Kiro AI

Kiro is the AI IDE developed by Amazon Web Services (AWS), launched in July 2025. Its philosophy is radically different from other AI IDEs: rather than simply "vibe coding" without structure, Kiro enforces a spec-driven workflow that formalizes the AI-assisted development process.

The Kiro workflow starts with defining specifications for each component of your project. You describe requirements, constraints, and acceptance criteria before coding begins. The AI then generates code that respects these specifications, making results more predictable and maintainable.

The Auto agent, launched in late 2025, is Kiro's agentic mode. It can work autonomously on development tasks while always respecting defined specifications. Prompt complexity is managed through a fractional credit system: a simple task may consume less than one credit, billed in 0.01 increments.

Kiro benefits from native integration with the AWS ecosystem: deployment to Cloud Run, integration with AWS services, and Agent Plugins for AWS. GovCloud support makes it accessible to government organizations with strict security requirements.

The editor is built on a modified VS Code base and supports multiple AI models under the hood, with a unified credit system that simplifies billing.