AI-DLC - one core, many harnesses
AI-DLC (AI-Driven Development Life Cycle) turns AI coding assistants into
structured, verifiable software-delivery workflows. One harness-neutral core
runs natively in Claude Code, Kiro CLI, Kiro IDE, Codex CLI, Cursor, opencode,
and GitHub Copilot.
The Quick Start below installs the latest stable AI-DLC release.
Quick Start
1. Install AI-DLC
macOS, Linux, or WSL:
curl -fsSL https://github.com/awslabs/aidlc-workflows/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh
Windows PowerShell:
irm https://github.com/awslabs/aidlc-workflows/releases/latest/download/install.ps1 | iex
The installer sets up everything AI-DLC needs: the native aidlc command and
every harness runtime. You do not need to install Bun or Node.js; a native
install runs its hooks and commands through aidlc and does not call bun.
On Windows, it installs for the current account
and automatically registers the bin directory in User PATH. Run it from a normal
PowerShell window; one opened with “Run as administrator” gets a warning and a
prompt, since installing as administrator is less safe. Open a new terminal
if another session cannot find aidlc. To skip both persistent and
current-process PATH changes, use
-NoModifyPath.
Windows uninstall removes only the User PATH entry recorded as installer-owned.
On macOS, Linux, or WSL, follow the installer’s PATH instruction if needed.
Prefer to manage the project files yourself, or cannot install a native
executable? The manual-copy path is the one place Bun is needed: install
Bun, download aidlc-copy-runtime-X.Y.Z.tar.gz from the
release, and copy
the complete runtime/<harness>/ directory into your project. This path does
not require the native aidlc command.
From the project root, select the harness you use:
cd /path/to/your-project
aidlc config --harness claude
aidlc doctor
Replace claude with kiro, kiro-v2, codex, cursor, opencode, or
copilot. Running aidlc config without --harness starts the interactive
setup when a terminal is available. If you use Kiro IDE’s own terminal in a
project folder you have not trusted yet, Kiro first asks whether you trust it.
Choose Trust Folder & Continue only for your own project or one you have
checked, because trusting lets the folder’s .kiro hooks run commands on your
machine; otherwise choose Cancel and review the folder first (see
First run).
3. Start a workflow
Open your harness in the configured project and describe the work:
/aidlc Build a REST API for inventory management
Codex CLI uses $aidlc instead of /aidlc. In Kiro IDE, first choose aidlc
in the chat panel’s agent picker. AI-DLC selects a workflow from the request,
asks for missing decisions, and stops at approval gates before moving forward.
For provider setup, trust prompts, and harness-specific prerequisites, use the
guide in the table below. The complete walkthrough is in
Getting Started.
Pick your harness
| Harness |
Configure |
Open |
Invoke |
Guide |
| Claude Code |
aidlc config --harness claude |
claude |
/aidlc |
Getting Started |
| Kiro: Kiro IDE >= 1.1.70 / Kiro CLI >= 2.24.1 (v3) |
aidlc config --harness kiro |
Open the project in Kiro IDE and choose aidlc in the chat panel’s agent picker, or run kiro-cli --v3 (when Kiro asks whether you trust the folder and you know what is in it, choose Trust, continue) |
/aidlc |
Kiro IDE |
| Kiro CLI (V2) >= 2.6 |
aidlc config --harness kiro-v2 |
kiro-cli --v2 (Kiro CLI 2.21.4 or later; for an older one, see Kiro CLI) |
/aidlc |
Kiro CLI |
| Codex CLI >= 0.145.0 |
aidlc config --harness codex |
codex |
$aidlc |
Codex CLI |
| Cursor |
aidlc config --harness cursor |
Open Cursor or run agent |
/aidlc |
Cursor |
| opencode >= 1.18.29 / OpenCode 2 |
aidlc config --harness opencode |
opencode |
/aidlc |
opencode |
| GitHub Copilot CLI >= 1.0.74 / VS Code >= 1.130 |
aidlc config --harness copilot |
Copilot CLI or VS Code |
/aidlc |
GitHub Copilot |
AI-DLC 2.11.3 and earlier, and the 2.11.4 previews of 2026-11-04 and 2026-11-05, read the two Kiro names the other way: Kiro is --harness kiro-ide and Kiro CLI (V2) is --harness kiro, and they do not know kiro-v2. --harness kiro-ide names Kiro on those releases and on this one.
Model-provider setup belongs to the harness. Shipped project configuration
keeps the provider and model already selected by the user. aidlc config providers can apply Amazon Bedrock settings on supported project surfaces or
record manual setup for other harnesses. Kiro CLI and Kiro IDE need no provider
answer because model access comes with Kiro. For Kiro’s v3 engine on Kiro CLI
2.24.1 or later, use kiro and start kiro-cli --v3 (when it asks to trust the folder
and you know what is in it, choose Trust, continue); kiro-v2 is Kiro CLI (V2)
(Kiro CLI says how an existing Kiro CLI
(V2) project switches). The methodology itself is
provider-independent.
Recommended Model
AI-DLC works best with capable reasoning models. The current recommended model
is Claude Opus 4.8. If Opus is not available to you, or you are not sure where
to set the model and effort on your harness, see
Choosing a Model and Effort.
Why AI-DLC
Ad-hoc AI coding loses context as projects grow. AI-DLC keeps requirements,
decisions, implementation, tests, and operational work connected through one
audited lifecycle:
- 5 phases and 33 stages from initialization through operation
- 14 agents: 11 domain experts, 2 reviewers, and an adaptive composer
- 11 workflow profiles for features, bug fixes, infrastructure, security,
proofs of concept, enterprise delivery, and other common work
- Human approval gates and source-bound review evidence
- 134-event audit trail plus persistent state, team knowledge, and learned rules
- The same deterministic engine across every supported harness
Start with Workflow Profiles to compare
Classic, Express, and the focused workflows. See the
AI-DLC Workflows 2.0 Specification
for the architecture and methodology.
[!IMPORTANT]
Generative AI can make mistakes. Review generated output and costs before
acting on them. See the AWS Responsible AI Policy.
Documentation
| Guide |
Use it when |
| Getting Started |
Installing, configuring, and running your first workflow |
| User Guide |
Using workflows, profiles, agents, knowledge, and approval gates |
| Harness guides |
Handling provider, trust, and runtime differences |
| Install and Lifecycle |
Updating, pinning, installing offline, using mirrors, uninstalling, or removing AI-DLC from a project |
| Harness Engineer Guide |
Reshaping stages, agents, rules, sensors, and knowledge |
| Development and Releases |
Taking a PR through AI review, preview testing, and stable publication |
| Developer Reference |
Changing the engine, hooks, packaging, or tests |
Repository Layout
core/ - hand-authored, harness-neutral methodology and enginecore/tools/ - the aidlc-*.ts engine and authoring toolsharness/<name>/ - thin, harness-specific manifests and integrationsplugins/<name>/ - optional AIDLC pluginsscripts/ - packaging, binary, installer, and release toolingtests/ - smoke, unit, integration, and end-to-end testsdocs/ - user, harness-engineering, and developer documentationdist/ and dist-release/ - generated, ignored local outputs
Edit core/ or harness/<name>/, never generated dist* output.
Development
Install dependencies and generate every harness:
bun install --frozen-lockfile
bun scripts/package.ts
Useful commands:
bun scripts/package.ts <name> # generate one harness
bun scripts/package.ts --check # determinism guard
bun tests/run-tests.ts --ci # smoke, unit, and integration
bun tests/run-tests.ts --release # full release acceptance
See the Contributing Guide for the complete
development workflow and Porting to a New Harness
to add another runtime.
Troubleshooting
Run aidlc doctor from the project root first. Common fixes:
| Symptom |
Fix |
aidlc is not found |
On Windows, quit and reopen the terminal app or IDE (a new tab inside one that was open during the install keeps the old PATH), or use the direct command printed with -NoModifyPath. On Unix, apply the installer’s PATH instruction. |
| Project/runtime version skew |
Finish the active workflow, then run aidlc config |
| Codex hooks do not run |
Trust the project hooks as described in the Codex guide |
| Bedrock access fails |
Enable the configured models and verify AWS credentials and region |
| Plugin stages disappear after refresh |
Run /aidlc plugin sync |
| Refreshed skills do not take effect |
Start a new harness session |
See Troubleshooting for diagnostic and
recovery procedures.
References
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