Kiro.dev: Reinventing the IDE with Agentic AI Workflows
In the age of AI-augmented software engineering, “vibe coding” has become both a blessing and a curse—rapid prototypes are easier than ever, but turning them into maintainable, production-quality products is still a huge leap. Enter Kiro.dev: an agentic, Claude-powered IDE from the AWS team, designed to bridge the gap between idea and robust implementation.
What is Kiro.dev?
Kiro.dev (sometimes branded as KiroAI) is an AI-powered Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that goes far beyond code completion. Kiro acts as your intelligent engineering partner, turning your high-level ideas into fully fleshed-out specs, design documents, and manageable task lists—then guiding you, step by step, through the build process.
Think of Kiro as an AI teammate that brings structure to the chaos of fast prototyping. It helps solo developers, teams, and even non-technical founders move quickly, but with best practices and maintainability built in from day one.
Key Features
1. Spec-Driven Development
Kiro transforms your feature descriptions into structured requirements, architecture designs, and sequenced task checklists—all in Markdown. You start with a natural language prompt; Kiro asks clarifying questions, creates EARS-style user stories, design docs, and a concrete task breakdown. These specs live in your project and stay in sync as you iterate.
2. Agent Hooks & Automation
Kiro’s "Agent Hooks" let you automate repetitive workflows. You can trigger actions (like regenerating tests, updating docs, running security checks) on file save, commit, or other events. This means best practices are enforced automatically, not just “suggested.”
3. Project Steering & Multimodal Context
Kiro uses “steering files”—project-level markdown docs that explain your product vision, tech stack, and directory structure. These, along with your code, images, or even terminal output, give Kiro deep, tailored context for every recommendation or code change.
4. Integrated, Open Ecosystem
Kiro is built on the open-source core of VS Code. You can use your favorite VS Code themes, extensions (via Open VSX), and dev workflows. Kiro supports Windows, macOS (Intel/Apple Silicon), and Linux.
5. Real-Time Code Diffs & Supervised Autopilot
Every code change proposed by Kiro appears as a side-by-side diff in the editor. You can accept, edit, or roll back with a click. “Autopilot” mode lets Kiro move through a sequence of tasks automatically; “Supervised” mode gives you granular control.
Why Kiro? (And How Is It Different?)
Most AI coding tools today (like Copilot, Cursor, or Amazon Q Developer) focus on autocomplete and snippets—helpful, but not enough for complex features or real-world team workflows. Kiro’s difference:
- It always starts with the “why” and “how” of what you’re building—not just the “what.”
- It keeps documentation, design, and implementation in sync, reducing drift and technical debt.
- It enforces quality (tests, security, doc updates) as a natural part of your workflow, not an afterthought.
- It gives you a true AI agent: not just a code monkey, but a project manager, spec writer, and QA all rolled into one.
Getting Started: A Quick Tour
- Download Kiro (free preview available at kiroai.ai) for Windows, Mac, or Linux.
- Open your project folder in Kiro (it feels like VS Code, but with “ghost” icon for AI tools).
- Generate Steering Docs to give Kiro context on your product, tech stack, and architecture.
- Describe a feature (e.g., “Add user authentication with signup/login/logout”).
- Kiro will guide you through requirements, design, and auto-generate a detailed task list.
- Click each task—Kiro writes/test code, proposes changes (you review in real time).
- Set up Agent Hooks for test generation, doc updates, or CI automations.
- Use MCP extensions to pull in context from external docs, tickets, or even design files.
- Everything is version-controlled, transparent, and fully supervised by you.
Pricing & Privacy
Kiro is currently in public preview and free up to 50 agentic actions per month. Pro plans (coming soon) offer higher usage for $19 (Pro) and $39 (Pro+) monthly, with enterprise privacy guarantees—paid users’ code is never used for AI training. Free users can also opt out of telemetry and content sharing.
FAQ
Q: Is Kiro only for AWS?
A: No, anyone can sign up with GitHub or Google. AWS integration is optional.
Q: Does Kiro run locally?
A: Yes, the IDE runs on your machine. Some AI processing is done in the cloud (AWS Bedrock, Claude).
Q: What languages and frameworks does it support?
A: Any language supported by VS Code. Kiro is language-agnostic and can generate specs/tasks for most modern stacks.
Q: How does it compare to Copilot or Cursor?
A: Kiro focuses on spec-driven, agentic workflows. It automates planning, documentation, and best-practice enforcement—not just code suggestions.
Q: Will my code be used to train the AI?
A: Only if you’re on the free/preview tier and do not opt out. Pro and Pro+ users’ code is never used for model training.
Q: Is it open source?
A: The core is based on Code OSS, but Kiro itself is not currently open source.
Who Should Try Kiro?
- Solo founders and indie hackers who want to move fast but keep things maintainable
- Teams who need AI to help with specs, design, code, and quality—all in one place
- Product managers and technical leads looking to enforce best practices at scale
- Anyone frustrated by “vibe coding” chaos, and ready for AI-powered structure!
Learn More
Ready to give Kiro.dev a spin, or want to see tutorials and community projects?
👉 Visit kiroai.ai