AI-powered code editors have become all the rage now, with many developers opting for vibe coding with these to speed up their workflow and reduce repetitive tasks. While the experience may vary, the growing popularity of such tools doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
These editors often combine natural language processing with code understanding, enabling more intuitive interactions like asking questions, generating specs, or automating routine work.
Even Microsoft has taken notice, moving to make VS Code an AI-first IDE. And now, it looks like Amazon is entering the space as well.
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Kiro is not FOSS, we covered it because it's available for Linux.
Kiro: What's in Store?
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Kiro specs creation demo. (Source: Kiro)
Kiro is a new AI-powered IDE developed by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that focuses on spec-driven development to help development teams quickly move from prototyping to production.
It is powered by Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4, with Sonnet 3.7 as a backup option, and comes equipped with many interesting features. For starters, there is it's Specs-driven development approach, where plain language prompts are transformed into detailed specifications, requirements, and technical designs before any code generation happens.
Another highlight is Agent Hooks, an automation system that triggers actions like regenerating tests or updating documentation automatically as you edit or save files. These hooks act as persistent quality gates, helping teams enforce best practices and reduce routine manual work.
Kiro also offers an Agentic Chat interface, providing context-aware conversations directly inside the IDE. You can ask questions about your code, documentation, or even repository structure and get tailored responses or AI-assisted code generation based on your project.
There's support for MCP Servers too, enabling Kiro to securely connect with a wide range of external tools, APIs, and data sources right from within the IDE. And, finally, we have Steering, Kiro’s way of guiding its AI with human-readable Markdown files that define a project’s structure, coding standards, architectural patterns, and team conventions.
All of this is built on an open source VS Code base, allowing Kiro to leverage a solid foundation to support familiar workflows, seamless plugin compatibility, and effortless migration of user settings.
The developers have published a blog that shows how Kiro works. It's worth a read.
Get Kiro
The IDE is free to use during the Preview phase, giving you full access to its core features at no cost. After the preview, Kiro will move to a subscription model, with plans ranging from KIRO FREE ($0/month) to KIRO PRO+ ($39/month), offering additional features and higher usage limits.
You can download Kiro for Linux, Windows, and macOS directly from the official website. The documentation and tutorial are handy for getting your workflow up and running quickly.
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