A cloud session runs the Kiro agent harness in a managed cloud sandbox instead of on your machine. The session belongs to your Kiro account, not to any one app: start it in the browser, hand it a long task, close your laptop, and check on it later from your phone, your terminal, or the IDE. The agent keeps working in the sandbox whether or not you're connected.
Cloud sessions are the execution environment behind Kiro Web and Mobile, and the IDE and CLI can create and attach to the same sessions. Because every surface talks to the same harness through the same protocol, cloud sessions retain Kiro's core agent behavior while running against sandbox-backed files, tools, and configuration. The main difference is where the work happens; client-specific limitations are described below.
| Capability | IDE | CLI | Web | Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create a cloud session | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Resume and steer an existing cloud session | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Autonomous mode | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scheduled automations | — | — | ✓ | — |
When you create a cloud session, Kiro provisions an isolated sandbox and starts the same agent harness that runs locally in the IDE and CLI. If you attach repositories, Kiro clones them server-side through your connected source provider; your local working copy is never uploaded. The agent reads, edits, builds, and runs shell commands inside the sandbox, and delivers results back through your source provider (typically as a pull request) or directly in the conversation.
The session itself lives in a cloud session store, separate from any client:
For details on the sandbox itself (network access, environment variables, and environment configuration), see the Sandbox documentation.
us-east-1 onlyhttps://app.kiro.dev/signin/oauth to the existing Kiro OIDC application. Follow the Okta redirect URI setup or Microsoft Entra ID redirect URI setupIn the IDE, cloud sessions live in Agent Focus Mode. Open Agent Focus from the top-right corner of the IDE window, and the session rail shows a Cloud Sessions section alongside your local projects. The section appears when cloud sessions are available for your account.
Once the session starts, its bound repositories stay visible below the chat input. Repositories are chosen at creation time. To work on a different set, start a new cloud session.
Cloud sessions appear in the rail ordered by recent activity, with the same status indicators as local sessions. From a session's context menu you can:
The session's files live in the sandbox, not your workspace, so affordances that operate on local files are unavailable in cloud sessions: opening files or diffs in the editor, checkpoints and revert, the #File/#Folder/#Terminal/#Problems context pickers, hook configuration links, and clickable spec task actions. Prompt attachments (images and documents) work; their contents are sent to the session. Renaming a cloud session and Supervised mode aren't available yet.
Cloud sessions draw a clear boundary between your machine and the sandbox:
| Local machine | Cloud sandbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Your prompts and attachments | Composed here | Delivered to the session (attachment contents are uploaded) |
| Repository code | Never uploaded | Cloned server-side via your source provider connection |
| Agent file reads and edits | — | Run in the sandbox |
| Shell commands and builds | — | Run in the sandbox |
Project configuration (.kiro/ in the repo) | — | Arrives with the repository clone |
Local personal configuration (~/.kiro/) | Stays local | Not applied; use personal Cloud configuration for supported account-backed items |
Cloud sessions and personal Cloud configuration are related account-backed capabilities, but they serve different purposes. A cloud session determines where the agent works. Personal Cloud configuration determines which account-level configuration Kiro makes available across supported surfaces.
Configuration follows the same scopes as everywhere else:
.kiro/ in your repository apply in cloud sessions automatically, because the sandbox clones the repository.~/.kiro/ directory stays local and isn't applied to a cloud session. Use Settings > Configuration Sync in Kiro Web to upload supported personal configuration. Manage the cloud copy from its feature-specific settings page, including account-backed Powers under Settings > Powers. See Configuration Sync for supported folders and the upload workflow.When personal Cloud configuration is enabled for your account and supplies cloud-managed items, Kiro IDE 1.0.437 or later shows personal Steering, custom agents, Skills, Powers, and Hooks in their usual IDE surfaces. A cloud indicator identifies items managed in Kiro Web. Cloud Steering, Skills, and Hooks open as read-only previews with an Edit in web action. Agent Focus settings show the same cloud source and links for managing those items in Kiro Web.
If Cloud configuration is enabled but your account supplies no cloud items, these indicators and management actions don't appear, and the IDE surfaces remain unchanged.
The IDE's personal Cloud configuration surfaces do not include standalone MCP servers. Configuration Sync handles MCP server settings separately: uploading settings/mcp.json sends those servers to Kiro Web sandbox MCP server settings, not to the IDE as cloud-managed MCP servers. This is also separate from MCP configuration bundled inside a Power: bundled MCP configuration belongs to that Power and becomes available when the Power is active. Project-level MCP servers committed under .kiro/ continue to follow project configuration scope.
A cloud session is one session, whichever app you view it through:
| From | To | How |
|---|---|---|
| Web or Mobile | CLI | kiro-cli --resume-id <session-id> |
| IDE (Agent Focus) | Web | Open in Kiro Web on the session's menu |
| IDE (Agent Focus) | CLI | Open with Kiro CLI on the session's menu |
| CLI | Web | Open the session at app.kiro.dev |
| Any | Mobile | The session appears in the Mobile app's session list |
/repo). To work on different repositories, start a new session..kiro configuration for cloud sessions
Cloud sessions