kiro

name	kiro
description	Use when users ask about Kiro IDE features, setup, configuration, troubleshooting, specs, steering files, MCP servers, hooks, skills, commands, or workspace management. Activate for questions like 'How do I use Kiro?', 'What are specs?', 'How to set up MCP?', 'Create a steering file', 'Fix Kiro issues', or 'Configure my workspace'.

Kiro IDE Expert

Kiro is an AI-powered development environment that helps developers focus on what matters: designing systems, exploring solutions, and making decisions. It combines autonomous planning, execution, and validation with extensibility through specs, steering files, skills, commands, hooks, and MCP servers.

When to Use This Skill

Use when users need help with:

• Understanding Kiro features and capabilities
• Installation, setup, and workspace configuration
• Creating and managing specs (requirements, design, tasks)
• Writing steering files for project conventions
• Creating or managing skills
• Configuring MCP servers for external tool integration
• Setting up hooks for automation
• Using commands for development workflows
• Troubleshooting Kiro issues
• Multi-workspace and team collaboration
• Advanced features (autonomy modes, context management)

Activation examples:

• "How do I use Kiro?"
• "What are specs and how do I create one?"
• "How to set up MCP servers?"
• "Create a new steering file for X"
• "Fix Kiro configuration issues"
• "How do hooks work in Kiro?"

Core Architecture

Specs: Structured feature development workflow (requirements -> design -> tasks) that guides implementation systematically

Steering Files: Project-level instructions in .kiro/steering/ that provide conventions, standards, and context to the AI agent

Skills: Modular capabilities with instructions and references that Kiro activates automatically based on context

Commands: User-defined operations in .kiro/commands/ that expand to prompts for common workflows

Hooks: Automated actions triggered by IDE events (file changes, tool use, task execution, prompt submission)

MCP Servers: Model Context Protocol integrations connecting external tools and services via .kiro/settings/mcp.json

Quick Reference

Load these references when needed for detailed guidance:

Getting Started

• Installation & Setup: references/getting-started.md
  • Prerequisites, installation, workspace setup, first run

Spec-Driven Development

• Specs Workflow: references/specs-workflow.md
  • Requirements, design, tasks, bugfix specs, property-based testing

Steering & Configuration

• Steering Files: references/steering-files.md

  • Always-included, conditional (fileMatch), manual inclusion, front-matter format

• Configuration: references/configuration.md

  • Settings hierarchy, MCP config, workspace vs user settings

Skills & Commands

• Skills: references/skills.md

  • Creating skills, skill.md format, references directory, activation patterns

• Commands: references/commands.md

  • Command file format, front-matter, argument hints, workflow patterns

Integration & Extension

• MCP Integration: references/mcp-integration.md

  • mcp.json configuration, common servers, auto-approve, troubleshooting

• Hooks: references/hooks.md

  • Event types (fileEdited, preToolUse, postToolUse, promptSubmit, etc.)
  • Actions (askAgent, runCommand), hook schema, examples

Advanced Usage

• Autonomy Modes: references/autonomy-modes.md

  • Autopilot vs Supervised mode, when to use each

• Troubleshooting: references/troubleshooting.md

  • Common issues, MCP problems, performance, workspace diagnostics

• Best Practices: references/best-practices.md

  • Project organization, steering conventions, skill design, team workflows

Common Workflows

Spec-Driven Feature Development

1. Create a spec: Kiro guides you through requirements -> design -> tasks
2. Execute tasks: Kiro implements each task from the spec sequentially
3. Validate: Property-based tests verify correctness properties

Steering File Setup

# .kiro/steering/my-conventions.md
---
inclusion: always
description: Project coding conventions
---

Your conventions here...

Hook Configuration

{
  "name": "Lint on Save",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "when": {
    "type": "fileEdited",
    "patterns": ["*.ts", "*.tsx"]
  },
  "then": {
    "type": "runCommand",
    "command": "npm run lint"
  }
}

MCP Server Setup

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-server": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["my-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {},
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}

Skill Creation

.kiro/skills/my-skill/
  skill.md          # Main skill file with front-matter
  references/       # Supporting reference documents
    guide.md

Instructions for Kiro

When responding to Kiro-related questions:

1. Identify the topic from the user's question
2. Load relevant references from the Quick Reference section above
3. Provide specific guidance using information from loaded references
4. Include examples when helpful

Loading references:

• Read reference files only when needed for the specific question
• Multiple references can be loaded for complex queries

For setup questions: Load references/getting-started.md

For spec questions: Load references/specs-workflow.md

For steering questions: Load references/steering-files.md

For skill creation: Load references/skills.md

For command questions: Load references/commands.md

For MCP questions: Load references/mcp-integration.md

For hook questions: Load references/hooks.md

For configuration: Load references/configuration.md

For autonomy modes: Load references/autonomy-modes.md

For troubleshooting: Load references/troubleshooting.md

For best practices: Load references/best-practices.md

Documentation links:

• Kiro docs: https://kiro.dev/docs/
• GitHub: https://github.com/aws/kiro

Provide accurate, actionable guidance based on the loaded references and official documentation.