Kiro + xCloud

Manage servers with Kiro on xCloud

Managing servers with Kiro means asking the agent in Amazon's IDE chat panel to read your xCloud servers and change services, runtimes and security rules, with Kiro's per-tool approvals standing in front of xCloud's own confirmation.

Skill: xcloud:servers
Toolsets: servers, alerts, user
Free with every xCloud account

Set up Kiro All Kiro guides

YouInstall Redis on Frankfurt and enable it.

servers_servicesread-only

AgentRedis is not installed on frankfurt-1. I would install it and then enable the service. Go ahead?

YouYes.

servers_services_installneeds approval

AgentThe install task finished and I enabled the service. Redis is running on frankfurt-1.

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 Manage servers 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

Read the status, services and disk usage of my Frankfurt server and tell me whether anything needs attention.

In practice

How Does Server management Work from Kiro?

Kiro gives you something most editors do not: a place in the config file to decide, tool by tool, what the agent may run without asking. Server management is the job where that matters most, because the read tools and the change tools sit side by side. In .kiro/settings/mcp.json you can put servers_index, servers_show, servers_monitoring, servers_services and servers_tasks in autoApprove, so a question such as is anything wrong on Frankfurt is answered without a single prompt. The tools that change something, servers_services_restart, servers_services_disable, servers_firewallRules_create and servers_reboots_store, stay off the list. Kiro then asks you before each one, and xCloud asks again for the actions it holds for explicit confirmation.

A request in the chat panel reads like a conversation with a colleague. Ask for Redis on the Frankfurt server and Kiro reads the installed services, tells you Redis is missing, and proposes to install and enable it. After you approve, it installs, enables and reads the server's task list until the work settles, then reports that the service is running. Ask it to change the server's PHP default and it spells out the limits: the default only changes the command-line php and the version new sites get, and each existing site keeps its own version, which you change in the dashboard under Site > Site Settings.

Where the config lives matters more here than in a coding job. Servers are not part of one project, so the user-level file, ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json, is usually the right home for the xcloud entry. If a workspace file defines the same server name, the workspace entry wins, so a stale project file can quietly override your settings. If you also bring in the portable xCloud Agent Plugins package, the servers skill adds the workflow rules for services, runtimes and reboots on top of the tools. Kiro's import support depends on the client, so MCP alone is enough to start.

Kiro specific: autoApprove works by tool name, and in a server job the risky names sit right beside the safe ones. Put servers_index, servers_show, servers_monitoring, servers_services and servers_tasks in the list, and leave servers_services_restart, servers_services_disable, servers_firewallRules_create, servers_reboots_store and servers_sudoUsers_store on Kiro's prompt. Avoid the * wildcard. If you never want the agent near ssh, nginx or a database service, add servers_services_disable to disabledTools so it is not offered at all.

What xCloud does for server management

xCloud lets the agent list your servers, read their monitoring, and manage services, Node.js and PHP versions, cron jobs, firewall rules, Fail2Ban and sudo users. Changes that can interrupt a server stop for your approval, and a reboot is only reported as done after xCloud verifies a new boot.

Pick the team and the server. The agent works on one team at a time and uses the server you name. If a name is missing or matches several servers, it lists them and asks. It always restates which server it is about to change before it changes it.
Read the state first. It reads the server's status, installed services, runtimes and monitoring figures. A status such as low disk space or reboot required is worth surfacing on its own. Monitoring history is a paid-plan feature, so a free plan answers 403.
Say what will change, then ask. For a service, runtime, cron, firewall or sudo change, the agent names the server, the item and the impact, for example that a Node.js default affects every Node site on the server. It waits for your approval when the change could interrupt a service.
Follow the task to the end. xCloud accepts server work and returns before it finishes. The agent reads the server's task list until the task settles and reports the real outcome, not the acceptance.
Reboot with proof. A reboot starts a tracked operation. The agent reads that operation until xCloud reports a verified new boot. If the result is unconfirmed it investigates and never repeats the reboot just to check.
Buy a server only after approval. A new server is billable. The agent checks what you already have, reads the plans and the card on file, shows the plan, region and price, and waits for a yes. It sends the purchase once with an idempotency key so a retry cannot buy a second server.

Reference

Server management Settings and Limits on xCloud

The facts Kiro works within when it manages servers. Where a row names the dashboard, that step stays yours to take there.

Setting or limit	What applies
Inventory	Every server on the team with its status, stack and the sites it hosts, plus the tasks, supervisor processes and site snapshots on a server
Monitoring	Current CPU, memory and disk are readable. Monitoring history is a paid-plan feature: xCloud answers 403 on the free plan, which is a plan limit and not a permission
Services	Install, enable, restart and disable. A restart runs without a server-side prompt; the agent still confirms the exact server, service and impact before any service change, because disabling ssh, nginx or a database can lock you out or cause downtime
Node.js versions	Read the installed versions and set the default. The default is server-wide and affects every Node site on the server
PHP versions	Install, uninstall, set the default, patch and toggle OPcache. The server default changes only the command-line php and the version new sites get; it does not change existing sites, and a single site's PHP version is a dashboard setting under Site > Site Settings
Cron jobs	List, create, update, delete, run now and read the last output for server cron jobs. Site cron is a separate resource
Firewall rules	List, create, delete, enable and disable rules with a name, protocol, allow or deny, port and optional source IP
Fail2Ban and IP access	List, ban and unban IP addresses, read the SSH restriction status, and whitelist your current IP or xCloud's own IPs
Sudo users	List, create or update and delete sudo users. A password is a secret and private keys are never returned
Verified reboots	Start a tracked reboot and read its operation; only a verified new boot proves it worked. An unconfirmed reboot can be rechecked without rebooting again
Buying a server	Billable, so it needs an approved plan, region and price, a card on file and an idempotency key. It buys xCloud-managed servers only
Dashboard-only	Resizing or deleting a server, a provider backup of the whole server (Server > Backup), bringing your own server, databases and database users, and PHP settings such as memory limit or upload size

Rules Kiro has to follow

A change that can interrupt a server stops for your approval, and the agent names the server, the service and the impact first.
Buying a server is billable: the agent shows the plan, region and price and waits for your yes, and it never retries a purchase without checking your server list first.
A reboot is only reported as done when xCloud verifies a new boot, and an unconfirmed reboot is investigated, not repeated.
Disabling ssh, nginx, a database or a runtime service needs your explicit confirmation immediately before the call, because it can lock you out or take sites offline.
Resizing or deleting a server, provider server backups, bringing your own server and per-site PHP versions are dashboard steps; the agent gives you the path and the dashboard link xCloud returned.

Example prompts

What Can You Ask Kiro to Do for Server management?

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

Read the status, services and disk usage of my Frankfurt server and tell me whether anything needs attention.

Prompt

Install Redis on the Frankfurt server and enable the service. Tell me when the task has finished, not when xCloud accepts it.

Prompt

Set PHP 8.3 as the server default on Frankfurt and tell me exactly what that changes and what it does not.

Prompt

List all my xCloud servers with CPU, RAM and disk usage, and flag any server above 80% disk.

Prompt

List the cron jobs on the Frankfurt server with their schedules.

Prompt

Create a server cron job for the WooCommerce Action Scheduler every five minutes. Show me the final command and schedule before creating it.

Prompt

Install Redis on the Frankfurt server and enable the service.

Prompt

Switch the Frankfurt server's default Node.js to the latest LTS major.

Prompt

Reboot the staging server and tell me when it is back.

Prompt

Show me the IP addresses Fail2Ban has banned on the Frankfurt server, and unban 203.0.113.10.

Prompt

Create a new xCloud server on the smallest plan in Singapore. Show me the plan and price first and wait for my approval.

Kiro and Server management: Frequently Asked Questions

What people ask before they let Kiro manage servers through xCloud.

Which xCloud tools should I put in Kiro's autoApprove for server management?

Only the tools that read: servers_index, servers_show, servers_monitoring, servers_services and servers_tasks. Leave the tools that restart or disable a service, edit the firewall, create sudo users or reboot off the list, so Kiro asks before each one and xCloud adds its own confirmation where it requires one.

Should the xCloud entry go in Kiro's workspace or user mcp.json for server work?

Usually the user file, ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json, because your servers are not tied to one project. If a workspace file in .kiro/settings/mcp.json defines a server with the same name, the workspace entry wins, so check the project file when the tools behave differently than you expect.

Does the agent ask before it reboots a server?

Yes. A reboot stops for your explicit confirmation, then the agent starts a tracked reboot and reads the operation until xCloud reports a verified new boot. If the result stays unconfirmed it investigates rather than rebooting a second time.

Can an AI agent buy a new server for me?

Yes, but only after you approve it. A new server is billable, so the agent first checks your existing servers, reads the available plans and your card on file, then shows the plan, region and price and waits for your yes. It sends the purchase once, so a retry cannot buy a second server.

If the agent changes the server's PHP default, do my sites change version?

No. The server default changes the command-line php and the version new sites get, and it moves no existing site. Each site keeps its own PHP version, which you change in the dashboard under Site > Site Settings.

Can the agent resize or delete a server?

No. Resizing and deleting a server are dashboard-only, as are a provider backup of the whole server, databases and bringing your own server. The agent can tell you where the control is and give you the server's dashboard link.

Why did the agent say monitoring history is not available?

Monitoring history is a paid-plan feature, so xCloud answers 403 on the free plan. Current CPU, memory and disk readings are still available, and the agent will say that it is a plan limit, not a missing permission.

Other agents