Where Are Kiro Skills Stored Locally? A Complete Guide to AWS Agent Toolkit Skill Management

Kiro skills are stored either globally in ~/.kiro/skills/ for system-wide access or locally in .kiro/skills/ within your project directory, as defined in the aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws repository.

The AWS Agent Toolkit supports Kiro, an AI-coding assistant that extends your development environment with reusable skill packages. Understanding where Kiro skills are stored locally is essential for managing dependencies, sharing configurations across teams, and troubleshooting skill loading issues.

Global vs. Project-Local Storage Scopes

According to the toolkit's Skills documentation in skills/README.md, Kiro searches for skill packages in two distinct scopes depending on your use case.

Global Skills Directory (~/.kiro/skills/)

The global scope stores skills in a hidden folder within the user's home directory. Skills placed in ~/.kiro/skills/ are available to every Kiro project on the host machine, making this location ideal for common skill sets used across multiple repositories.

Project-Local Skills Directory (.kiro/skills/)

The project-local scope uses a hidden directory at the repository root (.kiro/skills/). These skills are only visible when you run Kiro from that specific directory, allowing project-specific skill bundles to live alongside the code they support without polluting the global namespace.

Managing Kiro Skills via CLI

The AWS Agent Toolkit provides CLI commands to interact with these storage locations directly.

Listing Installed Skills

Verify what skills are currently installed in each location:

# List all globally installed Kiro skills

ls ~/.kiro/skills

# List project-local Kiro skills (run from the repo root)

ls .kiro/skills

Installing Skills to Specific Locations

Control where skill bundles are installed using the --local flag:

# Install a skill bundle globally with the built-in CLI

npx skills add aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws/skills     # installs to ~/.kiro/skills

# Install a skill bundle only for the current project

npx skills add aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws/skills --local   # installs to .kiro/skills

Verifying Runtime Paths

Check which directories Kiro will search during execution:

# Show the resolved skill search paths

kiro --show-skill-paths

Source Code Reference

The storage mappings and configuration hierarchy are explicitly defined in the following locations within the aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws repository:

• skills/README.md: Contains the canonical table mapping Kiro storage scopes to their respective file paths. This file defines the contract for ~/.kiro/skills/ (global) and .kiro/skills/ (project-local).

• .kiro/settings/mcp.json: Houses Kiro's MCP server configuration, residing within the .kiro directory structure alongside the skills storage locations.

Summary

• Kiro uses two storage scopes: global (~/.kiro/skills/) and project-local (.kiro/skills/).
• Global skills are available system-wide, while local skills are restricted to specific repositories.
• The npx skills add command supports a --local flag to target project-specific installation.
• Runtime configuration can be verified using kiro --show-skill-paths.
• Source definitions reside in skills/README.md within the AWS Agent Toolkit repository.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the default location for global Kiro skills?

The default location for global Kiro skills is ~/.kiro/skills/, a hidden directory in your home folder. This path is hardcoded in the toolkit's skills/README.md and is searched automatically when Kiro initializes on any project.

How do I install Kiro skills only for the current project?

Use the --local flag with the skills CLI: npx skills add aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws/skills --local. This installs the skill bundle to .kiro/skills/ in your repository root rather than the global ~/.kiro/skills/ directory.

Can I view which skill paths Kiro is currently using?

Yes. Run kiro --show-skill-paths to display the resolved skill search paths. This command reveals both global and project-local directories that Kiro will scan when loading skill packages.

Where is Kiro's MCP server configuration stored?

Kiro's MCP server configuration is stored in .kiro/settings/mcp.json. This file typically resides within the .kiro directory structure at your project root, functioning alongside the skills storage locations to configure agent behavior.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}