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.

2. Configure a project

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
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 (V2) prerequisites)	/aidlc	Kiro CLI (V2)
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

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 (V2) says how an existing Kiro CLI (V2) project switches). The methodology itself is provider-independent.

This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗