Kiro SDLC Agents

Your entire software team — in one extension.
9 AI agents. Full SDLC pipeline. Built-in Knowledge Base UI.

Quick Start • KB UI • Agents • Commands • MCP Server • Web Dashboard • Native Binaries • Troubleshooting

🆕 What's New in v1.16.0

📡 SSE Real-time Panel Updates — Tags, Quality, and Analytics panels receive live updates via Server-Sent Events
🌳 Tree-sitter Parser Integration — Kotlin and Python AST parsing via tree-sitter for accurate symbol extraction
🐛 Apex Indexing Fix (KSA-209) — Wasm + regex fallback for reliable Apex parsing across environments
21 tickets closed — Full sprint across code intelligence, KB UI, and Salesforce modules

Previous: v1.15.0

🎉 Salesforce Intelligence (KSA-191) — Full SFDX project support integrated into Code Intelligence
Index Salesforce Project — New command: Ctrl+Shift+P → "Kiro SDLC: Index Salesforce Project"
SF-enhanced tools — code_search, code_symbols, code_impact, code_dependencies now understand Apex/Flow/Object/LWC
SF Dependency Graph — Trigger→Object, Flow→Apex, LWC→Apex relationships in call graph
mcp-salesforce-intelligence v2.1.0 — Shared library with SFDX detection, parsers, and type definitions

Previous: v1.14.0

KB Auto-Linker — Automatic relationship discovery between KB entries (entity extraction, semantic similarity, configurable strategies)
KB Graph LOD — Level of Detail clustering for large graphs (879+ nodes render smoothly with animation)
Incremental Prebuilt Binaries — CI/CD only builds missing native binaries (skip existing, force rebuild option)
Node.js 25 Support — Precompiled better-sqlite3 + onnxruntime-node for Node 20/22/24/25
better-sqlite3 v12.10.0 — Latest bindings with verified SHA-256 checksums
Similarity Pipeline — find_duplicates + find_dead_code + ignore parser + body extraction wired into indexing
Scheduled Prebuild Scan — Weekly cron detects missing platform binaries and auto-triggers builds

🚀 Quick Start

New to this extension? Here is how to get started in 4 simple steps:

1. Install the extension from the marketplace
2. Open Command Palette: Ctrl+Shift+P → type "Kiro SDLC: Inject All Agents"
3. Wait a few seconds — the extension auto-starts the MCP server
   → You will see "Running Port 9181" in the sidebar
4. Click any panel in the sidebar: Graph, Dashboard, Quality, Analytics

What happens behind the scenes:

The extension installs 9 AI agents into your .kiro/ folder
It starts a local MCP server (Code Intelligence) that manages your Knowledge Base
Sidebar panels connect to this server to show charts and data

No separate setup needed. The extension bundles its own MCP server. Just install and go.

🧠 Knowledge Base UI

The extension provides 5 interactive panels you can open from the sidebar. Look for the tree view: KIRO SDLC AGENTS → Knowledge Base.

Each panel shows different information about your project's knowledge base:

Panel Overview

Panel	What It Shows	Key Features
📊 Dashboard	Health score, metrics, trends, recommendations	SVG gauge, canvas bar charts, auto-refresh
🕸️ Graph	3D force-directed knowledge graph	879+ nodes, 935+ edges, search, type/tier filters
🏷️ Tags	Tag taxonomy, popular tags	Browse entries by tag
⭐ Quality	Score distribution histogram, confidence stats	Canvas 2D charts, low-quality entries table
📈 Analytics	Search volume trend, popular queries, gaps	Line chart, recommendations

How to Open Panels

There are 3 ways to open any panel:

Sidebar (easiest): Expand "Knowledge Base" section → click any item
Command Palette: Ctrl+Shift+P → type "KB" → select the panel you want
Direct commands: kiroSdlc.openKbDashboard, kiroSdlc.openKbGraph, etc.

Graph Panel

Visualizes your entire knowledge base as a 3D force-directed graph. Think of it like a map of everything your project knows.

KB Graph — 3D Knowledge Graph

Graph Panel — nodes are entries, edges are relationships. Color = entry type.

Nodes = KB entries (each dot is one piece of knowledge, color-coded by type)
Edges = relationships between entries (lines connecting related knowledge)
Search = find nodes by keyword
Filters = Type dropdown, Tier dropdown
Click node = view entry details in sidebar
Data source = same as web dashboard (viewer API)

Color legend:

🟢 REQUIREMENT — 🟣 ARCHITECTURE — ⚪ CODE_ENTITY
🔴 DECISION — 🟠 ERROR_PATTERN — 🟡 PROCEDURE
🔵 CONTEXT — 🩵 API_DESIGN — 🩷 LESSON_LEARNED

Quality Panel

Shows how "healthy" your knowledge base entries are. Two views side-by-side:

KB Quality — Score Distribution

Quality Panel — histogram shows score distribution, confidence stats on the right.

Left: Histogram (Canvas 2D) — score buckets with color coding
Right: Confidence stats card (Average, High, Low counts)
Below: Low Quality Entries table with score bars (these need attention)

Analytics Panel

Helps you understand how the knowledge base is being used:

KB Analytics — Search Trends

Analytics Panel — search volume trend, popular queries, and knowledge gaps.

Top: Search Volume line chart (Canvas 2D, 30-day trend)
Left: Popular Queries (ranked list with counts — what people search most)
Right: Knowledge Gaps (zero-result queries — what is missing)
Bottom: Recommendations (suggestions to improve your KB)

Dashboard Panel

Overall KB health at a glance. Open this first to get a quick summary:

KB Dashboard — Health Overview

Dashboard Panel — health gauge, metrics cards, trend charts.

Health Gauge: SVG arc (green = good, yellow = okay, red = needs work)
Metrics Cards: Total entries, Quality avg, Stale count, Unowned
Trend Charts: Search volume + Ingest volume (7-day canvas bars)
Recommendations: Actionable items to improve KB health

👥 Meet the Team

These are the 9 AI agents that work together as your software team. Each one has a specific role, just like a real team:

Agent	Role	What They Do
🎯 SM	Scrum Master	Orchestrates the full pipeline, manages Jira tickets, enforces quality gates
📋 BA	Business Analyst	Writes BRD (Business Requirements), FSD (Functional Spec), user stories
🔧 TA	Technical Analyst	Reviews FSD, adds API contracts, pseudocode, technical depth
🏗️ SA	Solution Architect	Creates TDD (Technical Design), architecture decisions, diagrams
🧪 QA	Quality Assurance	Writes test plans (STP), test cases (STC), runs test execution
💻 DEV	Developer	Implements code from TDD, creates user guides
🚀 DevOps	Deployment	Deployment guides, CI/CD pipelines, release notes
🎨 UI	UI Designer	Wireframes, design specs, UI mockups
🔒 Security	Security Review	Threat modeling, vulnerability assessment

How to Use the Agents

The easiest way is to give a Jira ticket to the Scrum Master — it will call other agents automatically:

# Start full pipeline from a Jira ticket (SM handles everything)
@sm-agent KSA-14

# Or call specific agents directly if you only need one step:
@ba-agent KSA-14        → creates BRD + FSD
@sa-agent KSA-14        → creates TDD from FSD
@dev-agent KSA-14       → implements code from TDD
@qa-agent KSA-14        → creates test plan + test cases

Tip: The SM agent knows which phase your ticket is in. If you already have a BRD, it will skip BA and go straight to SA.

⚙️ Commands

Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and type "Kiro SDLC" to see all available commands:

Command	Description
`Kiro SDLC: Inject All Agents`	Install agents, steering files, hooks, and templates into your project
`Kiro SDLC: Check Status`	Verify all components are present and working
`Kiro SDLC: Restart MCP Server`	Restart the bundled MCP server (useful if something is stuck)
`Kiro SDLC: Stop MCP Server`	Stop the MCP server
`Kiro SDLC: Change Port`	Change the MCP server port number
`Kiro SDLC: Open KB Browser`	Open the web dashboard in your browser
`Kiro SDLC: Edit Config`	Open the orchestration config file for editing
`Kiro SDLC: Change Config...`	Select a different orchestration config file
`Kiro SDLC: Symbol Search`	Quick Pick symbol search across codebase (KSA-179)
`Kiro SDLC: Open Security Panel`	View security findings grouped by severity (KSA-173)
`Kiro SDLC: Impact Analysis`	Analyze blast radius of modifying a symbol (KSA-174)
`Kiro SDLC: Get AI Context`	Copy AI context for symbol at cursor to clipboard (KSA-177)
`Kiro SDLC: Get Edit Context`	Copy edit context for symbol at cursor to clipboard (KSA-177)

Code Intelligence Features (KSA-170)

Feature	Description
Symbol Search	Debounced QuickPick — type to search, navigate to file:line on select
Security Panel	Webview showing findings by severity (critical/high/medium/low) with file links
Diagnostics Provider	Auto-analyzes on file save, shows issues in VS Code Problems panel with quick fixes
Impact Analysis	Blast radius visualization — affected files, callers, tests for any symbol
AI Context Commands	Get context for symbol at cursor → copies to clipboard for AI chat

🔌 Using MCP Server

The extension includes a built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) server called Code Intelligence. This server manages your Knowledge Base (SQLite database), provides tools for agents, and serves the web dashboard.

There are two ways to use the MCP server depending on your setup:

Option A: With Kiro IDE Extension (Recommended)

You do not need to do anything. The extension handles everything automatically:

Extension starts the MCP server when you open a workspace
Server runs on port 9181 (configurable)
Agents connect to it through the extension
Sidebar shows server status: "Running Port 9181"

This is the default behavior. Just install the extension and it works.

Option B: With Kiro CLI (Standalone MCP Server)

If you use Kiro CLI (command-line mode without the extension UI), you need to configure MCP manually.

Add the server to your mcp.json file (usually at ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "code-intelligence-nodejs": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "c:/projects/kiro/FEC_CR_Builder/kiro-sdlc-agents/mcp-server/http-entry.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DB_PATH": "c:/projects/kiro/FEC_CR_Builder/.code-intel/index.db",
        "PORT": "9181"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then agents will connect to the MCP server through this config.

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Avoid Running Two Servers at the Same Time

If you want to use the standalone MCP server (from mcp.json), you MUST disable the extension's built-in server first.

Both servers use the same SQLite database file (.code-intel/index.db). Running two servers at the same time will cause:

Database lock errors
Data corruption
Tools timing out or returning empty results

How to disable the extension's built-in server:

Method	How to Do It
Settings	Set `kiroSdlc.enableMcpServer` to `false` in your IDE settings
Sidebar	Click "Stop Server" button in the KIRO SDLC AGENTS sidebar
Command	`Ctrl+Shift+P` → "Kiro SDLC: Stop MCP Server"

Rule of thumb: Pick ONE way to run the server. Either the extension manages it, OR you manage it yourself via mcp.json. Never both.

🌐 Web Dashboard

The MCP server serves a web dashboard at http://localhost:9181. It shows the same data as the sidebar panels, but in your browser:

Page	URL
Graph	`localhost:9181/`
Dashboard	`localhost:9181/dashboard`
Tags	`localhost:9181/tags`
Quality	`localhost:9181/quality`
Analytics	`localhost:9181/analytics`

The web dashboard runs on the same port as the MCP server. No separate viewer process needed.

📦 Native Binary Management

The MCP server's Node.js variant depends on better-sqlite3, which requires a platform-specific native binary (.node file). The extension handles this automatically — no C++ build tools needed on your machine.

How It Works

On activation, the extension detects your Node version and platform
Downloads the matching prebuilt better-sqlite3 binary from GitHub Releases
Verifies SHA-256 checksum
Caches the binary for future use

Supported Platforms

Node Version	win32-x64	darwin-x64	darwin-arm64	linux-x64
20	✅	✅	✅	✅
22	✅	✅	✅	✅
24	✅	✅	✅	✅

Cache Location

Binaries are cached at:

%APPDATA%/Kiro/User/globalStorage/dnguyenminh.kiro-sdlc-agents/native-addons/
  better-sqlite3/v11.7.0/{platform-key}/better_sqlite3.node

On macOS/Linux: ~/.config/Kiro/User/globalStorage/dnguyenminh.kiro-sdlc-agents/native-addons/

Troubleshooting Native Binaries

If you get errors like Could not load better-sqlite3 native binding:

Delete the cache folder: %APPDATA%/Kiro/User/globalStorage/dnguyenminh.kiro-sdlc-agents/native-addons/
Restart the IDE
The extension will re-download the correct binary

🏗️ Architecture

Here is how all the pieces fit together:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Kiro IDE                                        │
│  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────────┐  │
│  │ Extension Host   │  │ Webview Panels       │  │
│  │ (TypeScript)     │  │ (HTML/JS/Canvas)     │  │
│  │                  │  │                      │  │
│  │ McpServerManager │──│ Graph, Dashboard     │  │
│  │ NativeAddonMgr   │  │ Quality, Analytics   │  │
│  └────────┬─────────┘  └──────────────────────┘  │
│           │ HTTP (port 9181)                      │
│  ┌────────▼──────────────────────────────┐       │
│  │ MCP Server (port 9181)                 │       │
│  │ ├─ MCP tools (JSON-RPC over HTTP)      │       │
│  │ ├─ Web Dashboard (viewer routes)       │       │
│  │ └─ SQLite DB (.code-intel/index.db)    │       │
│  └────────────────────────────────────────┘       │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

How it works:

Extension spawns the MCP server as a child process
Panels communicate via postMessage (extension ↔ webview)
Data is fetched via MCP tool calls OR viewer HTTP API
Charts are rendered with Canvas 2D (no external chart libraries — CSP compatible)
Web Dashboard is served by the MCP server on the same port (9181)

📋 Settings

Configure the extension in your IDE settings (Ctrl+, → search "kiroSdlc"):

Setting	Default	Description
`kiroSdlc.enableMcpServer`	`true`	Auto-start MCP server when extension activates. Set to `false` if using standalone server.
`kiroSdlc.mcpServerPort`	`9181`	Port number for the MCP server
`kiroSdlc.configPath`	`.code-intel/orchestration.json`	Path to orchestration config (relative to workspace)

🔧 Troubleshooting

Having issues? Here are the most common problems and how to fix them:

"MCP tool timed out"

Cause: The MCP server is not ready yet, or it crashed.

Fix:

Wait 5-10 seconds after opening the workspace (server needs time to start)
Check sidebar — does it show "Running Port 9181"?
If not, run: Ctrl+Shift+P → "Kiro SDLC: Restart MCP Server"
If still failing, check if another process is using port 9181

"Charts not showing" / Panels are blank

Cause: Panel opened before the server was ready, or server stopped.

Fix:

Close the panel (click X on the tab)
Make sure sidebar shows "Running Port 9181"
Reopen the panel from sidebar → Knowledge Base → click the panel

"Port already in use" / Server fails to start

Cause: Another process (or another instance of the server) is already using that port.

Fix:

Change port: Ctrl+Shift+P → "Kiro SDLC: Change Port" → enter a new port (e.g., 9182)
Or stop the other server: If you have a standalone MCP server running from mcp.json, stop it first
Or kill the process: On Windows: netstat -ano | findstr :9181 then taskkill /PID <pid> /F

"Database is locked" / SQLite errors

Cause: Two servers are trying to access the same database file at the same time.

Fix:

Make sure only ONE server is running (see MCP Server section)
Disable extension server (kiroSdlc.enableMcpServer = false) if using standalone
Or stop standalone server if using extension's built-in server

"Could not load better-sqlite3 native binding"

Cause: Native binary missing, corrupted, or incompatible with current Node version.

Fix:

Delete cache: %APPDATA%/Kiro/User/globalStorage/dnguyenminh.kiro-sdlc-agents/native-addons/
Restart the IDE — extension will re-download the correct binary
Check that your Node version is 20, 22, or 24

📝 License

MIT

Kiro SDLC Agents

Duc Nguyen Minh

Kiro SDLC Agents

🆕 What's New in v1.16.0

🚀 Quick Start

🧠 Knowledge Base UI

Panel Overview

How to Open Panels

Graph Panel

Quality Panel

Analytics Panel

Dashboard Panel

👥 Meet the Team

How to Use the Agents

⚙️ Commands

Code Intelligence Features (KSA-170)

🔌 Using MCP Server

Option A: With Kiro IDE Extension (Recommended)

Option B: With Kiro CLI (Standalone MCP Server)

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Avoid Running Two Servers at the Same Time

🌐 Web Dashboard

📦 Native Binary Management

How It Works

Supported Platforms

Cache Location

Troubleshooting Native Binaries

🏗️ Architecture

📋 Settings

🔧 Troubleshooting

"MCP tool timed out"

"Charts not showing" / Panels are blank

"Port already in use" / Server fails to start

"Database is locked" / SQLite errors

"Could not load better-sqlite3 native binding"

📝 License