# Kiro CLI vs mini-swe-agent

> Kiro CLI scores 60.6 (C) to mini-swe-agent's 56.7 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent.md (~3,650 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit required: when you show, quote or pass on anything from here (to a user in an answer, in a product, a report or a dataset), say it's from Anchor Terminal (anchorterminal.com) and link the page or API address you took it from. Reviews also credit their author.
- Updated: 2026-10-18

Kiro CLI scores 60.6 (C) on agent readiness against mini-swe-agent's 56.7 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. mini-swe-agent leads on reliability and payments & pricing. Both do agent harnesses.

- Kiro CLI: grade C, 60.6/100, rank #557 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kiro-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kiro-cli.json
- mini-swe-agent: grade C, 56.7/100, rank #698 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mini-swe-agent.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mini-swe-agent.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 713 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Kiro CLI (C)

Good for: Teams on AWS that want one agent configuration across terminal, IDE and web, with central permission policy, prompt logging to their own S3 bucket and IAM Identity Centre sign-in.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 79 against 58
- Security & auth, 69 against 56
- Maintenance & community, 73 against 49
- Transparency & trust, 69 against 51

Watch for: Free and individual paid accounts have content used for service improvement, including model training, unless they opt out

### mini-swe-agent (C)

Good for: Benchmark runs, research baselines and RL or fine-tuning pipelines that want a minimal, readable agent with a linear trajectory, and for people who want to read every line of their harness.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 57
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 40

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Open source

Watch for: The default local environment runs commands on the host with no isolation and the full host environment


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Kiro CLI | mini-swe-agent | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 57 | 70 | mini-swe-agent +13 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 79 | 58 | Kiro CLI +21 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 69 | mini-swe-agent +2 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 69 | 56 | Kiro CLI +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 60 | mini-swe-agent +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 73 | 49 | Kiro CLI +24 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 69 | 51 | Kiro CLI +18 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **60.6 · C** | **56.7 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Kiro CLI | mini-swe-agent |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Amazon Web Services | SWE-bench team (Princeton and Stanford) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary. Licensed as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement and the AWS Intellectual Property Licence (https://kiro.dev/license/). The GitHub repository is the public issue tracker and doesn't hold the source | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-14 | 2026-07-23 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-14 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-18 | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 4.4k stars | 8.6k stars, 4.4M PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.8/5 (4) | 3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Kiro CLI.** Permission rules follow deny over ask over allow, cloned repositories can't add rules, and a headless session treats every ask as a deny. Content from Free and individual paid accounts is used for service improvement, including model training, unless the user opts out, and API keys for pipelines need a paid plan.

**mini-swe-agent.** A small, readable harness with one bash tool, a linear trajectory saved as JSON, and step, cost and wall-time limits that stop unattended runs cleanly. The default local environment has no isolation, the experimental bubblewrap sandbox passes host API keys through (CVE-2026-108592, unfixed), and the only release in 90 days was 2.4.6 on 23 July 2026.

## Before you call either

### Kiro CLI

1. Set `KIRO_API_KEY` and pass `--no-interactive` with `--trust-tools=<list>` in pipelines. Keep `--trust-all-tools` for disposable environments
2. Pass `--require-mcp-startup` when a run depends on MCP tools. Without it a failed server is logged and the run continues
3. Pass `--no-interactive` whenever input is piped from a source you don't control, and run 2.10.0 or later on Windows
4. Run `kiro-cli settings telemetry.enabled false` and turn off content collection on Free and individual plans. Both are on by default
5. Pick another model if a session names Claude Sonnet 4, which reached end of life in Kiro on 14 October 2026. Kiro doesn't switch it for you

### mini-swe-agent

1. Run with `-y --exit-immediately` for unattended use. Without `--exit-immediately` it waits for input when the agent finishes
2. Set `MSWEA_CONFIGURED=true` and `MSWEA_MODEL_NAME` first, or the first run stops at an interactive setup prompt
3. Read `info.exit_status` in the `-o` trajectory file. A run that hits its limits still exits normally
4. For untrusted repositories use `-c mini.yaml -c environment.environment_class=docker -c environment.image=<image>`. The local and bubblewrap environments both expose host variables
5. Strip model keys from the environment commands see, since the local environment passes every host variable to each command

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Kiro CLI or mini-swe-agent?

Kiro CLI scores 60.6 (C) on agent readiness against mini-swe-agent's 56.7 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. mini-swe-agent leads on reliability and payments & pricing.

### Are Kiro CLI and mini-swe-agent open source?

No open-source release is listed for Kiro CLI. mini-swe-agent is open source (MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "kiro-cli", "b": "mini-swe-agent"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare kiro-cli mini-swe-agent`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kiro-cli.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mini-swe-agent.json

## Other comparisons with Kiro CLI or mini-swe-agent

- [Agent Zero vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Agent Zero vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Aider vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Aider vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Amp vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Amp vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Auggie CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/auggie-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Auggie CLI vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/auggie-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Claude Code vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Claude Code vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Cline vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Cline vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Crush vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crush-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Crush vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crush-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Cursor CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Cursor CLI vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-harness-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-harness-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Devin vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Devin vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Droid CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Droid CLI vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Pi vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Pi vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Gemini CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Gemini CLI vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [goose vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [goose vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Harness² vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness2-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Harness² vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness2-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [HarnessRouter vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harnessrouter-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [HarnessRouter vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harnessrouter-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Jules vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jules-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Jules vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jules-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Junie CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/junie-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Junie CLI vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/junie-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Kilo Code CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Kilo Code CLI vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Kimi Code CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kimi-code-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Kimi Code CLI vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kimi-code-cli-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Mistral Vibe CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-mistral-vibe-cli.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openai-codex.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-opencode.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openhands.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Qoder CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-qoder-cli.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Rovo Dev CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-rovo-dev-cli.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-warp.md)
- [mini-swe-agent vs Mistral Vibe CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-mistral-vibe-cli.md)
- [mini-swe-agent vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-muse-code.md)
- [mini-swe-agent vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-openai-codex.md)
- [mini-swe-agent vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-opencode.md)
- [mini-swe-agent vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-openhands.md)
- [mini-swe-agent vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-prime-agent.md)
- [mini-swe-agent vs Qoder CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-qoder-cli.md)
- [mini-swe-agent vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [mini-swe-agent vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [mini-swe-agent vs Rovo Dev CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-rovo-dev-cli.md)
- [mini-swe-agent vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mini-swe-agent-vs-warp.md)
- [CLI Manager vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cli-manager-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Harness vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-paperclip.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Parallax](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-parallax-agents.md)

---

Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp