One of the most rewarding aspects of being part of the AWS Community Builders program is the chance to gain early access to innovative tools , and today, I’m excited to share one that’s now available in public preview: Kiro.

Through this program, I’ve had the opportunity to attend exclusive webinars, interact with AWS professionals, and learn directly from builders across the globe. These experiences have not only expanded my technical knowledge but also given me a broader perspective on how products are built, used, and evolved.

Kiro is a perfect example of that journey, an agentic development environment that pushes the boundaries of productivity and redefines how we interact with code.

I’ve been testing Kiro extensively, and while it’s still in its early stages, there’s no doubt that it’s already supercharged my productivity as a cloud and DevOps engineer portfolio. Compared to traditional IDEs and even other agentic IDEs I’ve explored, Kiro stands out—not just as a VS Code fork, but as a whole new development experience.

Then I found Kiro—a new kind of AI development agent that didn’t just write code. It collaborated. It adapted. And it helped me turn my idea into a working website using intelligent agent architecture and task list, powered by hooks and steering inputs.

Zoom image will be displayed

One month ago, I found myself staring at a blank terminal. I had a clear vision: build my own website to showcase my skills as a Cloud and DevOps engineer — from automated pipelines to smart infrastructure demos. I planned it all out: a sleek, professional design, responsive layout, project filtering, SEO, accessibility, and high performance. But turning that idea into a production-ready, secure, and scalable site quickly became overwhelming. Despite my backend expertise, I found myself spending more time tweaking config files and solving deployment quirks than actually shipping features. What started as a portfolio turned into a real-world challenge — one that pushed me to rethink my own workflow.

Enter Kiro, an agentic AI IDE that doesn’t just code — it understands your intent, steers toward your goals, and hooks into your logic. That’s when things changed.

kiro functions

What is Kiro?

Kiro is an AI assistant and IDE built specifically for developers. It combines the power of artificial intelligence with practical development tools to streamline your coding process. Unlike traditional IDEs, Kiro can understand natural language instructions, recommend code changes, and help troubleshoot issues in real-time.

Zoom image will be displayed

Complexity with Spec-Driven Development

Modern development often drowns in chaos, unclear requirements, scattered documentation, and disconnected tasks. Kiro changes that narrative with a spec-driven development model that brings structure to your workflow. It transforms your initial prompt into clear requirements, system designs, and actionable tasks, all in one place.

Whether you’re planning a microservice or a full-stack app, Kiro lets you collaborate directly within the spec pane, aligning on architecture and goals before writing a line of code. Once finalized, Kiro’s intelligent agents can implement the spec autonomously, while you stay in control of every decision.

Automate Smarter with Agent Hooks

With agent hooks, Kiro allows you to automate repetitive and context-aware tasks. You can delegate operations to background AI agents that trigger on specific events, like saving a file. These agents can generate unit tests, improve code efficiency, or even update documentation, all without breaking your flow.

By using agent hooks, you scale your development process without scaling your mental overhead. The agents work behind the scenes while you stay focused on what matters most, shipping great features.

Kiro’s Spec-Driven Workflow

Kiro bridges the gap between product ideas and technical execution with a structured, spec-driven approach. Each feature begins with a dedicated spec folder containing three essential files:

• requirements.md: Captures clear, testable user stories using EARS (Easy Approach to Requirements Syntax), This structured approach brings clarity, testability, and traceability to your workflow. By turning vague ideas into clear, testable requirements, Kiro reduces miscommunication and accelerates development — ensuring alignment between product and engineering from day one.

• design.md: Outlines system architecture, data flow, interfaces, and testing strategy—providing a collaborative space for visualizing complex interactions.

• tasks.md: Breaks the work into discrete, trackable tasks with real-time status updates, ensuring smooth progress tracking and accountability.

Zoom image will be displayed

This structured format reduces ambiguity, improves alignment between product and engineering, and streamlines the entire development lifecycle — from feature idea to production-ready code.

Automate with Precision: Agent Hooks in Kiro

In a world where efficiency defines velocity, Kiro’s Agent Hooks bring automation to your IDE in a seamless, intelligent way. Rather than manually initiating routine tasks like linting, generating tests, or updating documentation, Agent Hooks respond to events like file saves or new file creation, executing predefined AI-powered actions behind the scenes.

What Are Agent Hooks?

Agent Hooks are event-driven triggers in your development workflow. When an event occurs, such as saving, creating, or deleting a file, Kiro automatically activates an agent that follows your prompt and performs the associated task. Imagine never having to remind yourself to generate unit tests again. With hooks, that’s your new normal.

Zoom image will be displayed

Hook created

Why Use Agent Hooks?

By automating repetitive actions, Agent Hooks help you:

• 🧹 Maintain consistent code quality

• 🛡️ Prevent security vulnerabilities

• ⏱️ Reduce manual overhead

• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Standardize team workflows

• ⚡ Accelerate development cycles

How Agent Hooks Work

Kiro’s automation system runs in three simple steps:

1. Event Detection: Monitors IDE activity for triggers (e.g. file save)

2. Prompt Execution: Sends your predefined natural language prompt to the agent

3. Automated Action: The agent executes the task autonomously

Guide the AI with Confidence: Steering in Kiro

One of Kiro’s most powerful features isn’t flashy—it’s smart, subtle, and scalable. Meet Steering, Kiro’s mechanism for persistent project context. Instead of repeating yourself in every conversation, Steering ensures Kiro remembers your conventions, standards, and architecture automatically.

What Is Steering?

Steering is Kiro’s way of building long-term memory around your project using markdown files located in .kiro/steering/. These files act as blueprints that teach Kiro how your project works, what libraries you use, and how your team writes code. It’s like having a senior engineer embedded in your IDE who never forgets the rules of your codebase.

Zoom image will be displayed

Why Use Steering in Kiro?

Steering in Kiro isn’t just a configuration — it’s your project’s memory, blueprint, and quality enforcer all in one. Here’s why it’s a game-changer:

✅ Consistent Code Generation
Every API, test, or component adheres to your team’s conventions — automatically.

🔁 Reduced Repetition
You don’t need to keep explaining your preferences. Kiro learns and remembers.

🤝 Team Alignment
Onboard new developers effortlessly. Kiro enforces your standards from day one.

📚 Scalable Project Knowledge
As your project evolves, your documentation grows with it — structured, searchable, and agent-aware.

With Steering, your codebase becomes cleaner, your team becomes faster, and your decisions scale with confidence.

🌐 Model Context Protocol (MCP): Supercharging Kiro with Specialized Context

Modern development doesn’t happen in isolation — it thrives on context, references, and real-time insight. That’s where Model Context Protocol (MCP) comes in. By extending Kiro’s AI with MCP, you’re not just coding — you’re tapping into a live stream of domain-specific intelligence.

🔎 What is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a communication standard that allows Kiro to connect with external servers packed with specialized knowledge, tools, and APIs. These MCP servers act like power-ups for your AI workflow — feeding it relevant data and making it context-aware.

Imagine having AWS documentation, API specs, or even design system rules instantly accessible by your assistant — MCP makes that possible.

What Can You Do With MCP?

When paired with Kiro, MCP unlocks the following superpowers:

• 🔍 Live Documentation Access
  Browse and retrieve AWS Docs, OpenAPI specs, and developer references within the IDE.

• 🤖 AI with Domain Awareness
  Instead of general answers, Kiro can respond using accurate, official sources from your custom MCP server.

• 💡 Contextual Code Recommendations
  Based on the connected service, Kiro can auto-suggest configurations, cloud commands, best practices, and more.

• 🧰 External Tool Integration
  You can hook in documentation engines, dev portals, internal wikis, or any server that supports MCP’s JSON protocol.

Zoom image will be displayed

mcp server -aws docs

🧱 Real-World Example: AWS MCP Server

Let’s say you’re building an app on AWS. With the AWS Documentation MCP server, you can:

• Ask Kiro “How does S3 versioning work?”

• Get code snippets with AWS SDK best practices

• Auto-complete IAM policy JSON

• Generate Terraform or CloudFormation templates, instantly

All without leaving your IDE or flipping tabs.

Why MCP Matters

MCP transforms Kiro from a smart code assistant into a context-aware development ally. Whether you’re learning cloud tech, building internal tools, or scaling infrastructure, you get AI help informed by your real-world environment.

Personal Portfolio Built

This is a modern, responsive personal portfolio website built for GitHub Pages hosting. The project showcases professional work, skills, and contact information using a clean, performance-focused architecture.

• Create a professional online presence for career opportunities

• Showcase technical projects with detailed case studies

• Demonstrate modern web development skills and best practices

• Provide multiple contact channels for potential employers/collaborators

• Achieve excellent performance and accessibility scores

Zoom image will be displayed

Task list

How It’s Built
Core Technologies:

Static HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript — Pure web technologies for GitHub Pages compatibility
Jekyll — Optional static site generator for GitHub Pages integration
Modern CSS — CSS Grid, Flexbox, Custom Properties for responsive design
Vanilla JavaScript — ES6+ modules for interactive features

Key Features:

Responsive Design — Mobile-first approach with CSS Grid layouts
Project Showcase — Dynamic filtering and search functionality
Contact Integration — Forms with third-party service handling (Formspree)
Performance Optimized — Lazy loading, image optimization, minified assets
Accessibility First — WCAG AA compliance with keyboard navigation and screen reader support
SEO Optimized — Structured data, meta tags, and sitemap generation

Architecture:

Component-based CSS using BEM methodology
Modular JavaScript with ES6 modules
File-based content management through YAML data files
Automated build pipeline with GitHub Actions and Lighthouse CI

Zoom image will be displayed

The project demonstrates modern web development practices while maintaining the simplicity required for static hosting, making it both performant and maintainable. check the live website here : DD-website

Conclusion: From Complexity to Clarity — The Kiro Way

In a world where shipping software often feels like solving a puzzle with missing pieces, Kiro provides the structure, automation, and contextual intelligence developers have long craved. From spec-driven clarity to automated agent hooks, steering-based consistency, and MCP-powered insight, Kiro transforms development from a manual grind into an intelligent, collaborative workflow.

For me, what started as a personal project to showcase my Cloud and DevOps skills evolved into a deep dive into the future of AI-assisted development. Kiro didn’t just help me build faster — it helped me build smarter. And it’s just the beginning.

🌐 Next Up in the Series

“From Spec to Site: Building a Frontend Portfolio with Kiro”

In the next part of this series, I’ll show you how I transformed my Kiro-powered specs into a live, responsive frontend website — complete with automated code generation, component scaffolding, and spec-driven UI logic.

After weeks of refining specs, collaborating with intelligent agents, and streamlining my workflow inside Kiro, I’m excited to share the result: my live cloud and DevOps portfolio website, designed and built using Kiro’s agentic IDE. From layout to logic, every component was generated through spec-driven development, hooks, and steering files — allowing me to focus on what matters most: showcasing real skills, real projects, and real impact.

In the next part of this series, I’ll walk you through how this site came to life — how I turned natural language specs into production-ready frontend code, automated build flows, and shipped a polished site without touching endless config files. Whether you’re building a personal brand or launching a product, this next article will show how Kiro can turn your idea into infrastructure — fast.

Stay tuned. ✨

Thank you for taking the time to read my article! If you found it helpful, feel free to like, share, and drop your thoughts in the comments — I’d love to hear from you.

If you want to connect or dive deeper into cloud and DevOps, feel free to follow me on my socials:

💼 LinkedIn

❌ X (formerly Twitter)

👨‍💻 DEV Community

🐙 GitHub