Integrate Unleash with Kiro for AI-powered feature flag management

The Unleash MCP server connects Kiro to your Unleash instance, enabling AI-assisted feature flag management. This page covers how to install and configure the server in Kiro. To learn what the server can do, see Unleash MCP server.

Kiro supports MCP across two interfaces:

Kiro IDE — The primary interface, built on Code OSS
Kiro CLI — Interactive terminal-based chat (successor to Amazon Q Developer CLI)

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following:

Node.js 24 or later: The MCP server is distributed as an npm package
Kiro: IDE or CLI installed
An Unleash instance: Cloud or self-hosted, with API access enabled
A personal access token (PAT): With permissions to create and manage feature flags

Install the MCP server

The Unleash MCP server runs as a local stdio process. Configuration differs between the IDE and CLI, but both use the same npm package and credentials.

Kiro uses ${VAR} expansion for environment variables. Create a credentials file and source it from your shell profile:

Create credentials file

mkdir -p ~/.unleash
cat > ~/.unleash/mcp.env << 'EOF'
UNLEASH_BASE_URL=https://your-instance.getunleash.io
UNLEASH_PAT=your-personal-access-token
EOF
chmod 600 ~/.unleash/mcp.env

Source in shell profile

Add to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:

if [ -f ~/.unleash/mcp.env ]; then
  source ~/.unleash/mcp.env
  export UNLEASH_BASE_URL UNLEASH_PAT
fi

Reload your shell

source ~/.zshrc  # or ~/.bashrc

Variable	Description	Required
`UNLEASH_BASE_URL`	Your Unleash instance API URL.	Yes
`UNLEASH_PAT`	A personal access token with flag creation permissions.	Yes
`UNLEASH_MCP_SEND_FEEDBACK`	Set to `true` or `false` to opt in to or out of feedback reports without a consent prompt. With `false`, the assistant doesn’t see the `send_feedback` tool.	No

Now configure your preferred interface:

Kiro IDE

Kiro CLI

Requirements: Kiro IDE installed.

Enable MCP support (one-time step):

MCP is disabled by default. Before configuring any MCP servers, enable it:

Open Settings (Cmd+, on macOS, Ctrl+, on Windows/Linux)
Search for MCP
Enable the Kiro: MCP setting

Without this setting enabled, MCP servers will not connect and tools will not appear. This only needs to be done once.

You can add the Unleash MCP server using the Command Palette or by creating the configuration file manually.

Command Palette

Create file manually

Open the MCP configuration

Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux) and run Kiro: Open workspace MCP config (JSON).

This opens .kiro/settings/mcp.json in your workspace.

For user-scoped (global) configuration, run Kiro: Open user MCP config (JSON) instead. This opens ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json.

Add the Unleash server

Paste the following configuration:

.kiro/settings/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "unleash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@unleash/mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "UNLEASH_BASE_URL": "${UNLEASH_BASE_URL}",
        "UNLEASH_PAT": "${UNLEASH_PAT}"
      }
    }
  }
}

When you save this file, Kiro displays a popup listing unapproved environment variables. Click Allow to approve UNLEASH_BASE_URL, UNLEASH_PAT,. You can also manage approved variables later in Settings under Mcp Approved Env Vars.

Save and verify

Open the MCP Servers tab in the Kiro panel to confirm the Unleash server appears with its tools listed.

To view MCP logs, right-click the Unleash server in the MCP Servers tab and select Show MCP Logs. You can also open the Output panel and choose Kiro - MCP Logs from the dropdown.

Configure `autoApprove` and `disabledTools`

Kiro supports two MCP configuration properties for controlling tool approval:

Property	Type	Description
`autoApprove`	Array of strings	Tool names that Kiro can invoke without asking for confirmation. Use `"*"` for all tools.
`disabledTools`	Array of strings	Tool names to hide from the agent entirely.

Example with auto-approval for read-only tools:

.kiro/settings/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "unleash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@unleash/mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "UNLEASH_BASE_URL": "${UNLEASH_BASE_URL}",
        "UNLEASH_PAT": "${UNLEASH_PAT}"
      },
      "autoApprove": ["search", "inspect", "evaluate", "audit", "docs"]
    }
  }
}

Use autoApprove for the read-only tools: search, inspect, evaluate, audit, and docs. Keep write operations such as release, kill_switch, experiment, manage_flag, and configure behind manual approval.

To turn off feedback reports, set UNLEASH_MCP_SEND_FEEDBACK to "false" in the env block. You can also add send_feedback to disabledTools.

Configuration scopes:

Location	Scope	Use case
`.kiro/settings/mcp.json` (project)	Workspace	Team-shared, version controlled
`~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json`	User	Personal settings across all projects

Both are merged; workspace takes precedence on conflict. For team collaboration, use the workspace-level file.

Tools and workflows

Once the server is connected, Kiro can use every tool the Unleash MCP server exposes. To learn what the server can do and see step-by-step workflows, read Unleash MCP server. For the current list of tools, see the README on GitHub.

Feedback reports

The first time the assistant tries to send a feedback report, Kiro shows a consent prompt in the execution timeline. The MCP server saves whether you opted in or out, so you see the prompt only once.

To opt in or out without the prompt, set UNLEASH_MCP_SEND_FEEDBACK to "true" or "false" in the env block of .kiro/settings/mcp.json. With "false", the assistant doesn’t see the send_feedback tool, so you don’t need to add it to disabledTools. To learn what a report contains, see What is recorded.

Unleash Power

A Power bundles MCP tools, steering files, and hook definitions into a single installable package. The Unleash Power is the recommended way to distribute the integration across teams and projects. It is published as a public repository at github.com/Unleash/unleash-kiro-power, which documents what the Power contains.

Install the Power

You can install the Unleash Power from GitHub or from a local copy of the repository:

From GitHub: Open the Powers panel, select “Add power from GitHub,” and enter the repository URL https://github.com/Unleash/unleash-kiro-power. If your team forked the repo to customize it, use your fork’s URL instead.
From local path: Clone the repository, open the Powers panel, select “Add power from Local Path,” and choose the cloned directory.

When installed, the Power’s MCP server is auto-registered in ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json under the “Powers” section with a namespaced server name (e.g., power-unleash-unleash).

For more details on creating and distributing Powers, see the Kiro Powers documentation.

Enterprise governance

Kiro provides enterprise controls through AWS IAM Identity Center (which can federate to external identity providers such as Okta and Microsoft Entra ID).

Extension registry governance — Point the IDE at a curated extension registry to control which extensions are available
Web tools toggle — Enable or disable web search and fetch per organization policy
Supervised mode enforcement — Require supervised mode for all users, preventing autonomous agent actions
Trusted commands list — Define which shell commands the agent can execute

For MCP server governance, commit .kiro/settings/mcp.json to version control. This ensures all team members use the same MCP servers with the same settings.

Use Supervised mode for flag operations that change an environment, such as releases and kill switches. Autopilot mode works well for read-only operations like searching and inspecting flags.

Troubleshooting

MCP server not appearing in Kiro

Check .kiro/settings/mcp.json for syntax errors
Verify the file is in the correct location (workspace root under .kiro/settings/)
Restart Kiro after making changes
Right-click the server in the MCP Servers tab and select Show MCP Logs

Unapproved environment variables

If you see “Found unapproved environment variables in MCP config,” Kiro requires explicit approval before expanding variables.

When you first save the config, click Allow on the popup to approve the listed variables
Or open Settings, search for Mcp Approved Env Vars, and add UNLEASH_BASE_URL and UNLEASH_PAT
After approving, restart Kiro or reload the window

Environment variables not expanding

Restart your terminal or IDE after modifying your shell profile
Run source ~/.zshrc to reload
Kiro inherits environment variables from the shell that launched it
Verify variables are exported: echo $UNLEASH_BASE_URL
Verify the variables are approved in Settings → Mcp Approved Env Vars

Authentication failed

Confirm your Unleash PAT is valid and has not expired
Check that the PAT has permissions to create and manage feature flags
Verify that UNLEASH_BASE_URL does not include /api at the end
Test directly: curl -H "Authorization: $UNLEASH_PAT" "$UNLEASH_BASE_URL/api/admin/projects"

Power not activating

Check that keywords in the POWER.md frontmatter match what you are saying in chat
Powers activate on keyword matches — use terms like “feature flag,” “rollout,” or “unleash”
Verify the Power is installed in the Powers panel

autoApprove not working

The autoApprove array must use exact tool names
Use "*" to approve all tools, or list specific names like ["search", "inspect"]
Verify the property is inside the server configuration object, not at the root level

Workspace vs user config conflict

Workspace configuration (.kiro/settings/mcp.json) takes precedence over user configuration (~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json). If a server is disabled in workspace config, it remains disabled even if enabled in user config.

Feedback is disabled

send_feedback returns this message if you declined the consent prompt, if Kiro couldn’t show it, or if UNLEASH_MCP_SEND_FEEDBACK is set to false. To opt in, set UNLEASH_MCP_SEND_FEEDBACK to "true" in the env block of .kiro/settings/mcp.json, approve the variable when Kiro asks, and reconnect the server. To see the consent prompt again, delete feedback_consent.json from the configuration directory. Feedback settings don’t affect flag operations.

Unleash MCP server on GitHub
Unleash Kiro Power on GitHub — installable Power bundling the MCP server config, steering files, and hook templates
Spec-Driven Feature Flags: How Kiro and Unleash Turn Requirements into Safe Releases
Kiro documentation
Kiro MCP configuration
Impact Metrics
Unleash architecture overview