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
Models
Added support for Claude Opus 4.5 - Anthropic's most intelligent model combining maximum capability with practical performance. Ideal for complex specialized tasks, professional software engineering, and advanced agents. Claude Opus 4.5 is available in both the Kiro IDE and Kiro CLI for Pro, Pro+, and Power tier subscribers.
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.
Remote MCP Support
Connect to MCP servers hosted anywhere on the internet via Streamable HTTP, accessing cloud services and APIs without local installation.
Global Steering Rules
Define global steering rules that apply across all your workspaces.
AGENTS.md Support
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.
One-Click MCP Installation
Simplified MCP server setup with automatic installation—get started with MCP tools faster than ever. View servers →
Environment Variable Expansion in MCP
Use environment variables in your MCP server configurations for flexible, environment-specific setups.
Targeted File Context in specs
![## 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?h=e6ee3581)
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.
Spec MVP Tasks UX
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
Spec Context in Chat
Use #spec in chat to reference your spec files directly. The agent now understands your spec context, providing more accurate responses during development
Dev server support
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
Per prompt credit consumption insights
You can now see how many credits each prompt consumed, right in the chat panel.
Proactive Usage Notifications
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.
New Features
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.
Security Improvements
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
Bug Fixes
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.
New Features
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
Bug Fixes and Improvements
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.
Performance & Reliability
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 User Experience
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.
Bug Fixes
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.
🎟️ Waitlist Code Support
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 Now Available
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.
📊 Usage Tracking & Billing Dashboard
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.
Features
Specs
Structured artifacts that formalize the development process for complex features in your application. Learn more
Hooks
Set up event-driven automation like updating documentation or generating tests on events such as file save. Learn more
Steering
Define steering files to guide agent behaviors. Learn more
Agentic chat
Build features from chat. Turn on Autopilot mode for hands-off execution or approve each change manually. Learn more
MCP
Integrate with your favorite tools and services. Learn more
