, Ubisoft, EA, Battle.net - and one click opens the store's own page. Each id is looked up by the game's exact Steam App ID, never guessed from a title, so it is the right game every time.
The ids come from PCGamingWiki's page for the game, reached by the Steam App ID the record already holds. A game with no Steam id is matched by exact page name only, and every id is checked against the store's own name for it.
An Epic exclusive or a Microsoft Store build has no Steam identity, so it gets a store section of its own - and its save record, found by the same page.
A store chip opens the store's page and nothing else travels with it: no affiliate parameter, no referrer of Kairo's, no account of yours.
Where Vortex is installed, Kairo works through it, so your Nexus login stays in the tool that already manages it.
Switching profiles restores the original files and removes what the profile added. A file changed outside Kairo is never silently overwritten.
Mod archives are read before anything is written. Path traversal, Windows path aliases and dangerous payloads are refused rather than staged.
A mod is deployed only when both its layout and the target game are recognised. Anything else is blocked with an explanation instead of a guess.
Kairo's Nexus registration is not complete, so browsing mods needs either Vortex installed or your own personal Nexus API key. Kairo will not ship a shared key: a desktop application cannot keep a secret, and such a key would be extractable from the installed files.
Kairo reads local Steam library folders to notice that a game is already installed and managed by Steam. Those entries are labelled as Steam-managed, launch through Steam, and are left out of Kairo's own update and repair flows.
It never reads Steam credentials, cookies or ownership records. Matching is by exact App ID only - never guessed from a title - and a local manifest is never treated as a claim that you own something.
Nova is the default. Modern and Legacy remain selectable, because a redesign should not force everyone to relearn the app on the same day.
Free, no account, and it updates itself.