Hooks

Agent hooks are automated triggers that execute agent prompts or shell commands when specific events occur in your IDE. Rather than manually asking for routine tasks, hooks handle them automatically.

Agent hooks set up automated responses to events such as:

• Saving, creating, or deleting files
• User prompt submission and agent turn completion
• Before or after tool invocations
• Before or after spec task execution

By setting up hooks for common tasks, you can:

• Maintain consistent code quality
• Prevent security vulnerabilities
• Reduce manual overhead
• Standardize team processes

The agent hook system follows a two-step process:

1. Event Detection: The system monitors for specific events in your IDE
2. Automated Action: When an event occurs, an action (either an agent prompt or a shell command) is executed

You can create hooks in three ways: describe what you want in natural language, manually fill out a form, or write a JSON file directly.

Hooks are JSON files stored in .kiro/hooks/ (workspace-level) or ~/.kiro/hooks/ (user-level):

{
 "version": "v1",
 "hooks": [
 {
 "name": "lint-on-save",
 "trigger": "PostFileSave",
 "matcher": "\\.ts$",
 "action": { "type": "command", "command": "npm run lint" },
 "timeout": 30,
 "enabled": true
 }
 ]
}

1. Navigate to the Agent Hooks section in the Kiro panel
2. Click the + button to create a new hook
3. Choose how you want to create the hook:
   • Manually create a hook — configure a hook by hand in a form
   • Ask Kiro to create a hook — describe a hook using natural language and have Kiro create one

1. Select Ask Kiro to create a hook
2. Describe the hook workflow using natural language
3. Press Enter or click Submit to proceed
4. Review the generated configuration, adjust if needed, and click Save Hook

1. Select Manually create a hook to open the hook form
2. Fill in the form fields:
   • Title — a short name for the hook
   • Description — what the hook does
   • Event — the trigger type (e.g., File Save, Post Tool Use, Pre Task Execution)
   • Tool name — for Pre/Post Tool Use hooks, specify which tools to match
   • File pattern — for file event hooks, specify which files to match
   • Action — choose Ask Kiro (agent prompt) or Run Command (shell command)
   • Instructions or Command — the prompt or shell command to execute
3. Click Create Hook when done, or Clear to reset the form

You can also open the Hook UI from the Command Palette with Cmd + Shift + P (Mac) or Ctrl + Shift + P (Windows/Linux) and typing Kiro: Open Kiro Hook UI.

For command actions:

Now that you have created a hook file, you can further learn about hooks here:

• Hook Types - Learn about different trigger types and their use cases
• Hook Actions - Learn about different hook actions and their use cases
• Management - Learn how to organize, edit, and maintain your hooks
• Best Practices - Follow patterns for effective hook design
• Examples - See examples and templates you can use