Kiro AI IDE from AWS
Kiro is an AI-driven Integrated Development Environment (IDE) introduced by AWS. It focuses on spec-driven development, which is a promising new approach to software development. The IDE is built on top of Visual Studio Code, providing flexibility and familiarity for developers.
Users have noted that Kiro offers an agentic experience, differing from other AI coding tools like Windsurf, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and Amazon Q Developer by prominently supporting spec-driven workflows. Early users have shown excitement about Kiro’s public release, appreciating its innovative capabilities and the integration of AI with standard development tools.
Kiro stands out as one of the first major company-backed “agentic” IDEs, which could influence the future of AI-assisted development by offering a more integrated and spec-focused approach compared to tools primarily offering code completion or extensions.
For further insights, one Reddit community member shared a detailed review of their experience using Kiro, highlighting the efficiency of spec-driven development: https://yehudacohen.substack.com/p/developing-with-kiro-amazons-new
2026 Updates
CLI / TUI Launch (Q1 2026)
- Kiro launched a CLI with TUI (terminal UI) interface — a significant addition to the original IDE-only offering
- Live demo session (April 2026): building features from scratch inside the new TUI, covering subagents, skills, tips and tricks, and live Q&A
- CLI supports standard dev workflows: feature specs, agent hooks, and validation loops, now accessible without the full VS Code IDE
Kiro Powers & Agent Skills
- Kiro Powers: Reusable agent capabilities (similar to Claude Code skills) that can be composed into developer workflows. Powers automate repetitive tasks and surface contextual recommendations.
- MCP (Modular Context Providers): Structured context sources for agents — codebase context, task metadata, external knowledge. Powers use MCPs to make agent decisions more informed.
- Steering & Hooks: Steering guides agent behavior with constraints/policies; hooks are integration points for pre/post-action validation and governance
- IDE integration: Agents suggest code, generate tests, and fill documentation using local project context via MCPs
- CLI workflow powers: Repo setup, automated PR descriptions, release notes generation
Spec-Driven Development Maturation
- Spec mode continues to be Kiro’s primary differentiator: plan → design → task list creation → agent execution
- Agent Hooks run background processes (test generation, documentation updates) automatically during coding
- Multiple spec types added: bug-fix specs, build-on-existing-app specs, new feature specs
- Community practice: “spec vs vibes” — deliberate spec-driven approach shown to outperform ad-hoc vibe coding for complex projects
Current Limitations (early 2026)
- Powers not yet fully supported in CLI (as of Jan 2026 hackathon); IDE disallows shell scripts and JSON inside powers
- CLI use of skills requires packaging CLI/tool separately (markdown-only inside powers directory)
- Some UX issues: rigid manual-click workflows, limited autopilot behavior, argument syntax for slash commands
- Git integration in CLI sometimes fails to detect repositories for metadata
Hackathon & Community
- Kiro Hackathon ($17,000 prize pool, Jan 2026): Major community engagement; judging on app quality, documented Kiro CLI/IDE usage, innovation, and presentation video
- Kiroween Hackathon (Oct 2025): Earlier community event
- Bi-weekly Kiro shows: regular live demos covering spec-driven development, MCP integration, design-to-code with Figma, and steering patterns
- Active community sharing skills, devlog templates, and context-engineering patterns
Claude Skills → Kiro Powers Porting
- Developers (e.g., Rasmus Widing) attempted to port Claude Code skills (Work Tree Manager) into Kiro powers
- Findings: core functionality works via CLI but IDE permissions block shell scripts/JSON in powers; full integration requires packaging runtime as an installable CLI tool
Sources:
- Have you tried the new Kiro CLI TUI? — Kiro channel, 2026-04-08
- Kiro Powers and Agent Skills in Your Development Workflows — Kiro channel, 2026-04-02
- I Tried Porting Claude Skills to Kiro — This Is What I Learned — Rasmus Widing, 2026-01-07
- Join the $17,000 Hackathon — My First Hour with Kiro — Rasmus Widing, 2026-01-05
- I Tried Amazon’s Kiro AI IDE — Deep Dive for Developers — Qubixtro, 2025-07-17