Developer tool
Kiro
AWS agentic development environment (IDE, CLI, and web) that turns prompts into specs and then plans, writes, and tests code.
Key points
- Spec-driven development: turns a prompt into requirements, a design, and a task list before implementing.
- Available as an IDE, a CLI, and a web agent that share project configuration.
- Steering files enforce project standards, and hooks automate actions on events such as file changes.
- Connects to external tools and APIs through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
- AWS recommends it in place of the Amazon Q Developer IDE plugins, which reach end of support on April 30, 2027.
When to use it
- Choose Kiro when developers need AI help planning, writing, debugging, and testing code.
- Use specs for larger features and bugfix specs for root-cause analysis.
- Use the CLI for terminal and CI workflows.
Exam tips
- Kiro is for developers; Amazon Quick is for business users.
- Kiro helps write application code; it is not a hosted model API like Amazon Bedrock.
- Spec-driven development (requirements, design, tasks) is a strong clue for Kiro.