What's New in Kiki (2026)

A roundup of the latest updates to Kiki The Translator: auto-translated polls that count every vote fairly, one-way translation direction for mirror channels, the option to mute wrong-language corrections, and a round of quality and speed improvements across every language.

Most of what landed in Kiki this season came from one recurring request: make a multilingual server feel like a single room, not a translation layer bolted onto separate ones. Polls now translate themselves while still counting one vote per member. Mirror channels can choose which way translations flow. The little wrong-language nudges can be switched off when they stop helping. And underneath all of it, translations got noticeably faster and more natural. Here's the full rundown.

Everything below is live now. Each section says which plan it needs, and the October 2026 updates are at the end.

Translated polls: one question, every language, one vote each #

What it does for you: a /poll now reaches your whole community in their own language while still producing a single, honest tally. Before this, a poll in a multilingual server was only readable by part of the audience, and the rest either guessed or sat it out. Now Kiki auto-translates the poll so everyone can read it and vote.

How it behaves depends on where you run it:

• In a dedicated or multi-language channel, Kiki replies with the question and every option translated per language. Members vote on the original options, so there's a single set of buttons and a single tally.
• In a mirror channel (inter-channel or inter-server), Kiki posts a translated voting "booth" in each linked channel, each in that channel's own language.

The voting is unified across the whole mirror group, which is the part that makes it trustworthy. Each member gets exactly one vote no matter which booth they use. The same option in another language never double-counts, and if a member changes their vote in any booth, it overwrites their earlier one rather than adding a second. When the timer ends, each booth reports the results in its own language.

One-way translation direction for mirror channels #

What it does for you: you can now decide which way translations flow across a mirror channel, instead of always sending and receiving both. Two-way mirroring is still the default and the right choice for most rooms, but some bridges are meant to broadcast, not converse: a flagship server pushing announcements to a partner, or a regional branch that wants headquarters' messages without exposing its own internal chatter.

Set the direction per mirror channel with /set_translation_direction (you can also just ask Kiki, or choose it inside /set_dedicated_lang):

1. Both: the default; messages translate in and out.
2. Incoming-only: you receive linked messages but your own don't get sent out.
3. Outgoing-only: your messages go out, but theirs aren't shown in your channel.

Mute wrong-language corrections #

What it does for you: you can switch off Kiki's wrong-language nudges on a busy channel while keeping the mirroring itself running. When someone posts in the wrong language for a mirror channel, Kiki normally drops a small reply pointing them at the channel's language. That's genuinely useful while a bridge is new and members are still learning the convention, and a little noisy once they've got the habit.

An admin can turn those corrections off via /mute → "corrections (this channel)" (and /unmute to bring them back), or simply by asking Kiki. The channel keeps mirroring exactly as before; only the correction replies go quiet.

Quality and speed improvements #

What it does for you: translations read more naturally and arrive faster, with no change to how you use them. This round of work touched the engine itself, so it applies on every tier:

• Replies use the original as context. When you reply to a message, Kiki now feeds the message you're replying to into the translation as context, producing a more accurate result that tracks the actual conversation rather than translating your reply in isolation.
• More natural Asian and European languages. Phrasing and tone improved across both families, so translations sound less mechanical and more like something a native speaker would write.
• Better Tagalog accuracy. Tagalog translations specifically got an accuracy boost.
• About 50% faster turnaround. Translations come back roughly twice as quickly, which is most noticeable in fast-moving channels where messages stack up.

Protected words and names: /blacklist #

What it does for you: some words should never be translated: a member's nickname, a clan tag, an in-joke, slang like "ope" that kept turning into "oops". Run /blacklist add with the word, name or phrase and Kiki keeps it exactly as written in every translation on your server: normal channels, mirror and inter-server channels, and flag-reaction translations. /blacklist remove, /blacklist list and /blacklist clear do what they say. Adding or removing needs the Manage Server permission; anyone can see the list. Free on every tier.

On Feline Finest you can also just tell her: "Hey Kiki, never translate Morwr" or "Kiki, what's on the blacklist?". Under the hood, Kiki translates your message normally first and only steps in when a protected word came back changed, so the rest of the sentence stays natural and the word is never lost.

A new translation engine (September 2026) #

What it does for you: translations read more like a native speaker wrote them, on every tier, with nothing to set up. We moved Kiki's translation core to a new model after blind, side-by-side judging on thousands of real Discord messages (real conversations, not benchmarks), where it won roughly two out of three head-to-head comparisons against the previous engine across 30+ languages, including messages between two non-English languages.

• Welsh is read properly. Welsh messages are now read as Welsh, including mutations, tense and negation, instead of being guessed at. "MI WNA I DY LADD DI" comes out as "I will kill you", not "I want to die".
• Japanese and Vietnamese sound like chat. Casual register, natural particles and pronouns, no textbook phrasing.
• Usernames stay usernames. Into Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Korean, Chinese and other non-Latin languages, Latin-letter names, handles and clan tags are left in Latin letters instead of being transliterated, while the words, numbers and times around them are still localised.
• Same speed for chat, lower cost for us, which keeps the free tier free.

Talk to Kiki your way (October 2026) #

What it does for you: Kiki now answers when you simply address her by name. "Kiki, can you...", "hi Kiki" and "hola Kiki" all reach her, not only "Hey Kiki", an @mention or a reply. If someone on your server is also called Kiki, greetings like "hi kiki" are left to them.

Admins also decide where she chats. With /ai_chat_access you pick the channels (a whole category counts) and the roles that can chat with her: add_channel, remove_channel, add_role, remove_role, list and reset. With no list she chats everywhere, as before. Outside the allowed channels, a member who says "Hey Kiki" gets a short note pointing to the channels where she chats, so nobody is left wondering why she went quiet. Translation, flag reactions and "Ask Kiki about this" keep working everywhere. Changing the lists needs the Manage Server permission, and /ai_chat_trigger can now only be changed by administrators. AI chat on a server is part of Feline Finest.

Report a bad translation with 🐛 #

What it does for you: when a translation is wrong, you can now say so in one tap. React to it with 🐛 and Kiki saves the original message and her translation so the translation can be checked and improved, then sends you a short private thank-you. Remove the reaction to take the report back.

It works on in-channel translation replies, translated copies in mirror channels and flag-reaction translations, on every tier, with nothing to set up.

Other bots' buttons and menus in mirror channels #

What it does for you: giveaways, ticket panels and role pickers now reach every language channel. When another bot posts buttons or a menu in a mirror channel, the copies in the linked channels carry them too, with the labels translated into each channel's language. Link buttons work as they are. A copied button can't run the other bot's action, so clicking it shows you, privately and in your channel's language, a link to the original message, where it works.

Automatic in every mirror channel, Meow Majesty (Standard) and up.

No more silent pauses #

What it does for you: if translation stops in a channel, Kiki now says why, right there, once a day. Either no free words have been shared with the server yet today (on the free plan, members claim free words on the website and share them with /share_free_words), or the channel is set up for something the server's plan doesn't include right now, like a mirror channel after a free trial ends. The note names the plan that's needed.

Free trials come with a heads-up too. Three days before a trial ends, the server owner and admins get a private message listing which channels will pause. Two-language channels and flag reactions keep working on the free plan with daily free words.

Mirror channels speak up too. If Kiki can't post in a linked channel because she's missing a permission there (View Channel or Manage Webhooks), she skips that channel and posts a short note once a day in the channel the message came from, naming the channel and what's missing. Give her role Administrator, or allow those permissions in that channel, and the copies resume with the next message. Nothing needs to be set up again.

Image translation off in just one channel #

What it does for you: a memes channel full of screenshots no longer has to choose between every image translated and none. /mute_image_translations has a new This channel only option: run it in the channel and Kiki stops posting image-text translations there. In a mirror channel, images from the linked channels still arrive, without a translation. /unmute_image_translations with the same option turns it back on. On Feline Finest you can also just ask: "Hey Kiki, mute image translations in #memes". Flag-reaction translations keep working either way.

Set up roles by chatting #

What it does for you: on Feline Finest you can set up your server's roles the way you already set up channels, by asking. "Hey Kiki, create the roles Emperor, General, Guard and Citizen" creates them in that order, highest first. "Kiki, move Emperor to the top" rearranges roles you already have, and "Kiki, let Moderators kick and timeout members" changes what a role is allowed to do. She can also make a channel or a whole category visible only to certain roles ("Kiki, only Emperor and General can see the Leadership category") and turn a text channel into an announcement channel, keeping its messages.

You need Administrator or Manage Channels, and Kiki needs the Manage Roles permission with her own role above the roles she changes. If a role is out of her reach, she tells you which one and why. She never hands out Administrator from chat, and "Hey Kiki, undo that" takes any of these changes back. Giving roles to members is onboarding's job: /create_onboarding assigns roles from each newcomer's answers.

A failed payment is a pause, not an ending #

What it does for you: a renewal payment that doesn't go through no longer cancels your subscription. Kiki DMs you straight away, and your plan keeps working for 5 days while PayPal tries the payment once more. Kiki reminds you the day before the pause. If it's still unpaid, your plan pauses: the tokens you share stop counting for your servers, and your token setup is saved. If it stays unpaid, the subscription ends 30 days after the pause, with a last warning 5 days before.

Pay with a working payment method on the Manage Subscription page and everything comes back at once. In the first 5 days your plan restarts with the same tokens. Once it's paused, you choose how many tokens you want, fewer or more, and your saved setup comes back as it was. If you choose fewer than you share, Kiki takes the extra ones off the servers with the most tokens first and tells you. Your new month starts the day you pay, so you never pay for days your plan was paused. While a payment is due, Cancel Subscription ends the subscription at once.

Kiki speaks your language everywhere #

What it does for you: everything Kiki says herself now comes in your language, not just her translations: command replies, buttons, menus, forms, polls, the announcement dashboard, onboarding, her messages while she generates an image, and the small "Translated from" line under a translation. Slash command descriptions and options follow your Discord app's language. Command names stay in English, so /help and the guides still match.

Every DM from Kiki comes in your language too: subscription and token messages, image packs, trial reminders and more. And if a command can't go ahead, only you see why. When a command changes something for the channel, everyone sees the result as a normal message.

A translation only you can see #

What it does for you: right-click any message (long-press on mobile), choose Apps, then Translate for me. Kiki shows you that message in your own language and nobody else sees it, so the channel stays clean. It works in every channel of every server that has Kiki, even where no translation is set up. Under the translation, Another language translates the same message into a different language once.

Your language is the one you chose with /dm_language, or the language of your Discord app if you haven't chosen one. Paid plans are unlimited, and the free plan uses the server's daily free words, like a flag reaction. For an image or a voice note, react with a flag as before.

Read-only channels, and a second name for Kiki #

What it does for you: on Feline Finest, ask Kiki to make channels read-only: "Hey Kiki, make #rules read-only", "lock the Archive category" or "make all rooms read only except #general". Members can still read and react, but not post, and Kiki keeps translating there. Roles you name keep posting ("read-only except Mods"), and "Hey Kiki, undo that" puts everything back.

An administrator can also give Kiki one extra name. Run /ai_chat_trigger with custom_name, or say "Hey Kiki, answer to Mochi too". After that "hey Mochi" reaches her just like her own name, and "Hey Kiki" keeps working.

Mention someone who reads another language #

What it does for you: Discord's @ list only offers members who can see the channel you are in. In a group of language channels, that left you unable to reach someone who reads another language. Now, in mirror channels, type @ and the member's full name, for example "@Maria Lopez come to the rally", and Kiki's copies in the linked channels carry a real mention. Maria gets the notification in the channel she reads.

A server nickname, a display name or a username all work, and capitals don't matter. The name must belong to exactly one member, otherwise your text stays as you typed it. Typed text never becomes @everyone or a role mention, and with /translation_mentions off nobody is pinged.

Invite links that give a role #

What it does for you: Ask Kiki for an invite link, and everyone who joins your server through it gets a role at once. Make one link per language, post each where that language is spoken, and new members land in the right channels with no step in between. Ask "Hey Kiki, make an invite for Spanish speakers" and she finds the role, makes the link and hands it to you.

The link never expires unless you ask for a time limit (up to 7 days) or a number of uses (up to 100). Kiki only puts roles without moderation powers on a link, because a link hands its role to anyone who has it. "Hey Kiki, undo that" deletes the link. Available on Feline Finest, for members with Administrator, or with Manage Channels and Manage Roles and a role above the one given.

Translate for me, anywhere #

What it does for you: "Translate for me" gives you a translation only you can see: right-click a message, choose Apps, then Translate for me. On a server that has Kiki every member can still use it, under that server's plan. New: add Kiki to your own account and it also works in servers that don't have her, in DMs and in group DMs. Your first 20 private translations there are free, and any active subscription of your own, from 1 token, makes it unlimited.

Out there Kiki doesn't keep or log what she translates. With a plan of your own she also still translates for you on a free server that has used up its daily words.

Kiki just for you: $1 a month, no limit #

What it does for you: you no longer need a server of your own, or an admin's help, to read Discord in your language. Add Kiki to your own account and two private commands follow you to every server, DM and group DM: right-click a message, choose Apps, then Translate for me to read it, and the new /translate to write in another language. Only you see the result.

Your first 20 private translations are free. After that a plan of your own is $1 a month (one token) and has no limit. On a server that already has Kiki, both commands come with that server's plan: every member can use them there, and a free server spends its daily free words on them. Outside her servers Kiki doesn't keep or log what she translates.

Also new #

• Persona pictures that last. Discord removes a file uploaded through a command after a while, and Kiki had only kept the link, so some personas lost their picture. Kiki now keeps the picture herself. If your persona lost its picture, run /change_avatar once more and upload it again.
• "Let Mods pin messages" gives the pin permission. Pinning is its own permission in Discord now, so asking Kiki to let a role pin gives exactly that and nothing else.
• Larger generated images. Images up to 20 MB are now sent as they are, so large and transparent images are no longer shrunk.
• Replies always reach the linked channels. A reply to a message that mentioned a deleted account could lose its copies in mirror channels. It doesn't any more.
• Spoilers stay hidden in mirror copies. A file or image you hide behind a spoiler is hidden in the linked channels too, and so is its translated image.
• Setting languages needs Manage Channels. The commands that set or copy translation languages, such as /set_2_langs and /set_dedicated_lang, now ask for the Manage Channels permission, the same as asking Kiki in chat. Administrators and the server owner always have it.
• Subscription links preview properly. A link to the Manage Subscription page now shows that page's own preview when you paste it on Discord.
• Server commands explain themselves in a DM. A command that sets up a server, like /set_2_langs, now tells you privately that it only works on a server, instead of failing. And if any command runs into a problem, Kiki says so privately.
• A persona that repairs itself. If the webhook behind your server's custom persona gets deleted, Kiki makes a new one, so her replies keep their name and avatar.
• /status shows missing permissions. A new Permissions page names each channel where Kiki is missing a Discord permission, and what stops working there. Press 🛠️ Fix permissions and Kiki allows herself what her role already has, or 📖 How to fix for the steps.
• Ask Kiki on this website. The Ask Kiki button on every page answers questions about features, setup and plans, in your language, and you can watch her write each answer.
• "Ask Kiki about this" is fully private. Only you see her answer, every part of it, even a long one.
• Fewer pointless translations. In 1 to 4-language channels, Kiki skips translations that would read the same as the original, and messages that are only emoji. Mirror channels still copy everything.
• /help lists every command, and help search works in any language.
• Fixes: Kiki no longer answers the same message twice, edits to mirrored messages reach their copies, and translated copies no longer ping everyone again.

Putting it to work #

If you already run mirror channels, the three headline features slot straight into what you have: try a translated /poll, set a direction on any bridge that should broadcast rather than converse, and mute corrections on your busiest rooms. If you're newer to multilingual setup, the bilingual server playbook walks through the channel structure these features build on, and the setup guide covers installing and configuring translation from scratch.