Kiro CLI leverages the Kiro Auto agent to deliver the best results at the best price, in your terminal, and takes you from natural language, to code, to deployment. Kiro CLI supports different agent modes, MCPs, Kiro steering files, and custom agents, allowing you to mold the CLI to meet your needs.
1.20.0CLI
0.5IDE
This release expands MCP capabilities with remote server support and one-click installation, introduces global steering rules and project-specific agent configuration, and refines agent workflows with improved hook execution, command trust, and targeted file context.
Connect to MCP servers hosted anywhere on the internet via Streamable HTTP, accessing cloud services and APIs without local installation.
Define global steering rules that apply across all your workspaces.
Support for the AGENTS.md standard to define guidelines, coding standards and architectural patterns. Add an AGENTS.md file to the global steering file location (~/.kiro/steering/), or to the root folder of your workspace, and they will get picked up by Kiro automatically.
Simplified MCP server setup with automatic installation—get started with MCP tools faster than ever. View servers →
Use environment variables in your MCP server configurations for flexible, environment-specific setups.
![## Use Case 3: Extending User Preferences
Scenario: Add a 'preferredPaymentMethod' field to UserPreferences
Targeted Context Needed: #IIfile:src/types/app.ts:127-143]]
This shows just the UserPreferences interface, which is what needs modification. The agent doesn't need to see:
- The full User interface (lines 115-126)
- Payment method enums (lines 105-112)
- Subscription types (lines 158-180)
Result: Faster, more accurate implementation with less context pollution.](/images/changelogs/v0.5.0/targeted-context.png)
Reference specific line ranges when adding files to context (e.g., #[[file:src/utils/helper.ts:10-25]]), giving you precise control over what the agent sees and enabling more focused implementations.
0.4IDE
This release introduces dev server support with background processes, spec context provider and MVP task workflows, enhanced MCP controls, and per prompt usage tracking with notifications.
Choose your development pace during spec creation. When the agent generates tasks, select "Keep optional tasks (faster MVP)" to mark tests and documentation as optional (✱), or "Make all tasks required" for comprehensive coverage from the start. Optional tasks remain visible throughout the workflow, letting you focus on core features first
Use #spec in chat to reference your spec files directly. The agent now understands your spec context, providing more accurate responses during development
Long-running commands like npm run dev, build watchers, and test runners now start in the background automatically. The agent detects these processes, returns control to you immediately, and continues tracking them—no more blocked terminals
You can now see how many credits each prompt consumed, right in the chat panel.
Get intelligent alerts about your credit usage patterns to help you stay informed and avoid surprises
0.3IDE
This release brings spec task management, intelligent code diagnostics, AI-powered commit messages, and refined agent interactions to streamline your development process.
- Support for Sonnet 4.5 (experimental): You can now send your prompts to Sonnet 4.5 via the chat box. Sonnet 4.5 is also available in Auto, our agent which uses a variety of task-specific foundation models under the hood
- Spec MVP tasks: During spec creation, you can now mark tasks (including unit tests) as optional to prioritize core features while keeping comprehensive task lists
- Diagnostics Tool: Added diagnostics tool to provide agent with syntax, type, and semantic errors, improving agent accuracy and reducing lint errors
- Git Commit Message Generation: Draft commit messages using the agent directly from the source control pane with a single click. Learn more →
- Repetitive Tool Use Detection: Agent now detects repetitive tool usage patterns and prompts users to continue or stop, optimizing credit consumption
- Unified Credits System improvements: Unified credits system with Auto agent capabilities enhancements and bug fixes. This feature provides users a single credit pool and streamlined usage tracking. Learn more →
0.2.68IDE
This release addresses critical security vulnerabilities and bug fixes.
- V8 Engine Security: Merge Chromium 138.0.7204.251 to address CVE-2025-10585, a zero-day vulnerability addressing type confusion issue in V8 JavaScript and WebAssembly engine.
- Command Execution Security: Fixed vulnerability on PowerShell that could allow malicious commands to execute without user confirmation
- License Access: Fixed render issue in License page
0.2.59IDE
This release brings Auto, our new agent, enhanced usage tracking, and editor improvements to elevate your development experience.
Note: These features are rolling out gradually between now and October 1st, and users will be migrated to a single pool of credits and new limits. Your limits will reset to the new monthly plan limits once migrated.
- Auto: Added Auto to the model options. Auto is an agent that uses a mix of different frontier models such as Sonnet 4 combined with specialized models, and optimization techniques such as intent detection, caching, and more
- Unified Limits: Support for new paid plans with unified limits and fractional credit consumption
- Usage Dashboard: Support to view usage based on single Kiro credit pool
- Usage Meter: Add credit consumption status bar item to allow easier usage tracking
- Editor Upgrade: Upgraded editor to CodeOSS 1.103.2
- Account Management: Enable Kiro account deletion for BuilderID
- Authentication: Improvements to login reliability and logout flow for better signing experience
- UI Improvements: Hide trust command UI on command cancellation
0.2.38IDE
This release includes editor performance improvements, enhanced reliability, and bug fixes to enhance your development experience.
- Code OSS v1.100.3 Upgrade: Updated to Code OSS v1.100.3 that adds improved stability and performance improvements
- Faster Response Times: Optimized request handling makes interactions more efficient and improves performance
- Improved Session Management: Enhanced backend processing reduces interruptions and allows for longer continuous work sessions
- Enhanced Tool Call Recovery: When tool invocations result in repeated failures, Kiro now prompts for your intervention instead of continuing indefinitely, protecting your usage limits and preventing loops
- Enhanced Security Patterns: Expanded detection of dangerous shell commands with improved pattern recognition. Risky commands require manual review unless you explicitly trust them. Learn more about security patterns →
- Model Update: Removed Claude Sonnet 3.7 from the model selector and set Claude Sonnet 4 as the default for all users. Sonnet 4 delivers improved performance and capabilities across all interactions.
- Git Repository Initialization: Fixed issue that prevented Git setup for new projects without existing repositories
- Model Selection Persistence: Fixed chat model selection not being saved when restarting Kiro IDE
0.2.13IDE
This release brings key improvements to accessibility, account management, and overall platform reliability.
Kiro is now accessible to more developers through waitlist codes. If you have an waitlist code, you can register and start building with AI-powered development workflows alongside our growing community.
Paid plans are now live, giving you access to higher usage limits. Choose the plan that fits your development needs and scale your AI-powered workflows.
Introducing comprehensive usage tracking to help you monitor your Kiro consumption. The new billing dashboard displays real-time spec and vibe request usage, plan management options, and overage controls for paid plans.
0.1IDE
Kiro, a new agentic IDE that helps you do your best work with spec-driven development.
Structured artifacts that formalize the development process for complex features in your application. Learn more
Video transcript
The video shows the Kiro IDE. In the left sidebar under "SPECS", the user clicks "simple-todo-app", which opens a "requirements.md" file titled "Requirements Document" containing an introduction and numbered requirements written as user stories with WHEN/THEN acceptance criteria. A row of tabs reads "1 Requirements", "2 Design", "3 Task list"; the user clicks "2 Design" to reveal a "design.md" file with a layered architecture diagram (User Interface, Application Logic, and Data Layer) and component definitions. The user then clicks "3 Task list" to show a "tasks.md" implementation plan of checkboxed tasks, where the first task is marked "Task completed" and later tasks show "Start task" actions.
Set up event-driven automation like updating documentation or generating tests on events such as file save. Learn more
Video transcript
The video shows the Kiro IDE. In the left sidebar under "AGENT HOOKS", the user clicks "Code Quality Analyzer", opening its configuration editor for the file ".kiro/hooks/code-quality-analyzer.kiro.hook" with a "Hook enabled" toggle switched on. The panel shows the hook's title and a description ("Monitors source code files for changes and analyzes modified code for potential improvements..."), an "Event" selector with "File Saved" chosen among the options File Created, File Saved, File Deleted, and Manual Trigger, and a "File path(s) to watch" list of glob chips covering JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, TSX, Python, Java, and C++ files. Below, an "Instructions for Kiro agent" text area lists what to analyze — code smells and anti-patterns, design patterns, language best practices, readability, maintainability, and performance.
Define steering files to guide agent behaviors. Learn more
Video transcript
The video shows the Kiro IDE. In the left sidebar under "AGENT STEERING", the user clicks through three markdown files. "product.md" opens to a "Product Overview" describing the workspace as a development environment configured for AI-assisted coding with Kiro. "structure.md" shows a "Project Structure" document with a directory tree of the ".kiro/" folder (hooks, specs, and steering subfolders) and file-naming conventions. "tech.md" shows a "Technology Stack" document listing the IDE, platform (macOS), shell (zsh), and common shell commands.
Build features from chat. Turn on Autopilot mode for hands-off execution or approve each change manually. Learn more
Video transcript
The video shows the Kiro IDE with the "Let's build" chat panel open on the right, using the "Claude Sonnet 4.0" model with "Autopilot" enabled. The user types "Help me get started on the next task" and sends it. Kiro responds by first "Including Steering Documents" — shown as chips for product.md, structure.md, and tech.md — then replies that it sees an existing spec at ".kiro/specs/simple-todo-app" and will check its contents to identify the next task, displaying a "Searched workspace" step while it works.
Integrate with your favorite tools and services. Learn more
Video transcript
The video shows the Kiro IDE. In the left sidebar, the "MCP SERVERS" section lists "aws-docs" (Connected), "github" (Connected), and "my-remote-mcp" (Disabled). The user expands "aws-docs" to reveal its tools — read_documentation, search_documentation, and recommend — and opens the "mcp.json" configuration file, which defines each server's command, arguments, and environment (for example, aws-docs runs via "uvx" and github via "npx" with a personal access token). Finally, in the chat input the user invokes a tool by typing "#[aws-docs] read_documentation" and pressing Enter.