๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ: ๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ ๐๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฎ๐
I walked into the Kiro lab ready to learn.
I have been building a web app for weeks. My stack uses Next.js on Vercel, API routes with DynamoDB, and Bedrock for AI. I had 15 days left to finish a hackathon project. I thought I had a rhythm with Kiro. I thought I knew how to use it.
I was wrong.
I attended a session led by Clayton Markos on spec-driven development. This was new to me. I usually scaffold my own projects and then bring them into the tool. I had never let Kiro generate the structure first.
The task was simple: build and deploy a weather app in 90 minutes.
I realized my mistake during the build. I was using Claude to write my architecture and notes. Those notes were written for me to read. They were not specs written for Kiro to build from.
When you give an AI vague prose, it drifts. It makes guesses. You spend your time fixing its mistakes.
The secret is the spec. You must define the what and the constraints. You let the AI decide the how.
- Too rigid: The tool becomes an expensive autocomplete. It cannot make smart calls.
- Too loose: The tool drifts and fills gaps with guesses.
- The sweet spot: The spec defines the boundaries. The tool handles the execution.
I also attended an Anthropic talk on context engineering. Jacqueline Garrahan explained that prompt engineering is no longer just about the instruction. It is about everything the model sees. This includes tool definitions, retrieved documents, and tool results.
What you feed the tool determines what it gives you back.
I even spoke to Hedieh Zandi from Vercel. I told her I was building on the exact stack she was presenting. It was nerve-wracking to explain my work to an expert. But I did it.
AI coding is moving fast. It feels less like a learning curve and more like a free fall. You learn while you are falling. You collect scars along the way.
Labs help me find the blind spots in my workflow. They humble me. They give me the tools to build the next project with more confidence.
I have 15 days left until my deadline. I am going back to the spec.