AWS Unveils Kiro IDE to Enhance Coding Quality
AWS introduces Kiro IDE, aiming to improve code quality and address vibe coding issues.
Key Points
- • Kiro produces specifications as user stories rather than direct code.
- • It helps improve coding quality by addressing limitations of vibe coding.
- • The IDE supports plugins for VS Code and Open VSX, enhancing flexibility.
- • Currently in preview, Kiro will be priced at $19.99 per month.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched Kiro, an innovative 'agentic IDE' tailored to improve coding quality and address challenges associated with the popular practice of 'vibe coding.' This approach uses generative AI, often leading to low-quality code that typically takes longer to debug than it saves. Deepak Singh, AWS’s vice president for developer agents and experiences, highlighted the reality check on vibe coding, stressing that while developers might think they are boosting productivity, this is often misleading.
Kiro’s unique feature is its conversational interface, which allows developers to express their project requirements more explicitly. Rather than generating code, it creates specifications in the form of user stories, which can be authored in markdown, text, or pseudocode, including EARS (Easy Approach to Requirements Syntax) for edge cases. This structured approach aims to enhance the quality of the code produced. Moreover, Kiro offers functionalities to automatically review and optimize code via event-driven automations named 'hooks.'
Additionally, Kiro is built on the open-source Code OSS editor and supports plugins from VS Code and Open VSX, ensuring flexibility in integration. Currently available in preview, the subscription will be set at $19.99 per month, pending details on the number of calls to large language models (LLMs) included. AWS has acknowledged the value of existing coding assistants, stating that they remain beneficial for experimentation among developers.