Kiro: Amazon's unexpected Cursor competitor

Introduction and Context 00:00

• The video introduces Kira, a new AI-powered code editor built by Amazon, positioned as a competitor to other VS Code forks like Cursor and Windsurf.
• Kira has received positive early feedback, leading Amazon to implement a waitlist due to high demand.
• The presenter plans an in-depth review, covering usage experience, motivations behind Kira, and some source code analysis.

Kira's Philosophy and Features 03:02

• Kira is described as an "Agentic IDE" aiming to support projects from prototype to production, though it's reportedly more geared toward existing, large production codebases.
• Kira encourages "spec-driven development," combining elements of classic Amazon-style specification writing and test-driven development.
• Developers create specifications (specs) with AI assistance, which are then used to generate and track code, features, and requirements.

Specs and Hooks: Workflow Details 05:07

• Specs act as living artifacts documenting feature planning, behavioral requirements, and design—useful for complex or evolving codebases.
• Kira guides developers through a three-step process: requirements gathering, technical design, and implementation, auto-generating detailed user stories, technical diagrams, schemas, and tasks.
• Hooks are event-driven automations (similar to commit hooks) that trigger actions like updating tests, refreshing README files, or scanning for leaked credentials during file saves or commits.

Comparison With Other AI Coding Tools 08:05

• Kira aims to keep documentation and code in sync automatically, addressing the common issue of outdated documents in large teams.
• Hooks enforce consistency in code standards and security checks across teams; AI can also help enforce higher-level code quality constraints like the single-responsibility principle.
• Kira supports integration with Open VSX for extensions, not the official VS Code marketplace—important for legal and ecosystem reasons.

Interface and Usability Observations 13:42

• The UI feels more polished and "twitchy" than other VS Code forks.
• Initial onboarding immediately prompts users to "vibe" code or write specs, introducing a unique workflow split.
• Some interface elements feel buggy and early in development; compared to Cursor and other tools, Kira is slower, especially on large codebases.

Live Testing and Feature Comparison 16:40

• Attempting code modifications, the presenter finds Kira's process verbose and corporate, generating lengthy specs and documentation—even for simple changes.
• Cursor, in contrast, quickly generates succinct plans and code.
• Kira populates large markdown specs, technical designs, and tasks lists for even basic code edits, catering more to project managers or enterprise needs.
• Testing indicates Kira creates a significant amount of boilerplate, many intermediate files, and sometimes unnecessary complexity.
• Cursor's code output is cleaner, aligns with existing code, and is faster, while Kira introduces more code changes for the same task.

Source Code and Technical Insights 27:35

• Source code analysis (by Jeffrey Huntley) reveals Kira uses tools like ripgrep for efficient code searching and Open VSX for extensions.
• Kira supports model selection (e.g., Claude Sonet 4, 3.7) but its prompts and processing are large and complex.
• The system relies on detailed specs and hooks at multiple levels, producing extensive documentation and technical artifacts for each feature.
• Concerns are raised about potential code bloat, over-engineering, and excessive documentation for simple tasks.

Strengths and Weaknesses 35:03

• Advantage: Kira can automate a heavily documented and specification-driven workflow, potentially fitting strict enterprise environments.
• Weaknesses: Tends to generate excessive files, boilerplate, and verbosity, with the risk of overwhelming developers and bloating repositories.
• The presenter notes frustration with Kira's prescriptive approach, imposing Amazon-style development methodologies regardless of project context.
• Bugs were present, and some automated code introduced errors.

Conclusion and Perspective 39:01

• Kira may be beneficial in large organizations or codebases with strictly defined structure and process.
• For individual developers or teams preferring flexible, rapid "vibe coding," Kira's approach feels heavy-handed and overly complex.
• The tool seems to enforce Amazon's internal development culture and may not appeal to everyone in its current state.
• The presenter remains undecided on its mainstream utility and invites viewers to share their thoughts and use cases.