Configuration Sync

Kiro IDE and Kiro CLI read your personal configuration from the local ~/.kiro directory. Cloud sessions run in a managed sandbox that cannot access your machine, so that directory does not apply there automatically. Configuration Sync closes the gap: upload supported folders from your local .kiro directory to Kiro Web, and the agent uses the cloud copy in every cloud session. You can also apply the cloud copy to new local IDE and CLI sessions.

Open Kiro Web settings and select Sync under Configuration in the sidebar to get started.

Upload one top-level folder from your local .kiro directory at a time. Six folders are supported:

Anything else at the root of .kiro, such as session state, caches, and runtime folders, is rejected. Within supported folders, Kiro filters machine-generated content such as .git, node_modules, and .DS_Store.

1. In Kiro Web, go to Settings > Sync.
2. Drag one supported folder, such as ~/.kiro/steering, onto the upload area, or select it with the folder picker.
3. Review each file and its status. Expand a row to inspect its content.
4. Select the files to sync, then choose Upload N files. Progress is reported for each file, and failed files can be retried.

Each status describes what the upload will do:

• New files do not exist in the cloud and are selected by default.
• Update files exist in the cloud with different content. Updates are opt-in and unselected by default because uploading replaces the cloud copy. Steering files and MCP servers show a side-by-side comparison.
• Synced files already match the cloud copy and are not uploaded.
• Unsupported files belong to a category with no cloud storage (for example, a binary skill file).
• Too large files exceed the per-item size limit and must be reduced before they can sync.
• Error files cannot be resolved to a safe action (for example, two local files that map to the same cloud document); resolve them locally and re-upload.

Powers follow one of two paths:

• Catalog Powers: If the Power name exactly matches a Power in the catalog, Kiro installs it by name and the service supplies the reviewed file set. Only POWER.md is actionable in the upload review.
• Custom Powers: Powers that are not in the catalog upload as individual text files. Names that differ from catalog or Amazon-managed Powers only by letter case are refused. Rename the folder to use it as a custom Power.

Cloud configuration always applies to cloud sessions. You can also carry it into local work.

On the Configuration Sync page, enable Apply your cloud configuration to local sessions. When a new local IDE or CLI session starts, Kiro loads your cloud Steering files, custom agents, Skills, Powers, and Hooks.

The toggle does not write cloud content into your local .kiro directory or replace existing local files.

• Upload one supported top-level folder at a time.
• Each uploaded item can be up to 4,000,000 bytes.
• A Skill can contain up to 25 files.
• A custom Power can contain up to 50 files.
• Skills and custom Powers support text files only.
• Selecting an Update replaces the cloud copy; uploads do not merge file contents.

Uploaded configuration appears on its feature-specific settings page, where supported items can be viewed, edited, downloaded, or deleted. It then applies automatically to cloud sessions alongside project configuration cloned with the repository.

Uploading is local-to-cloud. Changes made in Kiro Web settings are not written back to your machine. Treat your local .kiro directory as the source of truth when you want to preserve the same configuration on disk, then upload again when it changes.

• Cloud sessions - where uploaded configuration takes effect
• Configuration scopes - how personal, project, and cloud configuration work together
• Steering - writing Steering files
• Custom agents - creating specialized agents
• Skills - building reusable instruction bundles
• Hooks - automating agent events
• Powers and MCP - extending the cloud sandbox