A Grain of Salt

Kiro CLI Cheatsheet: CLI Commands

Kiro is an AI-powered developer CLI that lets you chat with an AI assistant directly in your terminal. It can write code, explain concepts, run shell commands, and integrate with your project via MCP servers and custom agents. The binary is kiro-cli.


Global Flags

Flag Short Description
--verbose -v Increase log verbosity (repeat: -vv, -vvv)
--agent <name> Start session with a specific agent
--help -h Show help
--version -V Show version
--help-all Print help for all subcommands

Authentication

kiro-cli login                    # Authenticate with Kiro
kiro-cli login --use-device-flow  # OAuth device flow (headless environments)
kiro-cli logout                   # Sign out
kiro-cli whoami                   # Show current user info
kiro-cli whoami --format json     # JSON output

Chat

kiro-cli                          # Start interactive chat (default)
kiro-cli chat                     # Same as above
kiro-cli chat "Your question"     # Start chat with an initial prompt

# Session management
kiro-cli chat --resume            # Resume most recent session
kiro-cli chat --resume-picker     # Interactively pick session to resume
kiro-cli chat --list-sessions     # List saved sessions for current directory
kiro-cli chat --delete-session <ID>  # Delete a session by ID

# Non-interactive / scripting
kiro-cli chat --no-interactive "Show current dir"  # Print response to STDOUT only
kiro-cli chat --no-interactive --trust-all-tools "Run ls"

# Tool trust
kiro-cli chat --trust-all-tools           # Trust all tools (no confirmation)
kiro-cli chat --trust-tools read,write    # Trust specific tools only

# Agent
kiro-cli chat --agent my-agent "Help me with AWS"

# MCP
kiro-cli chat --require-mcp-startup       # Exit with code 3 if MCP server fails

# Display
kiro-cli chat --wrap always/never/auto

Translate (Natural Language → Shell)

kiro-cli translate "list all files in current directory"
kiro-cli translate "find Python files modified in the last week"
kiro-cli translate -n 3 "search for text in files"  # Generate 3 alternatives (max 5)

Agents

kiro-cli agent list                        # List available agents
kiro-cli agent create my-agent             # Create a new agent
kiro-cli agent edit my-agent               # Edit an agent config
kiro-cli agent validate ./my-agent.json    # Validate agent config
kiro-cli agent set-default my-agent        # Set default agent for new sessions
kiro-cli agent migrate                     # Migrate old profiles to agents

Agent config locations:


MCP (Model Context Protocol)

# Add a server
kiro-cli mcp add \
  --name my-server \
  --command "node server.js" \
  --scope workspace \
  --env KEY=val,KEY2=val2 \
  --timeout 5000 \
  --force

# Remove a server
kiro-cli mcp remove --name my-server --scope global

# List servers
kiro-cli mcp list
kiro-cli mcp list workspace
kiro-cli mcp list global

# Import config
kiro-cli mcp import --file config.json workspace --force

# Server status
kiro-cli mcp status --name my-server

Settings

kiro-cli settings list                          # List configured settings
kiro-cli settings list --all                    # All available settings with descriptions
kiro-cli settings telemetry.enabled             # Get a setting value
kiro-cli settings telemetry.enabled true        # Set a setting value
kiro-cli settings --delete chat.defaultModel    # Delete a setting
kiro-cli settings open                          # Open settings file in editor
kiro-cli settings list --format json-pretty

Settings file: ~/.kiro/settings/cli.json


Theme

kiro-cli theme --list     # List available themes
kiro-cli theme dark       # Set dark theme
kiro-cli theme light      # Set light theme
kiro-cli theme system     # Follow system preference
kiro-cli theme --folder   # Show theme directory path

Inline Suggestions (Ghost Text)

kiro-cli inline enable               # Enable inline suggestions
kiro-cli inline disable              # Disable inline suggestions
kiro-cli inline status               # Show current status
kiro-cli inline set-customization    # Select a customization model
kiro-cli inline show-customizations  # Show available customizations
kiro-cli inline show-customizations --format json

Integrations

kiro-cli integrations install         # Install system integrations
kiro-cli integrations uninstall       # Uninstall integrations
kiro-cli integrations reinstall       # Reinstall integrations
kiro-cli integrations status          # Check integration status
kiro-cli integrations uninstall --silent

Diagnostics & Maintenance

kiro-cli doctor            # Diagnose + fix common issues
kiro-cli doctor --all      # Run all tests (no fixes)
kiro-cli doctor --strict   # Error on warnings
kiro-cli doctor --format json

kiro-cli diagnostic                  # Run diagnostic tests
kiro-cli diagnostic --format json-pretty
kiro-cli diagnostic --force

kiro-cli update                      # Update to latest version
kiro-cli update --non-interactive    # Skip confirmation prompt

kiro-cli version                     # Show version
kiro-cli version --changelog         # Show current version changelog
kiro-cli version --changelog=all     # Show all changelogs
kiro-cli version --changelog=1.5.0   # Show specific version changelog

kiro-cli issue                              # Create GitHub issue interactively
kiro-cli issue "Autocomplete not working"   # Create with description

Logging

# Log locations
# macOS: $TMPDIR/kiro-log/
# Linux: $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR or /tmp/kiro-log/

# Log levels (KIRO_LOG_LEVEL env var)
# error (default) | warn | info | debug | trace

export KIRO_LOG_LEVEL=debug
kiro-cli chat

# Fish shell
set -x KIRO_LOG_LEVEL debug
kiro-cli chat

⚠️ Logs may contain sensitive data (file paths, code, command output). Be careful when sharing.

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