Resurrecting IE6 as a Zombie: How Kiro IDE Transformed a Hackathon Idea into Production-Ready Code

Some technologies fade quietly.
Internet Explorer 6 did the opposite.
It left behind a trail of broken layouts, CSS hacks, and unforgettable developer trauma.
So for the Kiroween hackathon, I asked myself a simple question:
What if IE6 came back from the dead… and it was powered by AI?
The result is Internet Explorer 6 — Zombie Edition, a fully working, AI-augmented, horror-themed parody browser reconstructed using Kiro’s spec-driven development workflow.
This is the story of how Kiro helped bring one of the most infamous browsers back to un-life.

🧛‍♂️ Why IE6? The Perfect Candidate for “Resurrection”
The hackathon theme was Resurrection: bring dead technology back to life.
And there is no piece of tech more nostalgically cursed than Internet Explorer 6.
It was:
slow
unpredictable
allergic to CSS
and somehow still important for years
Rebuilding IE6 gave me the perfect opportunity to combine:
retro UI nostalgia
AI-driven chaos
and modern development tooling
Kiro became the core engine behind all of it.
⚙️ Using Kiro: How Specs, Steering, Hooks & MCP Shaped the Project
This project was built entirely through Kiro’s spec-driven development pipeline.
Here’s how each part of Kiro shaped the build:

1. Specs — The Brain of the Browser
   I started by writing a comprehensive spec file describing:
   the IE6 chrome UI
   slow-loading simulation
   cursed bookmarks
   random haunted events
   compatibility mode “from hell”
   AI Bug Exorcist panel
   Kiro took this spec and generated the architecture, components, and folder structure consistently across the entire project.

2. Steering — Ensuring a Consistent Retro + Horror Vibe
   Steering docs ensured:
   authentic 2001 web aesthetics
   glitch effects that feel “haunted”
   personality alignment for the undead AI companion
   consistent styling and component patterns
   Every component Kiro generated followed the same thematic rules.

3. Hooks — Automatic Checks
   I configured hooks that triggered:
   retro CSS validation
   spookiness-level linting
   basic test execution
   visual consistency checks

These hooks helped maintain quality as the project expanded.

1. MCP — Bringing AI Into the Browser The most exciting part was integrating Kiro’s MCP capability. With MCP + OpenAI, I implemented: AI Bug Exorcist An AI panel that detects layout bugs in the page and “exorcises” them with cursed commentary. AI-Generated Cursed Websites A feature where users can “summon” a brand-new haunted webpage generated on the fly. Zombie Chatbot A floating undead companion that answers user messages with glitchy, horror-themed replies. These MCP-powered interactions turned the project from a parody UI into an AI-driven experience.

🎃 Feature Highlights: What Makes Zombie IE6 Unique
👻 Authentic IE6 UI
The chrome, title bar, buttons, loading bar, and address bar recreate early 2000s Windows/IE design as accurately as possible.
🐢 Slow Loading Simulator
Pages load slowly on purpose, complete with:
progress bars that stutter
stalls at 99%
inaccurate time estimates
A perfect IE6 tribute.

🧟 Zombie Chatbot
A floating bottom-right icon opens a right-side chat panel where an undead AI responds with glitchy, spooky humor.
It uses MCP to generate short, creepy replies and adds unexpected chaotic personality to the browser.

🔥 AI Bug Exorcist Panel
This panel analyzes your current page and suggests “spooky fixes” using AI.
Sometimes it helps.
Sometimes it makes things worse.
Just like old IE debugging.
🕸 AI-Generated Cursed Webpages
Click “Summon Cursed Page” and an AI-generated haunted website appears—
complete with retro HTML, under-construction signs, visitor counters, and cursed GIFs.

💀 Secret BSOD Mode
Press the secret hotkey and…
a full-screen Windows XP Blue Screen of Death takes over for a few seconds before fading into ghost text:
“THE DEAD INTERNET NEVER DIES.”
A perfect Easter egg for demo day.

🧪 How Kiro Made This Project Possible
Without Kiro, this project would have taken weeks.
With Kiro:
Specs defined the entire architecture
Steering enforced visual and thematic consistency
Hooks kept quality stable
MCP infused the browser with AI-driven behavior
Vibe coding allowed rapid iteration, from UI to logic
Kiro didn’t just generate code —
it acted like a creative partner that understood the aesthetic, the mood, and the technical constraints.
This allowed me to focus on concept, design, and humor, while Kiro handled the heavy lifting.

🚀 Final Thoughts: Bringing the Dead Back to Life
Recreating Internet Explorer 6 in a modern, AI-augmented, horror setting has been one of the most fun technical challenges I’ve done.
It combined:
nostalgia
AI creativity
frontend engineering
custom UI
storytelling
and Kiro’s entire workflow system
IE6 may be gone from the real world…
but in this project, it rises again—
haunted, glitching, and very much alive.
And that’s the spirit of Kiroween:
bringing the forgotten back to life with code and creativity.