tools-only Kiro CLI Integration Guide
Overview
This guide explains how to use Antigravity Awesome Skills with Kiro CLI, AWS's agentic AI-powered coding assistant.
What is Kiro?
Kiro is AWS's agentic AI IDE that combines:
- Autonomous coding agents that work independently for extended periods
- Context-aware assistance with deep understanding of your codebase
- AWS service integration with native support for CDK, SAM, and Terraform
- MCP (Model Context Protocol) for secure external API and database calls
- Spec-driven development that turns natural language into structured specifications
Why Use Skills with Kiro?
Kiro's agentic capabilities are enhanced by skills that provide:
- Domain expertise across 883+ specialized areas
- Best practices from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and AWS
- Workflow automation for common development tasks
- AWS-specific patterns for serverless, infrastructure, and cloud architecture
Installation
Quick Install
# Install to Kiro's default skills directory
npx antigravity-awesome-skills --kiro
This installs skills to ~/.kiro/skills/
Manual Installation
# Clone directly to Kiro's skills directory
git clone https://github.com/sickn33/antigravity-awesome-skills.git ~/.kiro/skills
Verification
# Verify installation
test -d ~/.kiro/skills && echo "✓ Skills installed successfully"
ls ~/.kiro/skills/skills/ | head -10
Using Skills with Kiro
Basic Invocation
Kiro uses natural language prompts to invoke skills:
Use the @brainstorming skill to help me design a serverless API
Apply @aws-serverless patterns to this Lambda function
Run @security-audit on my CDK stack
Recommended Skills for Kiro Users
AWS & Cloud Infrastructure
@aws-serverless- Serverless architecture patterns@aws-cdk- AWS CDK best practices@aws-sam- SAM template patterns@terraform-expert- Terraform infrastructure as code@docker-expert- Container optimization@kubernetes-expert- K8s deployment patterns
Architecture & Design
@architecture- System design and ADRs@c4-context- C4 model diagrams@senior-architect- Scalable architecture patterns@microservices-patterns- Microservices design
Security
@api-security-best-practices- API security hardening@vulnerability-scanner- Security vulnerability detection@owasp-top-10- OWASP security patterns@aws-security-best-practices- AWS security configuration
Development
@typescript-expert- TypeScript best practices@python-patterns- Python design patterns@react-patterns- React component patterns@test-driven-development- TDD workflows
DevOps & Automation
@ci-cd-pipeline- CI/CD automation@github-actions- GitHub Actions workflows@monitoring-observability- Observability patterns@incident-response- Incident management
Kiro-Specific Workflows
1. Serverless Application Development
1. Use @brainstorming to design the application architecture
2. Apply @aws-serverless to create Lambda functions
3. Use @aws-cdk to generate infrastructure code
4. Run @test-driven-development to add tests
5. Apply @ci-cd-pipeline to set up deployment
2. Infrastructure as Code
1. Use @architecture to document the system design
2. Apply @terraform-expert to write Terraform modules
3. Run @security-audit to check for vulnerabilities
4. Use @documentation to generate README and runbooks
3. API Development
1. Use @api-design to plan endpoints
2. Apply @typescript-expert for implementation
3. Run @api-security-best-practices for hardening
4. Use @openapi-spec to generate documentation
Advanced Features
MCP Integration
Kiro's MCP support allows skills to:
- Call external APIs securely
- Query databases with context
- Integrate with AWS services
- Access documentation in real-time
Skills that leverage MCP:
@rag-engineer- RAG system implementation@langgraph- Agent workflow orchestration@prompt-engineer- LLM prompt optimization
Autonomous Operation
Kiro can work independently for extended periods. Use skills to guide long-running tasks:
Use @systematic-debugging to investigate and fix all TypeScript errors in the codebase,
then apply @test-driven-development to add missing tests, and finally run @documentation
to update all README files.
Context-Aware Assistance
Kiro maintains deep context. Reference multiple skills in complex workflows:
I'm building a SaaS application. Use @brainstorming for the MVP plan,
@aws-serverless for the backend, @react-patterns for the frontend,
@stripe-integration for payments, and @security-audit for hardening.
Bundles for Kiro Users
Pre-curated skill collections optimized for common Kiro use cases:
AWS Developer Bundle
@aws-serverless@aws-cdk@aws-sam@lambda-best-practices@dynamodb-patterns@api-gateway-patterns
Full-Stack AWS Bundle
@aws-serverless@react-patterns@typescript-expert@api-design@test-driven-development@ci-cd-pipeline
DevOps & Infrastructure Bundle
@terraform-expert@docker-expert@kubernetes-expert@monitoring-observability@incident-response@security-audit
See BUNDLES.md for complete bundle listings.
Troubleshooting
Skills Not Loading
# Check installation path
ls -la ~/.kiro/skills/
# Reinstall if needed
rm -rf ~/.kiro/skills
npx antigravity-awesome-skills --kiro
Skill Not Found
Ensure you're using the correct skill name:
# List all available skills
ls ~/.kiro/skills/skills/
Permission Issues
# Fix permissions
chmod -R 755 ~/.kiro/skills/
Best Practices
- Start with bundles - Use pre-curated collections for your role
- Combine skills - Reference multiple skills in complex tasks
- Be specific - Clearly state which skill to use and what to do
- Iterate - Let Kiro work autonomously, then refine with additional skills
- Document - Use
@documentationto keep your codebase well-documented
Examples
Example 1: Build a Serverless API
I need to build a REST API for a todo application using AWS Lambda and DynamoDB.
Use @brainstorming to design the architecture, then apply @aws-serverless
to implement the Lambda functions, @dynamodb-patterns for data modeling,
and @api-security-best-practices for security hardening.
Generate the infrastructure using @aws-cdk and add tests with @test-driven-development.
Example 2: Migrate to Microservices
I want to break down this monolithic application into microservices.
Use @architecture to create an ADR for the migration strategy,
apply @microservices-patterns for service boundaries,
@docker-expert for containerization, and @kubernetes-expert for orchestration.
Document the migration plan with @documentation.
Example 3: Security Audit
Perform a comprehensive security audit of this application.
Use @security-audit to scan for vulnerabilities, @owasp-top-10 to check
for common issues, @api-security-best-practices for API hardening,
and @aws-security-best-practices for cloud configuration.
Generate a report with findings and remediation steps.
Resources
- Kiro Official Documentation
- AWS Blog: Transform DevOps with Kiro
- Complete Skills Catalog
- Usage Guide
- Workflow Examples
Contributing
Found a Kiro-specific use case or workflow? Contribute to this guide:
- Fork the repository
- Add your examples to this file
- Submit a pull request
Support
- Issues: GitHub Issues
- Discussions: GitHub Discussions
- Community: Community Guidelines