A lot of people grasp new concepts more easily when they’re presented visually—through diagrams or infographics like mind maps. That’s why I’ve decided to share my impressions of Kiro using a few of them.
Let’s start with this mind map, which gives a high-level overview of Kiro’s purpose, core features and comparisons:
Kiro the New Agentic IDE
1. Context
1.1. Kiro is a cloud-based AI IDE
1.2. Focus on boosting developer productivity
1.3. Targets large codebases
2. Features Tested
2.1. Semantic Code Search
2.1.1. Finds functions/types based on meaning
2.1.2. More effective than traditional search
2.2. Natural Language Q&A
2.2.1. Kiro gave an accurate answer with file reference
2.2.2. How is this API used in the frontend?
2.3. Conversational Memory
2.3.1. Keeps session history
2.3.2. Useful for following reasoning over time
2.4. Code Navigation
2.4.1. Auto follows references
2.4.2. Works like a guided walkthrough of the codebase
3. Limitations
3.1. Limited Debugging Support
3.1.1. No breakpoints or live debugging tools
3.1.2. Cannot fully replace VS Code or JetBrains yet
4. First Impressions
4.1. Clean, intuitive UI
4.2. GitHub login integration
4.3. Quick onboarding experience
5. Final Thoughts
5.1. Highly promising for developers
5.2. Complements existing IDEs well
5.3. Represents future direction of AI-assisted development
6. Ideal Use Cases
6.1. Onboarding to large codebases
6.2. Understanding legacy systems
6.3. Code reviews of complex logic
6.4. Exploring unfamiliar repositories
7. Strengths
7.1. Semantic Understanding
7.1.1. Answers based on deeper code behavior
7.1.2. Goes beyond string matching
7.2. Handles Large Projects Well
7.2.1. Efficient indexing
7.2.2. Fast performance even in monorepos
7.3. Low Friction
7.3.1. No installation needed
7.3.2. Ready to use immediately
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