Kiro is an agentic AI development environment (IDE) and CLI tool designed to streamline the software development lifecycle from initial prototyping to production deployment. It leverages spec-driven development, enabling developers to define requirements, system designs, and tasks explicitly before writing code. Key features include:
- Spec-Driven Development: Translates natural language prompts into structured requirements and acceptance criteria using EARS notation.
- Advanced Agents: Automates bug fixing, feature iteration, and problem-solving across complex codebases.
- Terminal Integration: Provides access to Kiro agents directly from the terminal for building features, automating workflows, and analyzing errors.
- Agent Hooks: Delegates tasks to AI agents triggered by events like file saves, automating documentation, unit test generation, and code optimization.
- Multimodal Chat: Supports multimodal inputs, including images, to guide implementation.
- Native MCP Support: Integrates with documentation, databases, and APIs.
- Steering Files: Allows configuration of agent behavior at project or global levels.
- Model Selection: Offers a choice between Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Auto (a mix of frontier models) for intent detection and caching.
- VS Code Compatibility: Supports Open VSX plugins, themes, and VS Code settings.
Kiro targets developers and teams seeking to enhance productivity, improve code quality, and automate repetitive tasks. It's particularly useful for complex projects where explicit specifications and automated workflows can significantly reduce development time and improve outcomes.
