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Get Started Installation Authentication Your first project Models Overview Available models Reasoning effort Features How Kiro works Specs Steering Hooks MCP Permissions Custom agents Agent Skills Powers Cloud sessions Compaction Kiroignore Checkpoints and rewind Built-in tools Web tools Code intelligence Configuration scopes IDE 1.x What's new in 1.0 Setup & First Run Editor Chat Experimental Troubleshooting 0.x reference CLI What's new in 3.0 Setup & First Run Terminal UI Chat Voice mode Headless mode ACP Auto complete Experimental 2.x reference Crew Quick start Installation Running 24/7 Chat Agent Capabilities Features Interfaces Apps System & storage Configuration Security Troubleshooting Web Setup & First Run Identity Center Connect your repositories Working with the agent Autonomous mode Automations Memory Configuration Sync Sandbox Mobile - Preview Overview Commands and Reference CLI commands Slash commands Built-in tools Exit codes Settings Billing Overview Managing your subscription Upgrading your plan Downgrading your plan Cancelling your plan Purchasing add-on credits Managing your payments Managing usage notifications Managing your taxes Contacting billing support Deleting your account Related questions Enterprise Concepts Onboarding quickstart Connecting your identity provider Deployment options Subscribe your team Manage subscriptions Governance Monitor and track Settings Managed updates Billing IAM Supported regions Privacy and Security Overview Data protection Code references Compliance validation Infrastructure security IAM permissions Firewalls, proxies, and data perimeters VPC endpoints (AWS PrivateLink) Guides Overview Language support Learn by playing Migration Migrating from Q Developer Migrating from VSCode Upgrading from Q CLI * Docs * * Features * * Built-in tools Copy page View as Markdown Built-in tools Copy page View as Markdown Kiro's agent includes built-in tools for development tasks. These are provided by the unified agent harness and shared across surfaces. The default agent has access to all built-in tools - custom agents can restrict this. At a glance: Cross-surface File read/write, shell, web search/fetch, sub-agents, context, task tracking, introspect IDE and CLI Hook creation IDE and Web Powers ( kiro_powers ) IDE only Background processes (dev servers), editor code analysis ( read_code , semantic rename) CLI only Code intelligence ( code ), goal, session settings, MCP tool search ( tool_search ), knowledge (experimental), thinking (experimental) Deprecated aws , delegate - being replaced Configuration Use custom agents tools field + permissions Tool catalog All tools below are available across IDE, CLI, Web, and Mobile. Tool Category Description read_file / read_files File Read single or multiple files list_directory File List directory contents file_search File Fuzzy file path search (glob) grep_search File Regex content search fs_write File Create or overwrite a file fs_append File Append to an existing file str_replace File Targeted text replacement delete_file File Delete a file execute_bash Shell Run a shell command web_search Web Search the web web_fetch Web Fetch content from a URL invoke_subagent Agent Delegate tasks in parallel disclose_context Context Activate skills or steering introspect Context Answer questions about Kiro's own features from official docs todo_list Session Track tasks within a session Surface availability Some tools aren't available on every surface yet: Tool IDE CLI Web Mobile Status control_bash_process ✓ — — — GA get_process_output ✓ — — — GA list_processes ✓ — — — GA kiro_powers ✓ — ✓ — GA create_hook ✓ ✓ — — GA code — ✓ — — GA goal — ✓ — — GA session_settings — ✓ — — GA tool_search — ✓ — — GA knowledge — ✓ — — Experimental thinking — ✓ — — Experimental aws — ✓ — — Deprecated delegate — ✓ — — Deprecated → use sub-agents The background-process tools ( control_bash_process , get_process_output , list_processes ) power the IDE's dev servers workflow. The code tool (tree-sitter and LSP-based code intelligence ) is provided to non-IDE clients; in the IDE, equivalent capabilities are built in as editor-native tools - read_code for AST analysis and semantic rename - riding the language servers the editor already runs. Configuring tool access Use the tools field of a custom agent to control which tool categories are available: json { "tools" : [ "read" , "write" , "shell" , "web" ] } Each category maps to a set of tools: Category Includes read read_file, read_files, list_directory, file_search, grep_search, code write fs_write, fs_append, str_replace, delete_file shell execute_bash, control_bash_process, get_process_output, list_processes web web_fetch, web_search subagent invoke_subagent spec Spec workflow tools context disclose_context, introspect, knowledge Special values: Value Effect @builtin All built-in tools @mcp All MCP server tools * Everything (built-in + MCP) Exclude specific categories: "excludedTools": ["web"] Control what tools can do (not just which are visible) with permissions . Tip Need tools beyond the built-in set? Add custom tools via MCP servers - databases, APIs, cloud services, and any tool that speaks the Model Context Protocol. File tools (read) Tool Description read_file Read a single file (text or image). Aliases: fs_read read_files Read multiple files with optional line ranges list_directory List directory contents in long format file_search Fuzzy file path search (glob patterns). Aliases: glob grep_search Regex content search across files. Aliases: grep code AST-based code analysis - signatures, symbols, fuzzy search All read tools apply permissions fs_read capability rules. .kiroignore support varies by surface ; in CLI V3, file_search and grep_search filter ignored paths from results. File tools (write) Tool Description fs_write Create or overwrite a file. Aliases: write fs_append Append content to the end of an existing file str_replace Replace exact text in a file (targeted edits) delete_file Delete a file Write tools respect permissions fs_write capability rules. Shell tools Tool Description Surfaces execute_bash Run a shell command. Aliases: shell , execute_cmd IDE · CLI · Web control_bash_process Start/stop long-running background processes IDE · CLI get_process_output Read output from a background process IDE · CLI list_processes List running background processes IDE · CLI Shell tools respect permissions shell capability rules. Use match patterns to pre-approve common commands: yaml rules : - capability : shell match : [ "git *" , "npm *" , "cargo *" ] effect : allow - capability : shell match : [ "rm -rf *" , "sudo *" ] effect : deny Web tools Detailed guide → Tool Description web_search Search the web for current information web_fetch Fetch and extract text content from a URL Limitations: 10 MB max per fetch, 30s timeout, text/HTML only, 3 retries. Enterprise administrators can disable web tools from Settings > Shared settings . See Enterprise governance - Web tools . Code intelligence Detailed guide → Tree-sitter based code understanding for 18 languages - symbol search, document symbols, pattern search, and AST-based rewriting. Optional LSP integration for find references, go-to-definition, rename, and diagnostics. Supported languages: Bash, C, C++, C#, Elixir, Go, Java, JavaScript, Kotlin, Lua, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, Scala, Swift, TSX, TypeScript Sub-agent delegation Tool Description invoke_subagent Delegate a task to an agent running in isolated context See Invoking as sub-agents for the full guide. Context tools Tool Description disclose_context Activate skills or steering files into context introspect Search indexed Kiro documentation (semantic + BM25) knowledge Search indexed knowledge bases (experimental) Tool search (CLI) Detailed guide → Loads MCP tools on demand instead of including every tool definition in every request. Keeps context efficient with many MCP servers. Available in the CLI. How it works: Index → deferred compact list → on-demand tool_search call → activate matched tool. Parameter Type Description tool_id string Exact server_name::tool_name identifier query string Keywords for BM25 search max_results integer Max results (default: 5) Enable in CLI: kiro-cli settings toolSearch.enabled true Setting Default Description toolSearch.enabled false Master toggle toolSearch.minPct 5 Activate when tool specs exceed this % of context toolSearch.minTokens 50000 Activate when tool specs exceed this token count Session tools Tool Description Status todo_list Track tasks within a session (create, complete, list) GA create_hook Create agent hooks from chat GA kiro_powers List, activate, and use installed powers GA Next steps * Web tools - detailed guide * Code intelligence - detailed guide * Custom agents - configure which tools agents can access * Permissions - control what tools can do * MCP - extend with external tools * Configuration scopes - where tool settings are stored Page updated: August 21, 2026 Checkpoints and rewind Web tools