Bots for Everyone and a Browser You Can Take Over
0.12.0Kiro Crew 0.12.0 turns on Bots for every install and gives each Bot its own folder, its own working tree, and an export file. When the agent uses a browser, the page streams live into the chat and you can take it over at any time. Strands and GitHub Copilot CLI join the agent harness list, Google Workspace joins the Connections page, and an Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base can feed knowledge search. Notifications reach you after you close the app, and Ultra Mode, Explore, Shared Crew, and Remote dispatch arrive as previews you can switch on.
These changes rename, move, or retire controls you may use today:
- Mates are now Bots. Every screen, prompt, and command bar row says Bots. The Bots row in the left rail and the Bots page are always shown, with no preview switch. Older
.crewjamand.crewmateexport files still import. - Developer Mode is gone. Settings → Developer always shows Feature Previews, Logs, System, Telemetry, Storage, Memory, Config, Debug tools, and Archive. Feature Previews switches are saved on the gateway, so they follow you to every browser and to the desktop app. MCP Management moved to the Connections page, below the MCP Servers list.
- The browser has its own settings. Settings → Browser replaces the Use the built-in browser switch and the extension token field.
- Crew Mode is now Ultra Mode. It stays a Feature Preview that is off by default, with a redesigned Board.
Each Bot keeps its chats in a sidebar folder named after it and works in its own Git working tree per repository, so two Bots on one repository keep their changes apart. Starred Bots form a group in the left rail that you can drag to reorder. Export as file on a Bot's profile card writes a .kirobot file that Bots → Import from file reads back. A Bot that hands work to workers tracks each item in a work ledger and shows their approvals and questions in its chat.
When the agent uses the browser, the chat shows the page live. Click the picture to take over, do the step yourself, and hand the browser back. For a sign-in, a sheet types the secret into the page for you; the agent never sees it and nothing typed is saved. Settings → Browser picks which browser the agent drives (your Chrome, Edge on Windows, or Kiro's own Chromium), turns the live view on or off, sets its quality and frame rate, and controls recording.
Settings → Agent Harness lists Strands once the Strands CLI is installed. Its setup card stores the model provider keys in Settings → Secrets, and changing the model or effort in the picker relaunches it on the same session. GitHub Copilot CLI is a harness choice too, and every harness's model picker now shows that backend's own model names. Choosing Kiro Agent uses your Kiro Crew sign-in and falls back to the account from kiro-cli login.
The Connections page adds Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Sheets, Google Docs, and Google Slides. Each requests fixed read-only scopes through your own Google OAuth client. The Add Skill and Add Server dialogs open on a Popular list before you type a search. Under Capabilities → Knowledge → Sources, Add Knowledge Base registers an existing Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base, queried live and merged into knowledge search. Before the first search, a card asks you to confirm the AWS account, Region, and cost; nothing is sent until you do.
Turn on Settings → Notifications → Push notifications → Notify me even when Kiro Crew is closed to deliver alerts to an installed web app, including iOS after Add to Home Screen. Settings → Notifications → Custom sounds now takes a short MP3, WAV, or OGG file for any category. An approval that expires unanswered leaves a bell note naming the tool, and a chat that stops on an error you must act on leaves a Chat errors bell entry linking to it.
Each is an off-by-default switch under Settings → Developer → Feature Previews. Ultra Mode hands a chat's tasks to worker chats and shows their state on a Board. Explore adds a top-bar panel of features to try. Agent harness per Bot runs one Bot on a different harness. Shared Crew gives the owner a two-step card to share this machine over Tailscale after a restart; everyone it admits gets the same access. Remote dispatch runs Ultra Mode tasks on connected Remote Crew machines; nothing is sent until one connects.