Amazon Launches Kiro: A New AI-Powered IDE to Revolutionize Software Development

Amazon Kiro Is Here to Tame the Vibe Coding Chaos

Amazon Web Services (AWS) debuted a tool called Kiro today, which aims to formalize vibe coding, or a way to generate custom code through an AI chatbot. The vibe coding process typically entails talking to an AI until you are satisfied with its output. It's relatively unstructured, and not always effective. A recent study found it actually increased task completion time for experienced software engineers by 19%. Kiro offers a more professional approach that starts with project planning. Developers can enter specifications for each component of their project, and then vibe code to meet the requirements. "I'm sure you've been there: prompt, prompt, prompt, and you have a working application," says a blog post introducing Kiro, co-authored by Nikhil Swaminathan, AWS's head of agentic AI developer tools, and Deepak Singh, a VP at AWS. "It's fun and feels like magic. But getting it to production requires more. What assumptions did the model make when building it? You guided the agent throughout, but those decisions aren't documented. Requirements are fuzzy and you can't tell if the application meets them." Once you finalize the specifications, Kiro generates a technical design document based on your codebase. While you're completing the work, an AI agent works alongside you, acting like an "experienced developer" who catches your mistakes and completes routine tasks, Kiro says. It also performs quality checks once you've finished. The main AI model behind Kiro is Anthropic's code-focused Claude Sonnet 4, with Claude Sonnet 3.7 as a backup option, Amazon tells The New Stack. Support for more models is coming soon. Kiro is free for now while it's in preview. Eventually, the company will offer three pricing tiers: Free, Kiro Pro ($19-per-month), and Kiro Pro+ ($39-per-month). It will also be free for those with a Developer Pro account on Amazon Q, the company's AI coding assistant ($20-per-month). In a departure from other AWS launches, Kiro's website markets it as a standalone tool, with only a small AWS logo in the corner. Amazon has been working on it since at least May, when Business Insider first reported it. Amazon may still be deciding how it wants to sell the tool, whether it will be a part of AWS or exist independently. It will compete with other coding editors like Cursor and Windsurf. Google just hired the CEO of Windsurf for $2.4 billion after OpenAI's talks to acquire the company fell through, The New York Times reports. Microsoft GitHub's agent mode and Google Gemini Code Assist are also direct competitors from rival Big Tech firms, according to GeekWire.

AWS previews Kiro IDE for devs over vibe coding

Amazon Web Services has created what it's calling an "agentic IDE" that it claims avoids the pitfalls of vibe coding. With the advent of generative AI, developers have experimented with using LLMs to rapidly generate and debug code in a process that's come to be known as vibe coding. But the code is often of low quality and requires more time to debug and modify than it ultimately saves. A recent study found that in some cases developers believe these tools are saving them time when it's in fact precisely the opposite. AWS's tool is called "Kiro" and, as Deepak Singh, veep for developer agents and experiences, explained to The Register, it's built around a conversational interface that offers developers the chance to explain what they're trying to build. Kiro uses generative AI to produce its response, which initially takes the form of a spec, not actual code. Singh said the specs are "just markdown or text or pseudocode and are written like user stories." Nikhil Swaminathan, AWS senior manager for agentic AI developer tools, explained that each user story "includes EARS (Easy Approach to Requirements Syntax) notation acceptance criteria covering edge cases developers typically handle when building from basic user stories." Kiro's output also includes a list of services and actual code that's pushed to Git. Kiro can also handle multiple specs created by different teams that all work on different aspects of a project. Singh suggested that working with specs matters because when developers use coding assistants such as AWS's own Q, code quality is low and few bother to keep track of which prompts produce good results. AWS believes Kiro delivers code that's closer to production-ready, in an environment that's better suited to finishing a project and then maintaining it. To that latter end, Kiro offers event-driven automations called "hooks." Singh suggested Kiro users could create a hook that automatically reviews and optimizes code every time a developer adds code to a repository. AWS built Kiro on the open source Code OSS editor and can use plugins written for VS Code and Open VSX. Unusually for AWS, the product is a desktop client, but users can choose which cloud-hosted models it uses to generate specs and code. It's currently in preview, but AWS plans to charge $19.99 a month with a to-be-determined number of calls to LLMs. Singh said that despite having created Kiro and positioning it as an IDE for the agentic age, AWS still sees a role for coding assistants, and vibe coding as a way for developers to tinker and experiment. ®

Amazon jumps into AI vibe coding with preview of Kiro

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy attends the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 9, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. Amazon's cloud unit said Monday that it has released a preview of Kiro, a program that developers can use to write code with help from artificial intelligence. In a post on X, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Kiro "has a chance to transform how developers build software." The introduction comes days after Google said it's hiring staffers of AI coding software startup Windsurf as part of a $2.4 billion technology licensing deal. Google said it plans to make its Gemini AI models more useful to software developers. Amazon and Google are jumping deeper into so-called vibe coding, the process of directing computers to create software with minimal human direction. Microsoft has also bolstered its Visual Studio Code editor with an agent mode for automated software development. Windsurf competes with Cursor, whose parent company Anysphere was reportedly in talks to raise money earlier this year at a $10 billion valuation. OpenAI looked at acquiring Windsurf and Cursor. Amazon Web Services, the leading provider of cloud infrastructure, said on the frequently asked questions page of the Kiro website that vibe coding in its current form can be overly complex. "When implementing a task with vibe coding, it's difficult to keep track of all the decisions that were made along the way, and document them for your team," the site says. "By using specs, Kiro works alongside you to define requirements, system design, and tasks to be implemented before writing any code." Kiro can make diagrams to show how data will flow through a proposed application, and create task lists, so that people can see what's missing, Nikhil Swaminathan, product lead at AWS, and Deepak Singh, the group's vice president of developer experience and agents, wrote in a blog post. Kiro currently can only chat with people in English. Support for additional languages will come later. The program draws on AI models from Amazon-backed Anthropic, but alternatives will follow, AWS said. Free and premium tiers of Kiro will be available after the preview ends. Content from paying users won't be used to train models, and free users can opt out, AWS said.

Kiro

Kiro is an agentic IDE that helps you do your best work with features such as specs, steering, and hooks. Kiro is an agentic IDE that helps you go from prototype to production with spec-driven development. From simple to complex tasks, Kiro works alongside you to turn prompts into detailed specs, then into working code, docs, and tests-so what you build is exactly what you want and ready to share with your team. Kiro's agents help you solve challenging problems and automate tasks like generating documentation and unit tests. With Kiro, you can build beyond prototypes while being in the driver's seat every step of the way. What is spec-driven development? How is it different from vibe coding? Developing with specs keeps the fun of vibe coding, but fixes some of its limitations: vibe coding can require too much guidance on complex tasks or when building on top of large codebases, and it can misinterpret context. When implementing a task with vibe coding, it's difficult to keep track of all the decisions that were made along the way, and document them for your team. By using specs, Kiro works alongside you to define requirements, system design, and tasks to be implemented before writing any code. This approach explicitly documents the reasoning and implementation decisions, so Kiro can implement more complex tasks in fewer shots. What programming languages does Kiro support? Kiro supports a variety of programming languages that developers use in their day to day work. This list includes, but is not limited to Python, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, C#, Go, Rust, PHP, Ruby, Kotlin, C, C++, shell scripting, SQL, Scala, JSON, YAML, and HCL. What languages can I ask questions in? Kiro is currently optimized for English-language conversations. Support for additional languages is planned for future updates, according to the developers. Can I import settings from my existing IDE? Kiro is based on Code OSS, so you can import your VS Code settings, themes, and Open VSX compatible plugins in the Kiro onboarding flow. Is Kiro free to use? Kiro is free to use during its preview period, with limited access that allows you to explore the product without interruption. A paid subscription will be required once the preview ends. What are the best free alternatives to Kiro? Cursor offers a free tier with core AI features and usage limits. It's a modified version of VS Code that integrates AI pair programming using models like GPT-4. Features include code suggestions, refactoring tools, debugging assistance, and inline chat. Features Specs Kiro specs are artifacts that prove useful anytime you need to think through a feature in-depth, refactor work that needs upfront planning, or when you want to understand the behavior of systems-in short, most things you need to get to production. Requirements are usually uncertain when you start building, which is why developers use specs for planning and clarity. Specs can guide AI agents to a better implementation in the same way. Hooks Kiro hooks act like an experienced developer catching things you miss or completing boilerplate tasks in the background as you work. These event-driven automations trigger an agent to execute a task in the background when you save, create, delete files, or on a manual trigger. Steering Steering gives Kiro persistent knowledge about your project through markdown files in .kiro/steering/. Instead of explaining your conventions in every chat, steering files ensure Kiro consistently follows your established patterns, libraries, and standards. Agentic chat Kiro offers a chat panel where you can interact with your code through natural language conversations. Just tell Kiro what you need. Ask questions about your codebase, request explanations for complex logic, generate new features, debug tricky issues, and automate repetitive tasks-all while Kiro maintains complete context of your project. MCP Model Context Protocol (MCP) extends Kiro's capabilities by connecting to specialized servers that provide additional tools and context. This guide helps you set up, configure, and use MCP servers with Kiro. MCP is a protocol that allows Kiro to communicate with external servers to access specialized tools and information. For example, the AWS Documentation MCP server provides tools to search, read, and get recommendations from AWS documentation directly within Kiro.

Amazon Kiro

Kiro is an agentic IDE that helps you do your best work with features such as specs, steering, and hooks. Kiro is an agentic IDE that helps you go from prototype to production with spec-driven development. From simple to complex tasks, Kiro works alongside you to turn prompts into detailed specs, then into working code, docs, and tests-so what you build is exactly what you want and ready to share with your team. Kiro's agents help you solve challenging problems and automate tasks like generating documentation and unit tests. With Kiro, you can build beyond prototypes while being in the driver's seat every step of the way. What is spec-driven development? How is it different from vibe coding? Developing with specs keeps the fun of vibe coding, but fixes some of its limitations: vibe coding can require too much guidance on complex tasks or when building on top of large codebases, and it can misinterpret context. When implementing a task with vibe coding, it's difficult to keep track of all the decisions that were made along the way, and document them for your team. By using specs, Kiro works alongside you to define requirements, system design, and tasks to be implemented before writing any code. This approach explicitly documents the reasoning and implementation decisions, so Kiro can implement more complex tasks in fewer shots. What programming languages does Kiro support? Kiro supports a variety of programming languages that developers use in their day to day work. This list includes, but is not limited to Python, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, C#, Go, Rust, PHP, Ruby, Kotlin, C, C++, shell scripting, SQL, Scala, JSON, YAML, and HCL. Can I import settings from my existing IDE? Kiro is based on Code OSS, so you can import your VS Code settings, themes, and Open VSX compatible plugins in the Kiro onboarding flow. Is Kiro free to use? Kiro is free to use during its preview period, with limited access that allows you to explore the product without interruption. A paid subscription will be required once the preview ends. What are the best free alternatives to Kiro? Cursor offers a free tier with core AI features and usage limits. It's a modified version of VS Code that integrates AI pair programming using models like GPT-4. Features include code suggestions, refactoring tools, debugging assistance, and inline chat. Features Specs Kiro specs are artifacts that prove useful anytime you need to think through a feature in-depth, refactor work that needs upfront planning, or when you want to understand the behavior of systems-in short, most things you need to get to production. Requirements are usually uncertain when you start building, which is why developers use specs for planning and clarity. Specs can guide AI agents to a better implementation in the same way. Hooks Kiro hooks act like an experienced developer catching things you miss or completing boilerplate tasks in the background as you work. These event-driven automations trigger an agent to execute a task in the background when you save, create, delete files, or on a manual trigger. Steering Steering gives Kiro persistent knowledge about your project through markdown files in .kiro/steering/. Instead of explaining your conventions in every chat, steering files ensure Kiro consistently follows your established patterns, libraries, and standards. Agentic chat Kiro offers a chat panel where you can interact with your code through natural language conversations. Just tell Kiro what you need. Ask questions about your codebase, request explanations for complex logic, generate new features, debug tricky issues, and automate repetitive tasks-all while Kiro maintains complete context of your project. MCP Model Context Protocol (MCP) extends Kiro's capabilities by connecting to specialized servers that provide additional tools and context. This guide helps you set up, configure, and use MCP servers with Kiro. MCP is a protocol that allows Kiro to communicate with external servers to access specialized tools and information. For example, the AWS Documentation MCP server provides tools to search, read, and get recommendations from AWS documentation directly within Kiro.

Amazon targets vibe-coding chaos with new 'Kiro' AI software development tool

A new AI coding tool from Amazon uses agents to automatically create and update project plans and technical blueprints, aiming to solve an increasingly common business headache: undocumented AI-written software that becomes difficult or impossible to maintain. The new tool, called "Kiro," (pronounced keer-oh) is an AI-driven integrated development environment, or IDE. It launched in preview Monday morning. The Amazon team behind the project says it's aiming to bridge the gap between rapid AI-generated software prototypes and production-ready systems that require formal specs, comprehensive testing, and ongoing documentation. The idea is to go from "vibe coding to viable code," as the Kiro website puts it. The move puts Amazon in direct competition with existing tools like Microsoft GitHub's agent mode and Google's Gemini Code Assist, as tech giants race to introduce AI assistants capable of handling complex software projects with minimal human oversight. Kiro emerged from a small team within Amazon Web Services, but in a departure from typical launches, it is hosted on its own domain, and Amazon's name appears nowhere in the announcement. Only an AWS logo and links in the website footer signal the connection between Kiro and the tech giant. It's part of Amazon's push beyond basic coding assistance into autonomous AI software development. While the Amazon Q Developer tool focuses on code completion and chat-based assistance, Kiro deploys AI agents that can act autonomously to help complete and document projects. The project was introduced in a blog post by Nikhil Swaminathan, Kiro's product lead, and Deepak Singh, Amazon's vice president of developer experience and agents. The vision, they write, is "to solve the fundamental challenges that make building software products so difficult -- from ensuring design alignment across teams and resolving conflicting requirements, to eliminating tech debt, bringing rigor to code reviews, and preserving institutional knowledge when senior engineers leave." As described in the post, Kiro works by breaking down developer prompts into structured components -- requirements, design documents, and task lists -- to guide implementation and testing. It also tracks changes and updates those materials as the code evolves, aiming to reduce inconsistencies between what's planned and what gets built. It uses automated checks that run when developers save or modify files, handling routine updates like refreshing documentation or scanning for potential problems. Kiro is free during its preview period. Ultimately, the company plans three pricing tiers: a free version with 50 agent interactions per month; a Pro tier at $19 per user per month with 1,000 interactions; and a Pro+ tier at $39 per user per month with 3,000 interactions. Business Insider first reported on Kiro in May based on a leaked document.

Amazon launches Kiro, its own Claude-powered challenger to Windsurf and Codex

Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders. Subscribe Now Amid the big news that Windsurf is being acquired by Cognition (after its founders went to Google), developers interested in AI-powered coding may be on the hunt for new alternatives. In a bit of fortuitous timing, today also saw Amazon's release of Kiro, a new agentic Integrated Development Environment (IDE) built to help developers move from prototype to production using AI workflows grounded in structure, planning, and engineering rigor. Kiro uses Amazon investment Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 3.7 and 4.0 as the default model backends. Users can switch between them, and future support for other models may be added. Now in public preview, Kiro runs on macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows, and Linux for free to start (limited to $50 interactions per user per month), with additional pricing tiers starting at $19 for more features. Kiro aims to bridge the gap between "vibe coding" -- allowing AI to generate full blocks of code and even entire software processes and applications from plain text instructions, typically used by enterprises for rapid prototyping and interation -- and the more demanding process of delivering secure, maintainable, and scalable applications in real-world environments. The tool combines AI agents with project specifications, technical architecture, and automated task management to support a complete software development lifecycle inside a single interface. Kiro vs. Q Developer? But didn't Amazon already have its own AI-code completion tool, Q Developer? Yes, and that's still available for those users who rely on it. So why launch a whole new product and brand name that offers some of the same functionality? Sources at Amazon told VentureBeat that "Kiro is a general-purpose agentic IDE for developers to work with any platform of their choice," as opposed to Q Developer, which is more limited in its support for third-party IDEs, restricted to VSCode, JetBrains, Eclipse, and Visual Studio. In addition, the sources pointed out that Kiro's agentic spec-driven development was radically different from the code suggestions offered on discrete snippets by Q Developer. They said some developers may even prefer to use both in tandem, which is supported via the Q Developer Pro subscription which starts at $19 per month per user. From prompt to production with spec-driven development Kiro's key differentiator is its spec-driven development model, which guides the process from ideation to implementation. A simple prompt like "Add a review system" triggers a chain of AI-assisted outputs that include: * User stories with acceptance criteria in EARS (Easy Approach to Requirements Syntax) format * Design documents with data flow diagrams, TypeScript interfaces, and API schemas * Task lists and sub-tasks automatically sequenced by dependency, with tests, loading states, and accessibility built-in Developers can execute these tasks one at a time through Kiro's built-in agent interface, with inline diffs, progress tracking, and access to historical agent execution logs. As development proceeds, Kiro keeps specs in sync with the codebase, helping teams avoid the typical drift between documentation and implementation. Agent hooks automate routine quality tasks Kiro's agent hooks allow developers to configure automation triggers for everyday tasks like regenerating tests, updating documentation, or running security scans. Hooks can be tied to actions such as saving files, editing components, or pushing commits. Once set up and checked into the repo, they provide team-wide consistency in code quality and standards enforcement. For instance, developers can define a hook to ensure new React components follow the Single Responsibility Principle or trigger a secrets scan before commits. This approach adds automated quality control without slowing down individual developers. Full-featured IDE built on open tooling Kiro is built on Code OSS, the open source foundation of Visual Studio Code, maintained by Microsoft. It provides the core editor experience without proprietary services, allowing third parties like Kiro to build their own IDEs with full compatibility with VS Code extensions and settings. As such, Kiro remains compatible with VS Code extensions, settings, and UI conventions. It also supports: * Model Context Protocol (MCP) for connecting external tools * Agentic multi-modal chat, using files, URLs, or documents as context * Steering rules to customize and constrain agent behavior across a codebase * Social login via GitHub or Google, with no AWS account required Pricing and availability Kiro is currently free for all users during its preview period, including Amazon Q Developer and Q Developer Pro subscribers. Preview access includes "generous" usage limits aimed at letting developers explore Kiro without frequent disruptions. After the preview period ends, users will have a choice of three subscription tiers: Agentic interactions include any direct invocation of Kiro agents -- such as initiating a spec, triggering a hook, or sending a chat prompt. The processing work that happens after a request (like multi-step task execution) does not count toward the quota. Users on paid plans will also be able to purchase additional interactions at $0.04 each, but overage billing must be explicitly enabled. How Kiro compares to Q Developer, Claude Code, Copilot, and other AI-powered coding tools The AI-assisted development ecosystem is becoming increasingly crowded, with several prominent IDEs and agents competing for developer attention. Here's how Kiro stacks up: Developer response and early impressions Kiro's launch generated active discussion on startup accelerator Y combinator's popular developer forum Hacker News, where Nathan Peck, Senior Developer Advocate for Generative AI at AWS (username NathanKP) offered technical context and responded to questions. He emphasized that Kiro reflects Amazon's internal engineering practices and is designed to help developers scale from small ideas to robust, production-ready systems. Initial community reactions were mixed but intrigued. Developers praised the emphasis on specs, hooks, and structure. Some compared it favorably to tools like Claude Code and Cursor, citing the improved rigor in building and documenting features. Others voiced concern over tool churn and switching costs, while some preferred command line interface (CLI)-based tools or simpler interfaces. Feedback also surfaced around authentication bugs, platform compatibility, and desire for dev container support. These early responses reflect both curiosity and the high expectations developers now have for AI coding tools. Kiro enters a crowded field but carves out a niche with its structured, spec-first philosophy and support for developer-in-the-loop workflows. It's not trying to replace developers or automate entire codebases blindly. Instead, it's offering a more disciplined way to collaborate with AI from planning to delivery. With its preview now open and pricing models outlined, Kiro may appeal most to teams and individuals looking to build not just faster, but more thoughtfully -- with long-term maintainability, clarity, and quality built in.

AWS launches Kiro, an agentic AI IDE, to end the chaos of vibe coding

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has unveiled Kiro, an IDE which uses AI agents to streamline the development process. Available now in preview, Kiro looks to cut down on potential issues with "vibe coding", the process where agents are being asked to create and build software with minimal human interaction. As well as helping with coding, Kiro can also automatically create and update project plans and technical blueprints, solving one of the most troublesome issues for developers who are still getting to grips with the potential AI brings. Announcing the launch, AWS said Kiro is looking to help transition from "vibe coding to viable code." It works by breaking down prompts into structured components, which can then be used to guide implementation and testing, as well as tracking any changes as the code evolves, ensuring no inconsistencies break through. There's also Model Context Protocol (MCP) support for connecting specialized tools, steering rules to guide AI behavior across your project, and agentic chat for ad-hoc coding tasks. Finally, it can also automatically check through code to make sure nothing is amiss, making sure developers can submit or launch code without fear of any problems. Kiro looks, "to solve the fundamental challenges that make building software products so difficult -- from ensuring design alignment across teams and resolving conflicting requirements, to eliminating tech debt, bringing rigor to code reviews, and preserving institutional knowledge when senior engineers leave," Nikhil Swaminathan, Kiro's product lead, and Deepak Singh, Amazon's vice president of developer experience and agents, said. "Kiro is great at 'vibe coding' but goes way beyond that -- Kiro's strength is getting those prototypes into production systems with features such as specs and hooks." For now, Kiro is free to use during the preview period, but it seems AWS is looking at introducing three pricing tiers: a free version with 50 agent interactions per month; a Pro tier at $19 per user per month with 1,000 interactions; and a Pro+ tier at $39 per user per month with 3,000 interactions. "Kiro is really good at "vibe coding" but goes well beyond that," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a post on X. "While other AI coding assistants might help you prototype quickly, Kiro helps you take those prototypes all the way to production by following a mature, structured development process out of the box. This means developers can spend less time on boilerplate code and more time where it matters most - innovating and building solutions that customers will love.

AWS launches Kiro: a 'spec coding' developer environment integrated with AI agents - SiliconANGLE

AWS launches Kiro: a 'spec coding' developer environment integrated with AI agents Amazon Web Services Inc. today launched a preview of a new development environment named Kiro, integrated with artificial intelligence agents for software engineers, which the company says will help them turn ideas into production-ready code. Now in preview, Kiro helps provide speed and resilience to has become known as "vibe coding," a new way to use development tools to tell an AI assistant what the developer wants built using conversational English and then working with it like a pair programmer or sitting back and letting it do most of the work. Amazon's newest tool is an integrated development environment, or an IDE, which is a software development interface where software engineers spend most of their time building, coding, testing and compiling software. Traditionally, the experience of vibe coding might start from a blank template or an existing app where a coder prompts the AI to write something. Then they prompt it again to either write more or fix what it wrote. This chain of prompts eventually leads to a final product. Amazon said that Kiro will change this with integrated AI agents that will build in "specs" and use "hooks" that will understand the width and breadth of taking a prototype to production. As a result, Amazon calls what Kiro's new capability "spec coding." For example, imagine a developer has an e-commerce app. For specifications, Kiro will take a single prompt, such as "Add a review system for products," and generate a requirements document and user stories for viewing, creating, filtering and rating product reviews. Each story will include acceptance criteria and edge cases. This can be turned into Kiro tasks and sub-tasks that the agents can then send to coding agents. Each task includes details such as requirements, implementation, accessibility and testing needs. This allows developers to follow along and check the work in steps to avoid any missing pieces. "Kiro's specs stay synced with your evolving codebase. Developers can author code to update specs or update specs to refresh tasks," AWS Product Lead Nikhil Swaminathan and Vice President of DevEx and Agents Deepak Singh wrote in a blog post. The important thing about this approach is that the code and the agent's process are completely documented top-to-bottom. Nothing is left out and the developer has a bird's eye view of how the app or function will be built and is able to guide it from the requirements view before anything happens. Amazon said this eliminates the costly back-and-forth usually associated with vibe coding. Once the developer hits go, they can watch the new code being built with an execution status indicator. Hooks work slightly differently from the specs; they're more like an experienced developer paying attention to changes in code. A hook triggers when a developer saves or creates a file, prompting an AI agent to review it and take necessary actions. For example, a developer saves a React component, and a hook has an AI agent update a related test file. When an application programming interface endpoint is changed, a hook updates the related README documentation. Upon preparing to deploy the software, hooks can run the software through a vulnerability scanner to make sure no passwords, API secrets or other credentials have been accidentally leaked. Hooks work to enforce best practices and other rules for the entire team, making sure that developers are keeping up with quality. They can go down checklists, update documentation and provide security validation as files are saved and updated behind the scenes. Amazon said Kiro goes beyond specs and hooks for developers and can be expanded with the Model Context Protocol, an open-source method for connecting AI agents to external tools. This provides developers with an extensive library of open-source AI tools they can connect to increase Kiro's coding potential. Of course, for developers who want to go line-by-line, Kiro also includes an agentic chat for coding tasks within a file. "The way humans and machines coordinate to build software is still messy and fragmented, but we're working to change that," the Kiro team wrote. "Specs is a major step in that direction."

Spec-driven development becomes real with AWS Kiro - SiliconANGLE

AWS empowers devs with Kiro, AgentCore and an agentic AI roadmap As the midpoint of 2025 approaches, Amazon Web Services Inc. is sending a clear signal: Software development is undergoing a fundamental repositioning with agentic AI at the helm. The typical, grunt work-reliant modus operandi is giving way to a spec-driven development approach that democratizes entry and rewards ingenuity and versatility. AWS' vision? A future powered by new frameworks and powerful tooling, redefining what it means to build software. The unveiling of Kiro, AgentCore and Model Context Protocol serves as the first step in concretizing that end goal, according to Deepak Singh (pictured, left), vice president of developer agents and experiences at AWS. "This whole idea of spec-driven development and specifications started shining and we started testing this out with the customers," Singh said. "Eventually, what we ended up with, and what people were doing, was they were handcrafting sort of these spec-type workflows within whatever they were doing. With Kiro, that's how you work -- it's built into how Kiro works." Singh spoke with theCUBE's John Furrier (right) at the theCUBE + NYSE Wired: AI + Cloud Leaders Media Week event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media's livestreaming studio. They discussed spec-driven development and the new toolkit from AWS aimed at realizing that paradigm. At its core, Kiro has been designed to allow users to alternate between vibe coding and structured design. Purpose-built for devs creating with agents, users can collaborate with agents to define application requirements, structure functionality and scale from prototype to production -- all within a flexible AI-native workflow, according to Singh. "You can have the agent write specifications for you, and you collaborate with the agent to figure out the requirements and application structure," he said. "As the application goes from your little fund prototype to a full application, it grows with you. The customer response in the last 24 to 48 hours has been phenomenal, and we'll see where this goes." Unlike traditional integrated development environments, Kiro integrates agents directly into the development process. In essence, it's a system that grows with the user. Complementing Kiro is AgentCore, a new set of primitives within Amazon Bedrock that allows developers to build and run agents. These include runtime environments, browser runtimes, agent telemetry, identity, code execution sandboxes and more, Singh explained. "It's all the things that over the last two years, as we've been building our agents, that we have learned that are needed to build a successful agentic system," he said. "That's what AgentCore is. In many ways, you can think about it as everything, the toolbelt and the services that any individual or company needs to build a very successful agentic software platform." The system abstracts complexity away from developers, enabling them to offload logic from LLMs to tools, boosting performance, reducing token costs and increasing reliability through deterministic tool calling. AgentCore is also framework and model-agnostic, supporting popular tools such as LangChain, CrewAI and Strands, ensuring developers can remain flexible as the ecosystem evolves, Singh added. "Now you can just call the API, which is available through an MCP server that you're making available as a tool to the agent," he said. "That's radically changing how some of these agentic architectures work. It's a great time to be part of this growth." Here's the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE's and theCUBE's coverage of theCUBE + NYSE Wired: AI + Cloud Leaders Media Week event:

AWS Enters the Vibe Coding Market with Kiro AI | AIM

Kiro is positioned as an agentic IDE, an environment where AI agents collaborate throughout the software development lifecycle, not just at the prototyping stage. Most AI coding tools assist developers in getting started but struggle with the final output, as they often encounter documentation delays, missing tests, and broken integrations. AWS's new IDE, Kiro, launched on July 14 in free preview, aims to address these issues with a spec-driven workflow that supports developers from prompt to production. "It's fun and feels like magic to prompt your way to a working application," said Nikhil Swaminathan, product lead for agentic developer experience at AWS. "But getting it to production requires more." Kiro is positioned as an agentic IDE, an environment where AI agents collaborate throughout the software development lifecycle, not just at the prototyping stage. In an exclusive interview with AIM, Srini Iragavarapu, director of generative AI applications and developer experiences at AWS, said Kiro was built by a lean internal team that had been observing how AI-assisted coding evolved over time. The IDE supports Claude Sonnet 4 and 3.7 and includes agentic workflows, multimodal capabilities, and spec automation. Iragavarapu further added that one of the features the team had planned ahead of Kiro's launch was a notification system, something that would alert the user once an agent completed a task in the IDE, allowing them to focus on other work in the meantime. "That kind of feature would typically take us a few weeks to build across Windows, Mac, and Linux," Iragavarapu said. "But the team used Kiro itself to build it, within days." At the heart of Kiro is spec-driven development, where the IDE interprets the developer's intent and builds structured specs before generating code. Explaining how Kiro handles development tasks, Iragavarapu said the IDE first tries to understand the context of what the developer is trying to do. Instead of jumping straight into generating code, it starts by talking to the developer. "It will provide specifications of sorts, like a step-by-step task list," he said. Developers can then review and adjust these tasks before execution. Kiro then sequences the tasks based on dependencies and adds metadata such as unit tests, accessibility requirements, and loading states. Progress can be tracked through manual triggers, inline diffs, and agent execution logs. Developers can trigger tasks manually and monitor their progress, with inline code diffs and execution history available for review. "Specs are artifacts that prove useful anytime you need to think through a feature in-depth, refactor work, or understand system behaviour," said Swaminathan. These specs evolve with the codebase and stay in sync throughout development. Kiro also analyses the existing codebase to generate technical designs, including TypeScript interfaces, database schemas, API endpoints, and data flow diagrams, reducing ambiguity between design and implementation. Another unique feature in Kiro is agent hooks, which allow users to automate development workflows by monitoring source code for specific triggers, Iragavarapu explained. "It is always listening to your code changes, and when your code changes...it will automatically update your documentation." He explained that in a typical setup, developers often make frequent code changes, but the documentation doesn't get updated in real time. This leads to mismatches that need to be manually fixed later. Additionally, developers can define agent steering documents to set architectural or coding guidelines. For instance, Iragavarapu shared how he instructed Kiro to 'use React,' 'write TypeScript,' and follow a specific directory structure. The AI follows these rules throughout the development process. The tool is currently available in a free preview. Developers can sign in with GitHub, Google, or existing AWS IAM Identity Centre credentials. Pricing tiers will be announced when the product reaches general availability. Kiro currently supports Claude Sonnet 4 and 3.7, with options for developers to switch between the two. "More models are coming soon," confirmed Iragavarapu, who also noted the IDE's multimodal capabilities. Developers can upload hand-drawn architecture diagrams and have them converted into AWS CDK code. Kiro complements Amazon Q Developer. "If you already have a Q Developer subscription, you can also use Kiro," said Iragavarapu. Moreover, Kiro supports default MCP (Managed Context Provider) servers but also lets developers plug in custom ones, including internal or private sources. This means users can bring additional context into the IDE, whether from public or private MCP servers. Built on Code OSS, Kiro remains compatible with existing VS Code settings and Open VSX plugins. Inside Amazon, employees already use internal MCP servers to enhance development workflows."If you have your own favourites or your own private MCP servers, you can use them," Iragavarapu said. AWS is stepping into a crowded, highly competitive space. Google recently hired the founders of Windsurf in a $2.4 billion licensing deal. Tools like Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Replit, and Lovable have already built strong developer followings. When asked how they plan to challenge these, Iragavarapu said the goal is not to replace but to offer an alternative option. "We are providing options to developers. The way Kiro differentiates itself is through spec-driven development, advanced agent hooks, and agent steering, all from ideation to deployment." He clarified that while Copilot might assist in code generation, Kiro focuses on delivering production-ready features by automating and enforcing the full development lifecycle. AWS is treating the preview phase as a learning opportunity. "We'll share examples of what Kiro has built internally soon," Iragavarapu said, adding that the goal is to iterate quickly and evolve Kiro into a production-grade, AI-first development environment.

Development environment AWS Kiro offers AI coding - SiliconANGLE

The launch of Kiro, a development environment offered by Amazon Web Services Inc., provides a new path for software engineers to turn ideas into production-ready code, moving beyond "vibe coding" and into a specification-driven model. Kiro's combination of "spec coding" with integrated AI agents is designed to enable developers to focus more closely on systems design. This will give Kiro an advantage over other integrated development environments, according to Randall Hunt (pictured), chief technology officer of Caylent Inc., an AWS Premier Partner that helps organizations build, scale and optimize cloud solutions through agile co-delivery and deep cloud expertise. "One of the things that sets it apart from other IDEs like Cursor or Windsurf for Codeium ... is a spec-driven development model," Hunt said. "The spec-driven mode goes through a set of requirements, collecting requirements, you edit them, you click through them, then it goes into design. Something that I've been saying over the last few days is the people who are going to be successful in the world of LLMs are the ones who have agency. And I believe that Kiro is the agent for people with agency." Hunt spoke with theCUBE's John Furrier at the theCUBE + NYSE Wired: AI + Cloud Leaders Media Week event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media's livestreaming studio. They discussed evolving trends in AI deployment including agents, models and systematic evaluation. Kiro's integration with AI agents to perform spec-driven coding tasks highlights the growing role of autonomous software in the enterprise. Kiro provides an agentic chat function for coding tasks within a file and agents can be connected to external open-source tools. The need for periodic human oversight still remains, although agents can operate now for longer periods, according to Hunt. "Right now, the best frontier models every 10 minutes require human intervention," Hunt said. "But that 10-minute frontier keeps pushing out. The amount of time that an agent can autonomously execute keeps getting larger and larger. So, we're probably less than a year away from an agent that can autonomously execute by itself without error for 24 hours." The introduction of a new AI-based development environment by AWS also underscores the increased reliance on multiple models for accomplishing enterprise tasks. One report has found 3,000% growth in enterprise AI and machine learning usage, and the Hugging Face Hub now hosts over 1.7 million AI models in its repository. "I see companies betting on one model, and I think that is such a terrible approach. I think you need to build a platform," Hunt said. "The models are moving so quickly. One model family could develop capabilities that immediately allow you to differentiate yourself from your competitors. It's better to build a platform that can constantly and consistently take advantage of the state of the art." Companies are also finding that AI usage requires a process that can systematically evaluate the performance of large language models and their applications. Hunt cited a recent project with a customer who wanted to build video semantic search from millions of hours of footage where evals became a key element. "We fed this into the Amazon Nova models and we were able to process these petabytes of image data using Bedrock batch," Hunt explained. "Your eval set becomes every different kind of video. When we enriched that prompt and used our eval set to really measure how accurate the description and the understanding of the video was, we got much, much better results. It's really kind of like a continuous integration/continuous deployment system for LLMs." Here's the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE's and theCUBE's coverage of theCUBE + NYSE Wired: AI + Cloud Leaders Media Week event:

AWS launches Kiro a new AI-powered coding tool

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has introduced Kiro, a new integrated development environment (IDE) that utilizes artificial intelligence agents to bring more structure and reliability to the software development process. The tool, now available in a preview version, is designed to address the challenges associated with "vibe coding," a practice where developers use AI with minimal guidance, which can lead to inconsistencies. Kiro functions by taking high-level user prompts and breaking them down into structured, manageable components. This approach guides the implementation and testing of software while also monitoring any changes made to the code over time to prevent errors. In addition to coding assistance, the platform can automatically generate and maintain project plans and technical blueprints, tackling a common pain point for development teams. According to AWS, Kiro aims to resolve fundamental issues such as ensuring design consistency across teams, managing conflicting requirements, reducing technical debt, and retaining institutional knowledge when experienced engineers depart. Silicon Valley's newest must-have skill: Vibe coding Key features of the new IDE include: During the current preview period, Kiro is available for free. Following this phase, AWS plans to offer three pricing tiers: a free version with 50 monthly agent interactions, a "Pro" tier for $19 per user per month offering 1,000 interactions, and a "Pro+" tier priced at $39 per user per month for 3,000 interactions.

AWS Kiro: 5 Key Features To Amazon's New AI Coding Tool

'Kiro is all-new, and it's going to change how developers work,' says AWS CEO Matt Garman. Here are the five key features in AWS Kiro that partners need to know. Amazon Web Services' new Kiro developer coding tool helps users write code with help from AI and is "going to change how developers work," said CEO Matt Garman. "AI has changed how quickly we can write code, but there's still a gap between generating a quick prototype and shipping quality software," said AWS CEO Garman in a LinkedIn post. "That's why I'm thrilled to introduce Kiro, an agentic IDE that gets developers from prototype to production with the structure that production-ready code requires." AWS' Kiro is a new agentic IDE (integrated development environment) program that helps customers deliver code from concept to production through a simplified developer experience for working with AI agents. An IDE is a software application that helps programmers develop software code efficiently. [Related: The 10 Hottest Agentic AI Tools And Agents Of 2025] "Kiro's strength is getting those prototypes into production systems with features such as specs and hooks," said Nikhil Swaminathan, product lead for the AWS Agentic AI Developer group. Here are five key features in Kiro's innovation that every channel partner, customer and developer should know about. Garman said Kiro "understands what you're actually trying to build" when developers are writing code. "Kiro introduces spec-driven development that lets you communicate your intent through natural language and diagrams. Instead of endless prompt tweaking, you can clearly express what you need, and Kiro delivers better results with fewer iterations," he said. Kiro specs are artifacts that prove useful any time users need to think through a feature in-depth, refactor work that needs up-front planning, or when users want to understand the behavior of systems. Kiro has capabilities that "handle all the production-readiness work automatically," which is a key feature for AI developers, Garman said. "All those things that separate prototype code from production code -- documentation, tests, performance optimization -- Kiro's intelligent agent hooks handle these tasks in the background while you focus on core functionality," he said. Kiro hooks act like an experienced developer catching things users miss or completing boilerplate tasks in the background as they work. These event-driven automations trigger an agent to execute a task in the background when users save, create, delete files or on a manual trigger. Beyond specs and hooks, Kiro includes features customers expect from an AI code editor, including Model Context Protocol (MCP) support for connecting specialized tools, steering rules to guide AI behavior across projects, and agentic chat for ad-hoc coding tasks with file, URL and Doc's context providers. The program leverages AI models from Amazon-backed AI startup superstar Anthropic, but alternative AI models will soon be compatible. "Kiro is built on Code OSS, so you can keep your VS Code settings and Open VSX- compatible plugins while working with our IDE," said AWS' Swaminathan. "You get the full AI coding experience, plus the fundamentals needed for production." Kiro doesn't have to be a big implementation -- in fact, it "fits into your existing workflow" regardless of what a coder is trying to achieve, Garman said. "Whether you're a chat-based developer or prefer working with structured specifications, Kiro's purpose-built interface adapts to your style while keeping you firmly in control," he said. "Kiro keeps everything you love about rapid AI development while automatically handling the critical engineering work so you can focus on building features that matter instead of handling repetitive work," Garman added. Kiro is now available in preview and supports all major platforms and programming languages. Free and premium tiers of Kiro will become available after the preview ends later in 2025. Kiro currently can only chat with users in the English language with support for additional languages coming in the future, according to AWS.

Amazon's Kiro AI IDE: The Future of Smarter Software Development

What if your development environment could not only write code but also anticipate your needs, streamline your workflows, and adapt to the unique complexities of your projects? With the unveiling of Amazon's Kiro AI IDE, this vision is no longer a distant dream but a tangible reality. Positioned as more than just a coding assistant, Kiro introduces a specification-driven development approach that automates critical stages of the software lifecycle, from requirement analysis to task creation. By reducing repetitive tasks and offering tools like real-time agent hooks and granular workflow controls, Kiro promises to redefine how developers approach their craft. It's not just another IDE -- it's a bold step toward a smarter, more efficient future for software development. In the overview video below, Execute Automation explore how Kiro's innovative features set it apart from competitors like GitHub Copilot and Cursor IDE. You'll discover how its AI-powered automation addresses bottlenecks in traditional workflows, allowing teams to focus on creativity and problem-solving instead of mundane setup or maintenance tasks. Whether you're curious about its seamless integration with MCP servers or intrigued by its ability to generate architectural diagrams from project specifications, Kiro offers something for every developer. As we unpack its capabilities, consider how this tool could transform not just your workflow but your entire approach to development. Kiro's core innovation lies in its specification-driven development approach, which automates critical phases of the software lifecycle, including requirement analysis, design, and task creation. By interpreting project specifications, Kiro generates architectural diagrams and detailed task lists, allowing you to focus on strategic decision-making rather than manual setup. This approach not only accelerates the initial stages of development but also ensures consistency across the project. Kiro's checkpoint-based task execution further enhances flexibility by allowing you to roll back changes when necessary. This feature is particularly valuable in dynamic development environments, where adaptability is key to maintaining efficiency and meeting evolving requirements. One of Kiro's standout features is its agent hooks, which provide real-time updates to project documentation and configurations. These hooks monitor changes in your project's structure or codebase and automatically trigger actions, such as updating documentation or synchronizing configurations. This automation eliminates the need for manual updates, making sure that your project remains consistent and up-to-date. By reducing the time spent on routine tasks, agent hooks allow you to allocate more resources to critical aspects of development, such as problem-solving and innovation. This feature is particularly beneficial for teams managing complex or large-scale projects, where maintaining consistency can be challenging. Take a look at other insightful guides from our broad collection that might capture your interest in AI IDE applications. Kiro offers granular control over workflows, allowing you to adjust tasks, refine specifications, and address unexpected challenges in real time. This level of control is especially valuable for complex projects, where requirements often evolve during development. With Kiro, you can reprioritize tasks or modify workflows without disrupting the overall project timeline. Its flexible framework ensures that you can adapt quickly to changes, helping you maintain momentum and avoid bottlenecks. This adaptability makes Kiro an ideal tool for managing projects with intricate dependencies or rapidly changing requirements. To support diverse development environments, Kiro integrates seamlessly with MCP servers, including GitHub MCP. This compatibility allows you to incorporate Kiro into your existing infrastructure without disruption, streamlining collaboration and deployment processes. By simplifying server integration, Kiro enhances team productivity and ensures that all project components work harmoniously. This feature is particularly advantageous for distributed teams or organizations managing large-scale projects, as it reduces the complexity of coordinating across multiple environments. While tools like GitHub Copilot and Cursor IDE primarily focus on code generation, Kiro takes a more comprehensive approach. It automates not only coding but also requirement analysis, architectural design, and task management, addressing a broader spectrum of development needs. This holistic feature set reduces manual effort and improves overall efficiency, making Kiro a more robust solution for developers seeking to optimize their workflows. By combining AI-driven automation with a structured, specification-driven approach, Kiro offers a unique value proposition that sets it apart from its competitors. To encourage adoption, Amazon is offering free preview access to Kiro, allowing developers to explore its advanced features and evaluate its impact on their workflows without any upfront cost. This initiative provides an opportunity to experience the full potential of Kiro's capabilities, from its specification-driven workflows to its real-time updates and seamless integrations. By offering access to its latest models, Amazon ensures that developers can determine how Kiro fits into their existing processes and whether it aligns with their project goals. This trial period underscores Amazon's commitment to making Kiro accessible and demonstrating its value to the development community. Kiro represents a significant advancement in software development tools, combining AI-driven automation with a structured, specification-driven approach to address common challenges such as repetitive tasks, real-time updates, and workflow adaptability. Its robust feature set, including agent hooks, granular workflow control, and seamless MCP server integration, enables developers to work more efficiently and effectively. Whether you're managing a small project or a large-scale initiative, Kiro provides the tools you need to streamline your processes and achieve better outcomes. By offering a comprehensive solution that goes beyond code generation, Kiro is well-positioned to become a leading choice for modern software development teams. With its free preview access, now is the perfect time to explore how Kiro can transform your development workflow.

New AWS Kiro AI Agentic IDE Designed to Turns Your Ideas Into Reality

What if your development environment could not only understand your ideas but also bring them to life with minimal effort? With the unveiling of AWS Kiro, Amazon has introduced a new AI-powered Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that promises to transform how developers approach app creation. Imagine typing a natural language prompt like "design a scalable e-commerce system," and instantly receiving a detailed architecture, implementation plan, and even optimized code. Built as a fork of the widely trusted Visual Studio Code, AWS Kiro combines familiarity with innovation, offering a seamless way to bridge the gap between concept and execution. This isn't just a tool -- it's a reimagining of how developers work, collaborate, and innovate. World of AI explores how AWS Kiro's AI-driven automation and multimodal input capabilities redefine productivity in software development. From automating repetitive tasks with Agent Hooks to tailoring workflows with dual modes like Spec Mode and Vibe Mode, AWS Kiro adapts to your unique project needs. Whether you're a meticulous planner or an agile prototyper, this IDE offers a level of customization and efficiency that feels almost futuristic. But what makes AWS Kiro truly innovative isn't just its features -- it's the way it enables developers to focus on creativity and problem-solving, leaving the heavy lifting to AI. Could this be the IDE that reshapes the future of app development? AWS Kiro distinguishes itself with its ability to translate natural language inputs into structured outputs, such as system architectures, detailed specifications, and implementation plans. This capability eliminates the need for manual interpretation of requirements, allowing you to focus on high-priority tasks and strategic decision-making. These features collectively enhance efficiency and adaptability, making AWS Kiro a powerful tool for developers aiming to optimize their workflows and achieve consistent results. AWS Kiro offers two distinct operational modes, allowing you to tailor the IDE to your specific project needs: These modes provide the flexibility to prioritize either speed or accuracy, depending on the demands of your project, making sure that AWS Kiro adapts seamlessly to your workflow. Here are more guides from our previous articles and guides related to AI IDE applications that you may find helpful. AWS Kiro is designed to optimize your development process with features that simplify and accelerate workflows while maintaining high-quality results. Its key capabilities include: These tools empower developers to maintain control over their projects while using the efficiency of AI-driven automation. AWS Kiro is built for accessibility and versatility, supporting macOS, Windows, and Linux operating systems. Developers transitioning from VS Code will appreciate the seamless migration of extensions, themes, and customizations, making sure a smooth onboarding experience. Signing in is straightforward, with options including Google, GitHub, AWS Builder ID, and organizational credentials, making it easy to integrate Kiro into your existing development environment. AWS Kiro simplifies the development process with a step-by-step approach that takes you from requirement generation to deployment. By using its AI capabilities, you can transition quickly from conceptualization to implementation without compromising on quality. The IDE's JSON-based configuration system further enhances flexibility, allowing you to manage MCP servers and settings efficiently. This streamlined workflow ensures that you can focus on delivering high-quality applications while minimizing bottlenecks and delays. AWS Kiro provides advanced tools that give you greater control over your development environment. Features such as agent steering allow you to guide AI behavior to align with specific project objectives, making sure that the outputs meet your expectations. Additionally, its support for JSON-based configuration simplifies the management of complex settings, allowing you to customize the IDE to suit your unique requirements. These advanced tools make AWS Kiro a versatile and reliable choice for developers seeking precision and control in their projects. AWS Kiro represents a significant advancement in AI-driven development tools. By combining features such as natural language prompt conversion, multimodal input, and automation through agent hooks, it enables developers to work smarter and faster. Its compatibility with VS Code and cross-platform support make it an adaptable solution for both individual developers and teams. Whether you are prototyping a new application or refining an existing system, AWS Kiro's AI-powered capabilities provide the tools you need to achieve your goals with precision, efficiency, and confidence.