2025A&A...696A.243G

The original Kepler mission has delivered unprecedented high-quality photometry. These data have impacted numerous research fields (e.g., asteroseismology and exoplanets), and continue to be an astrophysical goldmine. Because of this, thorough investigations of the ∼200 000 stars observed by Kepler remain of paramount importance. In this paper, we present a state-of-the-art characterization of the Kepler targets based on Gaia DR3 data. We placed the stars on the color-magnitude diagram (CMD), accounted for the effects of interstellar extinction, and classified targets into several CMD categories (dwarfs, subgiants, red giants, photometric binaries, and others). Additionally, we report various categories of candidate binary systems spanning a range of detection methods, such as renormalised unit weight error, radial velocity variables, Gaia non-single stars, Kepler and Gaia eclipsing binaries from the literature, among others. First and foremost, our work can assist in the selection of stellar and exoplanet host samples regarding CMD and binary populations. We further complemented our catalog by quantifying the impact that astrometric differences between Gaia data releases have on CMD location, assessing the contamination in asteroseismic targets with properties at odds with Gaia, and identifying stars flagged as photometrically variable by Gaia. We make our catalog publicly available as a resource to the community when researching the stars observed by Kepler.