IDE changelog

Update (August 18, 2026): IDE auto-updates are enabled again. Updates download automatically in the background; see Upgrading Kiro to check manually.

Note: To get the latest 1.0.x release, download it directly from kiro.dev/downloads. Auto-updates are being rolled out gradually to users.

This release resolves context compaction issues that caused premature summarization and fatal crashes on long sessions. Session migration becomes a user-initiated action with file checkpoints preserved, hooks auto-migrate from the legacy format, and several permissions and MCP reliability issues are fixed.

Update (August 18, 2026): IDE auto-updates are enabled again. Updates download automatically in the background; see Upgrading Kiro to check manually.

Note: To get the latest 1.0.x release (1.0.52 or later), download it directly from kiro.dev/downloads. Auto-updates are paused at this time and we are working on re-enabling them.

IDE 1.0 puts you in control of what the agent can access, lets you build and switch between specialized agents, and introduces an experimental agent focus mode for directing parallel agents. This release also brings natural language hook creation, dockable chat tabs, and session export.

Direct multiple agents from a chat-first layout designed for developers who spend their day guiding agents. Launch sessions that work independently and in parallel, see status at a glance, and watch file changes appear as inline diffs. Start with structured workflows (Spec, Plan, Bug Fix, Quick Spec) or freeform chat. Toggle between Agent Focus and the traditional IDE from the top-right corner — your work carries over in both directions. Learn more ->

Define exactly what the agent can and cannot do. A capability-based permissions system evaluates every file read, command execution, and MCP call against your rules. The IDE prompts for consent on anything you haven't pre-approved, and you can persist decisions as rules scoped to a workspace or globally. No configuration required to start — defaults apply, and your policy grows as you make consent decisions. Learn more ->

Build specialized agents in minutes. Write a Markdown file, declare tool access with simple tags (read, write, shell, web), embed MCP servers and permission rules inline, and share the file with your team via version control. Your agent appears in the selector the moment you save it. Switch agents mid-session without losing conversation history. Learn more ->

Describe the automation you want in natural language and Kiro generates the hook configuration. Hooks use a structured v1 JSON format stored in .kiro/hooks/ with triggers for file events, tool use interception, spec tasks, and prompt submission. Legacy hooks from 0.x can be migrated directly from the Agent Hooks panel. Manual hooks have been replaced by manual steering files. Learn more ->

Open any chat session as a full-width editor tab for more space to read and review long conversations. Right-click a chat tab and select Open in Editor to dock it. Split horizontally or vertically alongside source files, drag between editor groups, or use a multi-monitor setup with chat on a separate screen. The editor tab and panel stay in sync — messages sent from either reach the same session. Learn more ->

Switch between agents within a chat session without losing conversation history. The selector sits in the chat input bar alongside the model picker — go from Default to a custom code reviewer to Spec mode in a single conversation. Set a preferred default agent that persists across restarts so new sessions always start the way you want. Learn more ->

IDE 1.0 replaces Trusted Commands and Command Denylist with permissions.yaml shell rules. To preserve your existing behavior, translate trusted command prefixes to allow rules and denylist entries to deny rules. Without custom rules, read-only Git commands run automatically and other shell commands prompt for approval. Learn more ->

Select code and press Cmd+L on macOS (Ctrl+L on Windows/Linux) to bring it into your current chat, or Cmd+Shift+L on macOS (Ctrl+Shift+L on Windows/Linux) to start a new session with it. You can also right-click the selection and choose Kiro > Ask Kiro, along with quick actions like Fix Grammar / Spelling, Write Comments for this Code, and Optimize this Code. The selection adds it to your current chat, where the agent already has your project context, your history, and its full set of tools. Inline chat is retired in IDE 1.0.

This release makes Kiro Specs faster to start, faster to finish, and harder to get wrong. Run independent tasks concurrently for faster execution, skip approval gates with Quick Plan when you already know the scope, and catch logical inconsistencies in your requirements before they become implementation problems.

Run all Tasks now runs independent tasks concurrently instead of one at a time. No configuration needed - click Run all Tasks and Kiro handles the rest. It analyzes your task list for dependencies and groups independent tasks into parallel waves, each running in its own isolated context. For specs with 4+ independent tasks, this can cut execution time by up to 4x. Learn more ->

A new Spec session mode for when you already know what you want to build. Kiro generates requirements, design, and tasks in a single pass without approval gates between phases. It asks clarifying questions up front (scope, constraints, edge cases) then produces all three artifacts. You land directly on the task list, ready to build. Same traceability and correctness that Specs provide, with a tighter feedback loop. Learn more ->

A deep analysis pass that catches logical inconsistencies, ambiguities, conflicting constraints, and gaps in your requirements before you move to design. Kiro uses automated reasoning to find issues that are hard to catch in a read-through - ambiguous language, conflicting constraints, and logical gaps. Results appear in chat as clarifying questions you can resolve in seconds. Learn more ->

This release gives enterprise teams centralized control over MCP server access and model availability, and adds document attachment support to chat.

Enterprise administrators using IAM Identity Center can now control which MCP servers their organization is allowed to use. Create a JSON registry file listing approved servers, host it over HTTPS, and configure the URL in the Kiro console. The registry supports remote (HTTP) and local (stdio) servers across npm, PyPI, and OCI package types, with ${VAR} placeholders for user-specific values like auth tokens. Kiro syncs with the registry every 24 hours, enforces version-pinned access, and works alongside the existing MCP on/off toggle to give you full control at the org or account level.

Enterprise administrators can now control which AI models are available to users in their organization. Toggle on model access management in the Kiro console under Settings > Shared settings > Model availability, then curate an approved list of models. You can also set a default model that auto-applies across all clients. This is especially relevant for data residency requirements — experimental models using global cross-region inference can be removed from the approved list until they move to GA with regional inference. Once enabled, only approved models appear in the model selector across both the IDE and CLI.

You can now attach documents directly to chat messages by pasting or dragging files into the input. Supported formats include PDF, CSV, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, HTML, TXT, and Markdown. Documents are sent to the model as native document blocks, so the agent can read and reason over their contents. You can attach up to 5 documents per message and mix them with text and images in the same prompt.

This release introduces new spec workflows that let you design features architecture-first and fix bugs with structured root cause analysis. Supervised mode now lets you review changes at the hunk level for precise control. New hook triggers automate work around spec tasks, and MCP servers can now surface prompts, templates, and elicitation support directly in chat.

A new Design-First workflow lets you start a feature spec from technical architecture instead of requirements. Provide a high-level or low-level design, pseudocode, or system diagram and Kiro derives feasible requirements from it. This is ideal when you have strict non-functional constraints, an existing design to port, or want to think through the architecture before defining user-facing behavior. Learn more ->

Specs now include a dedicated Bugfix workflow. Describe the issue you're seeing and Kiro walks you through root cause analysis, fix design, and regression prevention. The result is a bugfix.md that captures current behavior, expected behavior, and what must remain unchanged, giving the agent clear guardrails before it writes a single line of code. Learn more ->

Supervised mode now presents file changes as individual hunks instead of full-file diffs. Each hunk is a logical group of related lines that you can independently accept, reject, or discuss with inline chat. You can also accept changes at the file level or accept all changes at once. This gives you precise control over exactly which parts of a change to keep. Learn more ->

Two new hook triggers let you automate work around spec task execution. Pre Task Execution fires before a task begins, so you can run setup scripts or validate prerequisites. Post Task Execution fires after a task completes, letting you run tests, linting, or notify external systems automatically. Combine these with the existing hook actions to build end-to-end automation around your spec workflows. Learn more ->

MCP servers can now provide prompts and resource templates that appear in the context provider (#) menu in chat. Select a prompt to insert pre-built instructions, or fill in a resource template's parameters to pull in specific content as context. During tool execution, servers can also request additional input from you through elicitation. Kiro supports elicitation so servers can request the information they need without interrupting your workflow. Learn more ->

This release adds support for signing in to Kiro IDE with Okta or Microsoft Entra ID credentials.

Enterprise teams can now connect Okta or Microsoft Entra ID alongside AWS IAM Identity Center, giving organizations flexibility in how they manage user access. Developers sign in to the IDE with their existing corporate credentials. User and group synchronization happens automatically through SCIM provisioning. Configure your IdP once and it works across both Kiro IDE and CLI. Learn more ->

This release brings powerful new ways to customize and extend Kiro's agentic capabilities. Define your own specialized subagents, import portable skill packages from the community, and intercept tool invocations with new hook triggers. Enterprise customers also get new governance controls for web tools.

Define your own specialized agents to handle specific tasks in your workflow. Create a markdown file in ~/.kiro/agents (global) or .kiro/agents (workspace) with a system prompt and optional attributes like model selection, tool access, and MCP server integration. Kiro automatically selects the right custom agent based on its description, or you can invoke one explicitly. Learn more ->

Import and create portable instruction packages following the open Agent Skills standard. Skills bundle instructions, scripts, and templates that Kiro activates on-demand when relevant to your task. Share skills across projects or import them from the community. Learn more ->

New hook triggers let you intercept agent tool invocations. Pre Tool Use hooks can block certain tools or provide additional context before execution. Post Tool Use hooks enable logging, code formatting, or follow-up instructions after a tool runs. Filter by tool categories (read, write, shell, web) or specific tool names with wildcard support. Learn more ->

Pro-tier customers using IAM Identity Center can now control web tools access for their organization. Administrators can disable web search and web fetch tools from the AWS console under Settings > Shared settings. Learn more ->

Point Kiro at your organization's private extension registry instead of the default Open VSX marketplace. Configure a limited set of vetted extensions for your team by updating the extensionsGallery settings in product.json. Deploy across your organization using MDM or endpoint management. Learn more ->

This release introduces web tools for searching and fetching content from the internet, enhanced hooks with new action types, subagents for parallel task execution, and improved supervised mode with per-file review capabilities.

Kiro can now search the web and fetch content from URLs directly in chat. Use web tools to look up current documentation, find the latest library versions, or research solutions to technical problems. This keeps your development workflow in one place without switching to a browser.

Introducing contextual hooks with two new triggers: Prompt Submit and Agent Stop. These hooks fire at key moments in the agent workflow, letting you inject context or run commands before the agent acts. Choose between Agent Prompt actions to instruct the agent with natural language, or Shell Command actions to run commands locally without consuming credits.

Introducing subagents for parallel task execution. Kiro can now run multiple tasks simultaneously or delegate to specialized subagents. Two built-in subagents are available: a context gatherer for exploring projects and a general-purpose agent for parallelizing tasks. Each subagent has its own context window, keeping the main agent context clean. Use subagents to investigate multiple data sources in parallel, analyze GitHub issues across repositories, or extend your context window limits without requiring summarization.

Supervised mode now offers granular control over code changes with per-file review capabilities. When Kiro makes changes to multiple files, you can review each file individually and selectively accept or reject changes. This turn-based approach works in both vibe chat and spec chat sessions, giving you full visibility into each modification.

This release introduces Powers for dynamic MCP tool loading, conversation summarization to manage context windows, and slash commands for quick access to hooks and steering files.

Introducing Powers, a new way to give Kiro's agent instant expertise for any framework or tool. Powers package MCP servers, steering files, and hooks into reusable bundles that activate on-demand based on your conversation context. Instead of loading all MCP tools upfront and overwhelming your context window, powers load dynamically when you mention relevant keywords. Browse curated powers from launch partners including Datadog, Dynatrace, Figma, Neon, Netlify, Postman, Supabase, Stripe, and more—or create your own.

Adds automatic conversation summarization to manage long conversations. When your conversation reaches 80% of the model's context window limit, Kiro automatically summarizes previous messages to bring context usage back below the limit. A new context usage meter in the chat panel shows what percentage of the model's context is being used.

Introducing slash commands for quick access to hooks and steering files directly from the chat input. Type / to see available commands and execute them instantly. Hooks with manual triggers and steering files configured with manual inclusion appear in the slash command menu, letting you run tests, sync documentation, or pull in specific guidance on demand.

This release adds support for enterprise billing where administrators can onboard large teams to Kiro, provides the capability to revert to the results of a previous conversation through checkpointing, adds support for multi-root workspaces, and introduces property-based testing with Kiro.

Introduces property-based testing (PBT) to generate evidence for verification of spec requirements. Unlike unit tests, PBTs run hundreds of times with randomly generated inputs to detect edge cases.

Launches support for enterprise users in Kiro IDE. Profile selection when multiple profiles are configured (auto-select default profile if only one profile exists), new dashboard for enterprise users, in-chat alerts, usage metering and summaries, enterprise governance of telemetry and MCP settings.

Introducing the Kiro CLI. Kiro CLI leverages the Auto agent to deliver results in your terminal, and takes you from natural language, to code, to deployment. Kiro CLI supports different agent modes, MCPs, steering files, and custom agents. Install on macOS or Linux:

With multi-root workspace support, a single Kiro workspace can have multiple roots, e.g., a single workspace that contains both /users/bob/my-project and /shared/utils/auth as top-level folders.

Support for checkpointing which allows users to revert to the results of a previous conversation in Kiro. This feature enables developers to undo changes made by AI agents and return to a previous state of their workspace, while providing visibility into what changed and guidance on next steps.

Adds experimental settings to control the Codebase (#codebase) allowing users to opt-in to this CPU-intensive indexing feature.

Adds capabilities to the chat context provider for files to use line ranges in order to focus context to either a single line in a file or line range.

Access app.kiro.dev to manage your account, track usage statistics, and modify subscription settings through the web interface.