Manage bots

Use these task-based guides to create, configure, and maintain Kiro bots. For an explanation of their architecture and behavior, see How bots work.

You can create a bot in two ways:

Ask any bot to create a new bot for you. What happens next depends on whether you include a goal in your request.

If you provide only a name, for example "Create a bot named Contributor," the bot shows a Create a bot guide card. Select Start to open the creation form with the name filled in, then complete the form as described in Option 2. Select Dismiss to cancel. The bot is created only when you confirm in the form.

If you provide a name and a goal, for example "Create a bot named Contributor with the goal of helping me contribute regularly to the Kiro Crew open-source project," the bot shows a New bot card. The card lists the name, the goal, any tools that run without asking, and the bot's reason for the request. To create the bot:

1. Review the tools listed under Runs without asking. If the card shows a permissions warning, select I understand this widens permissions.
2. Select Create bot, or select Decline to cancel.

The card shows how long you have to respond.

1. On the Bots page, select New bot. If the roster already contains bots, open the + menu at the top of the roster.
2. Enter a Name. Optionally, select the pencil icon on the avatar to choose an icon and color.
3. To set a goal, workspace, model, triggers, or session color, open Advanced settings.
4. Select Create.

The new bot's thread opens. It asks you to define a goal, or confirms the goal you entered during creation. Review the proposal card and approve it to continue.

You can change a bot's model in two ways:

Ask the bot to switch models. For example:

"Switch your model to [model name]."

The bot shows a Bot change card with the current model, the new model, and its reason for the change. Select Apply change to confirm, or Decline to keep the current model. The card also shows how long you have to respond.

1. Open the bot's thread and select its name to open the Profile card.
2. On Profile, select Settings.
3. Choose a model and reasoning effort. The change is saved immediately and applies to the open thread.

By default, workers inherit the bot's model settings unless a separate worker model is configured. To use a separate model for delegated tasks, set the worker model and worker reasoning effort on the same page. This setting applies to new workers; existing workers retain the model and reasoning effort they started with.

A bot's permissions are set by its approval mode:

New bots start in Trust, except bots imported by an app, which start in Normal. Changes apply to running workers. Security policy and blocked commands apply in every mode. See Permissions.

You can change a bot's permissions in two ways:

Ask the bot to change its permissions. For example:

"Change your permissions to Normal."

The bot shows a Bot change card with the current approval mode, the new mode, and its reason for the change. Select Apply change to confirm, or Decline to keep the current mode. Permissions don't change until you confirm. The card also shows how long you have to respond.

1. Open the bot's Profile card.
2. On Profile, select Settings → Permissions.
3. Choose Normal, Reads, or Trust. The change is saved immediately.

1. In the bot's thread, describe an ongoing responsibility, such as: "Keep the builds in my project healthy."
2. Review and approve the proposed goal card, editing it if needed.
3. Review and approve the proposed milestones.
4. Approve the suggested check-ins, or configure them on Profile card → Goals. Configure Heartbeat separately under Schedules.

You can also begin under Goals → Create a goal → Tell <name> what to aim for. Check-ins are off by default. See Goals, milestones and check-ins.

1. Open your bot's Profile card and select Sessions.
2. Select the worker session you want to inspect.
3. Review its conversation and progress. To interrupt that worker, use its Stop control.

The bot's standing thread and its worker sessions are separate. Stopping one worker is different from disabling Heartbeat or a custom schedule.

1. Open your bot's Profile card → Schedules.
2. Under Your schedules, select New schedule.
3. Enter a name, the prompt to run, and its timing. Confirm that the selected agent is your bot.
4. Review the timing and prompt, then create the schedule.

Use All schedules to review the wider schedule list. Heartbeat is configured separately in the first row of the bot's Schedules tab. Daily, weekly, and monthly goal check-ins remain under Goals. Agent schedules use credits when they call a model; choose timing that fits the task.

Use Fresh start when you want to continue with the same bot without replaying its current conversation context.

1. Finish or remove queued messages and pending steering before proceeding.
2. In the bot's profile controls, select Fresh start.
3. Wait for the clear to complete before sending the next request. Provide any context the next task needs.

Fresh start stops a running turn and clears the active conversation and plan on the same thread. The saved transcript stays on disk; the next turn starts a fresh agent process. Saved memory, workspace files, and goals are not erased. Worker sessions and schedules are not all stopped by this action. Use their own controls if you want to stop background work.

If a worker needs a tool that is not available, it reports the requirement to its bot. The bot can request your approval through a card. You may be asked to enable the Dynamic capabilities preview before it can search for tools.

To add abilities manually:

1. Open the bot's Profile card and select the pencil icon (Edit bot).
2. Select Abilities. Comes with shows default worker abilities; Added to shows those configured for this bot.
3. Under Add abilities, select an agent to copy its tools, MCP servers and skills.
4. Review the preview and select Add.

The additions apply only to this bot. Workers reload them, after their current turn if busy. If the source agent includes instructions, those replace the bot's existing behavior directions. Abilities cannot override security policy.

You can always ask the bot directly in chat. For example: "Stop the worker that's running the tests" or "Turn off your scheduled check-ins."

To stop a bot or worker manually:

1. Open Customize → Bots.
2. Select Edit on the bot you want to delete.
3. Under Danger Zone, select Delete bot.

Deleting a bot unbinds it from new sessions. Its workspace, memory store, and past transcripts are kept. Clean Git worktrees are removed; worktrees with uncommitted changes and their branches remain. If you delete the built-in bot, Kiro Crew does not recreate it automatically.