Amazon's AI IDE treats planning as a first-class citizen

What it does Kiro is a desktop IDE and CLI from Amazon that wraps an AI coding agent in a structured workflow. It breaks down natural-language requests into implementation specs, automates tasks via file-system hooks, and lets you steer behavior through project-specific markdown files. It also imports your VS Code setup and connects to external tools via MCP servers.

The interesting bit The “spec-driven development” angle is the standout claim: instead of raw prompt-and-pray, Kiro supposedly plans first. The Amazon pedigree is also notable—billing and support run through AWS, and the project uses Amazon’s open-source conduct policy, which makes this feel less like a scrappy startup and more like a cloud vendor product drop.

Key highlights

• Structured Specs decompose features into implementation plans before code generation.
• Hooks trigger on file changes and dev events to automate repetitive tasks.
• Steering files let you constrain agent behavior with custom markdown rules.
• Powers provide on-demand domain-specific context and tools to agents.
• One-click migration imports VS Code extensions and settings.

Caveats

• The README offers no source code or build instructions, directing users instead to external downloads and AWS support channels.
• “Privacy First” and “enterprise-grade security” are asserted without detail.
• Support and billing are handled through AWS channels, which may delight enterprise users but confuse solo developers looking for straightforward community support.

Verdict Worth a look if you’re an AWS shop or want an AI IDE that emphasizes planning over raw generation. Skip it if you prefer fully open-source tools or dislike vendor-tethered support workflows.