Kiro Setup

Kiro is AWS's agentic coding tool. This page covers the Kiro CLI (kiro-cli) — distinct from the Kiro IDE — which communicates via ACP through the kiro-cli acp command (available since Kiro CLI 1.25.0).

Install and Configure

Open a terminal (Terminal on macOS/Linux, PowerShell on Windows) and run the following commands.

1. Install the Kiro CLI:

macOS/Linux

curl -fsSL https://cli.kiro.dev/install | bash

Windows

irm 'https://cli.kiro.dev/install.ps1' | iex

Windows support

The Kiro CLI requires Windows 11, and the install command must run in Windows Terminal or PowerShell (not Command Prompt). Other installers (AppImage, zip, .deb) are listed in the Kiro CLI docs.

2. Find the installation path:

macOS/Linux

which kiro-cli
# Example output: /Users/username/.local/bin/kiro-cli

Windows

where.exe kiro-cli

3. Open Settings → Agent Client. The default command (kiro-cli) works in many cases. If the agent is not found automatically, set the Kiro path to the path found above, or click Auto-detect.

Authentication

Choose one of the following methods:

Option A: Sign In (Interactive)

1. Run the login flow in your terminal:

kiro-cli login

2. Sign in with GitHub, Google, AWS Builder ID, or your organization's identity provider.

3. In Settings → Agent Client, leave the API key field empty — the kiro-cli acp process started by Agent Client reuses your session.

Option B: Kiro API Key

API keys are available on Kiro Pro and higher tiers:

1. Generate a key at app.kiro.dev
2. Enter it in Settings → Agent Client → Preset agents → Kiro → API key (stored in Obsidian's Keychain)

A signed-in session takes precedence over the API key, so setting a key never breaks an existing login.

Migrating from a custom agent

If you previously set up Kiro as a custom agent with the id kiro-cli (as these docs once described), your settings are migrated to the preset automatically — saved sessions keep working. If your custom agent carried KIRO_API_KEY in its environment variables, consider moving it to the API key field so it is stored in Obsidian's Keychain instead of plain text.

Verify Setup

1. Click the robot icon in the ribbon or use the command palette: "Open chat view"
2. Switch to Kiro from the agent dropdown in the chat header
3. Try sending a message to verify the connection

Having issues? See Troubleshooting.