Kiro introduces new flexible workflows to its rigid spec-driven model; however, experts are divided on whether this will boost its user base.
AWS has acknowledged that its Visual Studio Code-based agentic IDE, Kiro, hasn’t aligned with typical developer practices. To address this, Kiro is gaining two new software development workflows designed to support common tasks like bug fixing and working with existing codebases.
Initially, Kiro was conceived to guide developers through a spec-driven development (SDD) methodology, where users would first define their goals and requirements, and Kiro would facilitate their realization.
However, this approach doesn’t reflect the reality of most development work.
“Few of us begin with entirely new projects; instead, we often tackle existing codebases, challenging bugs, or pre-approved designs,” explains Advait Patel, a site reliability engineer at Broadcom. He adds, “These new workflows suggest Kiro is recognizing this common scenario and offering a more accessible pathway to its spec-based methodology.”
Kiro’s initial new workflow, “Design-first,” enables developers to start with a pre-conceived technical idea, such as an architectural choice or a preliminary implementation sketch. From this foundation, Kiro then generates requirements, a detailed design specification, and a comprehensive task plan, as outlined by Ankit Sharma, AWS’s senior product manager for agentic AI, in a recent blog post.
Conversely, the “Bugfix” workflow is specifically tailored for brownfield development, assisting engineers in refining and maintaining existing codebases.
Instead of immediately altering code, the Bugfix workflow encourages developers to initially document the existing behavior, the desired behavior, and elements that must persist, essentially transforming the debugging process into a streamlined specification task, Sharma noted.
These updates stem from feedback from Kiro users who valued the structured nature of specifications but felt the existing workflow lacked sufficient flexibility, Sharma stated.
Will a focus on bug fixes enhance Kiro’s appeal for specification-driven development?
Industry analysts interpret these modifications primarily as a strategic reaction to competitors like Claude Code, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot. These rival tools, which eschew rigid spec-driven conventions, are gaining significant traction among developers.
“These workflows acknowledge the primacy of developer preferences. While spec-driven development offers intellectual merit, its implementation often encounters cultural resistance. Developers are increasingly drawn to swift, interactive workflows due to their speed and ease of use,” commented Stephanie Walter, AI stack leader at HyperFrame Research.
The new workflows, Walter added, are a “hybrid” strategy to relax the SDD norms enough to attract developers by allowing them to “ideate first and formalize later”.
Dion Hinchcliffe, VP of the CIO practice at The Futurum Group, though, doubts these new workflows alone will entice developers, who generally prefer coding tools optimized for speed.
Patel affirmed this sentiment, stating, “Developers are practical. They will adopt any tool that demonstrably saves time throughout the entire process.”
Steering Development from the Top
While developers often select their own tools, certain solutions, like Kiro, may resonate more with management. Hinchcliffe suggests Kiro is better suited for highly disciplined development teams and production environments where strong governance and auditability are crucial.
Indeed, Hinchcliffe recommended that CIOs embrace Kiro’s methodology: “From a CIO’s perspective, prioritizing outcomes means ‘fast but incorrect’ fixes ultimately incur higher costs. The pertinent enterprise inquiry isn’t about the tool’s speed, but rather if it demonstrably lowers the change-failure rate and improves mean-time-to-restore.”
