Kiro + xCloud

Install one-click apps with Kiro on xCloud

Installing one-click apps with Kiro means asking the agent in the Kiro IDE to find an app in the xCloud catalogue, check a server, install it after your approval and hand back the address, with Kiro's own tool permissions as a second check.

Skill: xcloud:deploy
Toolsets: oneclick-apps, catalog, servers
Free with every xCloud account

Set up Kiro All Kiro guides

YouInstall Uptime Kuma on the Frankfurt server, staging hostname.

oneclickApps_compatibilityread-only

AgentFrankfurt fits on stack, runtime, state and billing. Resources are inconclusive because there is no monitoring reading. I will install Uptime Kuma on a free staging hostname. Proceed?

YouProceed.

oneclickApps_installneeds approval

AgentInstall complete. Uptime Kuma is running on your staging hostname.

Last updated: October 2026. Keep a human in the loop: xCloud stops and asks before anything that creates, deploys, updates, reboots, deletes or buys.

Setup

How Do You Set Up Kiro to Install one-click apps on xCloud?

Connect Kiro once; every job on this account uses the same connection. Then ask in plain words.

1
Add xCloud to your Kiro MCP config
Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows and Linux), search for MCP and choose Kiro: Open workspace MCP config (JSON) for .kiro/settings/mcp.json, or Kiro: Open user MCP config (JSON) for ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json. Paste this, save, and Kiro reconnects on its own. The first connection opens the xCloud approval screen in your browser, where you tick the teams and choose Read-only or Full access.
JSON
```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xcloud": {
      "url": "https://app.xcloud.host/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```
2
Choose which xCloud tools Kiro may run
Optional. autoApprove lists tools Kiro runs without asking, and disabledTools hides tools from the agent altogether. The two names here are real xCloud tools; swap in your own. Avoid the "*" wildcard in autoApprove, so Kiro's own prompt stays as a second check beside xCloud's confirmation.
JSON
```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xcloud": {
      "url": "https://app.xcloud.host/mcp",
      "autoApprove": ["xcloud_docs_search", "xcloud_agent_search"],
      "disabledTools": ["sites_destroy"]
    }
  }
}
```
3
No browser sign-in? Use an API key
Create a token with the mcp:invoke scope plus the read abilities for the areas it will use (read:servers and read:sites, with read:billing and read:addons for billing and add-on tools) and the matching write: abilities if it should change things in Settings, Developers, API Tokens, export it as XCLOUD_API_TOKEN, and pass it in headers. Kiro only expands environment variables you have approved, so add XCLOUD_API_TOKEN under the Mcp Approved Env Vars setting. Never paste the token into the file or into chat.
JSON
```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xcloud": {
      "url": "https://app.xcloud.host/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${XCLOUD_API_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Check it worked

Then ask Kiro for the job itself, for example:

Prompt

Search the xCloud one-click catalogue for an uptime monitor and show what it needs from a server.

In practice

How Does One-click apps Work from Kiro?

Kiro gives you two places to decide what the agent may do, and a one-click install uses both. In .kiro/settings/mcp.json, or the user file in ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json, the xcloud entry can carry an autoApprove list. For this job the sensible list is the read tools: the catalogue search, the install form, the compatibility check and the install status. Those let Kiro browse, check and poll without interrupting you. Leave the install tool, the lifecycle tool and the credentials tool off it, so Kiro's prompt appears at exactly the moments that matter: before an app is created, before one is stopped or redeployed, and before a login is read out.

You work from the chat panel with your project open. Say which app and which server, for instance: install Uptime Kuma on the Frankfurt server with a staging hostname. If you have also imported the portable Agent Plugins package, which xCloud lists Kiro as a compatible client for, the xcloud:deploy skill adds the routine, so Kiro runs the compatibility check before it asks anything and restates the app, server and address in one message. You may then see both Kiro's tool prompt and the agent's own question, and xCloud separately requires an explicit confirmation for the install. The status polling then runs on its own, ending with the phase name when it stops and a plain failure message that names pre_install, install, post_install or provisioning.

Because Kiro supports a workspace file and a user file, you can scope this sensibly. Keep the broad xCloud connection in the user file and use a workspace file only for a project that should never install apps, adding the install and lifecycle tools to disabledTools there. Remember that the workspace entry wins when both define xcloud, so a disabledTools list in a project file hides those tools even though your user file leaves them on.

Kiro specific: MCP support has to be enabled in Kiro's settings before any of this works, and the tool names in autoApprove and disabledTools have to match the names Kiro lists for the xcloud server. If an install request ends with the agent saying it cannot find an install tool, check the workspace file for a disabledTools entry first, because it overrides the user file. Avoid the wildcard in autoApprove: it would let Kiro run stop and redeploy without asking.

What xCloud does for one-click apps

xCloud lists the one-click catalogue, checks whether an app fits a given server, installs it once you approve and reports each install phase until it finishes. Afterwards the agent can fetch the login details and stop, start or redeploy the app. A few apps install only from the dashboard, and the agent tells you where to click.

Find the app. The agent searches the catalogue by name or purpose and shows what it found. An empty catalogue means the list has not synced on that environment, so the agent never answers that an app does not exist from an empty list.
Read the install form. The agent reads the app's fields. Fields xCloud generates for you can be left out. For the address you choose a free xCloud staging hostname or your own domain, and a live domain needs the full site name.
Check the server fits. You name the server, or the agent lists yours and asks. The compatibility check covers the server stack, runtime, state, billing and RAM, CPU and disk against the latest monitoring snapshot. If monitoring data is missing the resource check was skipped, and the agent says the result is inconclusive.
Approve and install. The agent restates the app, the server and the address, and asks once. On your yes it sends the install with an explicit confirmation and an idempotency key, so a retried request cannot create a second copy.
Poll the install. The agent polls the install status every five to ten seconds until it is terminal. A failure names its phase: pre_install, install, post_install or provisioning, so you know where it stopped.
Hand over and manage. The agent gives you the URL. It fetches the login details only when you ask, shows them once in the reply and tells you to store them in a password manager. Later it can stop, start, restart or redeploy the app after your approval.

Reference

One-click apps Settings and Limits on xCloud

The facts Kiro works within when it installs one-click apps. Where a row names the dashboard, that step stays yours to take there.

Setting or limit	What applies
Catalogue	Searchable by name. It holds hundreds of apps, and most run on a Docker server. Public facts such as supported stacks and minimum size come from the catalogue listing
Compatibility check	Per server: stack, runtime, server state, billing and RAM, CPU and disk. monitor_available set to false means the resource check was skipped, not passed
Too-small servers	A server that is too small stays too small. The agent suggests a larger server instead of retrying the install
Stack requirements	An app that needs another stack is refused with a 422 that reads "This app requires a ... server. This server is on the ... stack."
Dashboard-only installs	n8n, Supabase, Nextcloud, Mautic, LibreChat, Open WebUI, Ollama, Umami, WireGuard, phpMyAdmin and Site.pro. The API answers 404 for these eleven; install them from Add site, One-Click Apps in the dashboard
Address	Staging hostname for a free xCloud address, or go live with your own domain. A demo site promoted to a live domain cannot return to the demo address
Idempotency	The install carries an Idempotency-Key, so a retried request cannot create a duplicate site
Install phases	pre_install, install, post_install and provisioning. is_terminal marks the end, and failed_phase says where a failure happened
Credentials	Read on request and shown once in the reply. Some apps have none to read because you create the first admin inside the app
Lifecycle	Stop, start, restart and redeploy run synchronously. Stop takes the app offline and redeploy recreates its containers. Both answer 422 while an install is running or after a failed install
Agentic servers	An OpenClaw, Hermes, Paperclip or DeepSeek Harness server never takes a one-click app

Rules Kiro has to follow

Installing, stopping and redeploying an app stop for your approval; browsing the catalogue and the compatibility check never change anything.
A missing resource reading is reported as inconclusive, never as a pass.
Login details are shown once, only when you ask, and never repeated in a summary or a later message.
For the eleven dashboard-only apps the agent checks that the server fits, then gives you the dashboard path instead of trying the install.
A failed install is not retried blindly: the agent names the failed phase and reads the site's recent events first.

Example prompts

What Can You Ask Kiro to Do for One-click apps?

Type these as written and swap in your own repository, site and server names. Reads and routine actions such as backups, cache purges, PageSpeed scans and vulnerability scans run straight away; creating, deploying, updating, rebooting, deleting, buying or starting a broken-link scan stops and asks first.

Prompt

Search the xCloud one-click catalogue for an uptime monitor and show what it needs from a server.

Prompt

Install Uptime Kuma on the Frankfurt server on a staging hostname. Check the fit, then ask me before you install.

Prompt

Stop the Ghost app on blog.example.com. Tell me what stopping does first and wait for my yes.

Prompt

Which one-click apps are compatible with my Frankfurt server?

Prompt

Search the one-click catalogue for a self-hosted blog and tell me what each result needs from a server.

Prompt

Install Uptime Kuma on the Frankfurt server on a staging hostname, wait until it is ready, then give me the login details.

Prompt

Check whether Immich fits my Amsterdam server before I install it, and tell me if the resource check was inconclusive.

Prompt

I want n8n on my Frankfurt server. Check that the server fits, then tell me where to click to install it.

Prompt

The Uptime Kuma install on the Frankfurt server failed. Which phase failed, and what do the recent events say?

Prompt

Redeploy the Ghost app on blog.example.com, but tell me what a redeploy does before you run it.

Kiro and One-click apps: Frequently Asked Questions

What people ask before they let Kiro install one-click apps through xCloud.

Which xCloud tools should I put in Kiro's autoApprove for one-click apps?

Only the read tools: the catalogue search, the install form, the compatibility check and the install status. Keep the install, lifecycle and credentials tools off the list so Kiro still asks before it creates, stops, redeploys or reads out a login.

Why does Kiro not offer the install tool in one project?

A workspace .kiro/settings/mcp.json that defines xcloud overrides the user file, so a disabledTools list there can hide the install tool. Remove the entry from the workspace file, or delete the workspace xcloud entry so the user file applies.

Can an agent install any app in the one-click catalogue?

Most of them. Eleven apps install only from the dashboard: n8n, Supabase, Nextcloud, Mautic, LibreChat, Open WebUI, Ollama, Umami, WireGuard, phpMyAdmin and Site.pro. For those the agent checks that your server fits and points you to Add site, One-Click Apps.

How does the agent know an app will fit my server?

It runs the compatibility check for that server, which covers the stack, runtime, server state, billing and the RAM, CPU and disk readings from the latest monitoring snapshot. If monitoring data is missing, the agent tells you the resource check was inconclusive.

What does a 422 during an app install mean?

Usually that the app needs a different server stack than the one you picked, and the message names both. Pick a server on the required stack. A 422 on stop, start or redeploy means an install is still running or the last install failed.

Where do the login details for a one-click app come from?

The agent can read them from xCloud when you ask and shows them once in the reply. Store them in a password manager. Some apps have no generated login because you create the first administrator inside the app.

Can an agent stop or restart a one-click app?

Yes. Stop, start, restart and redeploy are available, and they run straight away once you approve. Stop takes the app offline and redeploy recreates its containers, so the agent asks before either.

Other agents