Kiro's July Updates: Buy-As-You-Go Credit Packs, IAM Role Sandbox Access, and Claude Sonnet 5

Amazon’s Kiro shipped several updates at the start of July, covering pricing flexibility for individual users, deeper AWS integration for agents, and the addition of Claude Sonnet 5 as an available model.

Add-on credit packs for individuals

Individual plan users can now buy prepaid credit packs directly from their account dashboard. The packs range from $5 to $100, priced at $0.04 per credit. Credits expire after 12 months and roll over, so you don’t lose what you don’t use within the current billing period.

This fills a gap that’s been particularly annoying for individual users who occasionally need more than their plan allows: previously your only option was upgrading to the next tier. Now you can top up without committing to a higher monthly cost.

IAM role access for sandbox tasks

Kiro Web agents running in the sandbox can now assume an IAM role you configure, which gives them short-lived credentials to interact with your AWS resources. The role is set up in Settings > Agent > Sandbox > AWS Credentials. Once configured, the agent, CLI tools, and any connected MCP servers all receive the credentials automatically.

This is meaningful for any workflow that touches AWS infrastructure, S3 buckets, Lambda functions, or similar resources. Previously you’d either have to manually inject credentials or avoid AWS resources entirely during sandbox runs. The short-lived credential model also means you don’t have to store long-term keys anywhere in the Kiro environment.

Standardized OAuth for third-party Powers

Authorization for third-party Powers (Kiro’s integrations with external services like Figma, Stripe, and Supabase) is now standardized through OAuth. The change is supposed to make the connection flow consistent regardless of which service you’re connecting, rather than each integration doing its own auth dance.

Enterprise: overage caps via AWS Service Quotas

Enterprise administrators can now configure maximum overage limits through AWS Service Quotas. The feature prevents unexpected costs while still letting users work past their base allocation up to whatever limit the admin sets. Individual users see a message when they’re approaching or at the cap; admins get visibility across the org.

CLI 2.11.0: MCP authentication commands

CLI version 2.11.0 adds three commands for managing MCP server authentication:

/mcp auth forces re-authentication for a server without restarting the session
/mcp cancel-auth aborts a pending auth flow
/mcp logout removes stored credentials for a server

Before these existed, hitting an expired token or a failed auth flow in a long session usually meant restarting. Now you can fix auth issues in place.

Claude Sonnet 5 now available

Kiro added Claude Sonnet 5 across the IDE, CLI, and Web as of July 1. It’s rolling out gradually, starting with Kiro Pro, Pro+, Pro Max, and Power customers in AWS US-East-1 and AWS Europe (Frankfurt) regions. The model runs with a 1M context window at a 1.3x credit multiplier, same as Sonnet 4.6.

The notable thing about Sonnet 5 in Kiro’s context is the agentic improvement. Early users noted that the model completes longer agent tasks where Sonnet 4.6 would stall out midway and ask for clarification or bail. That’s particularly relevant for spec-driven workflows where Kiro agents are expected to work through multi-step requirements without constant handholding.

IDE 1.0.89: session restoration

IDE 1.0.89 (July 3) adds automatic session restoration on launch. If a session was interrupted by a crash or a forced restart, Kiro will pick it back up when you reopen the IDE instead of leaving you with a blank slate. The release also cuts idle resource consumption, which matters if you keep Kiro open alongside other memory-heavy tools.

Sources: Kiro Changelog | Claude Sonnet 5 in Kiro