Apothem vs raw Kiro config
Hand-maintaining Kiro's steering files under .kiro/steering/ versus rendering them from Apothem's shared profile.
Kiro reads steering from a .kiro/steering/ directory of Markdown files.
Apothem's kiro adapter renders a dedicated apothem-rules.md steering file
from the shared profile. This page contrasts hand-maintaining that config
against managing it with Apothem.
Effort comparison
| Task | Raw hand-config | Apothem-managed |
|---|---|---|
| Author steering rules | Hand-write each file under .kiro/steering/ | Rendered from the shared corpus |
| Keep foundation files untouched | Remember not to overwrite product.md / tech.md / structure.md | The adapter writes only apothem-rules.md |
| Keep rules aligned with other harnesses | Manual, per tool | Automatic on apothem update |
| Verify the config is correct | Manual inspection | apothem verify --harness kiro |
What Apothem manages
The kiro adapter renders the shared rules into a dedicated apothem-rules.md
steering file with inclusion: always front matter and does not touch Kiro's
operator-authored foundation files. Kiro has no PreToolUse hook, so guardrail
intent lives in the rule prose rather than a tool-call interception point.
Every change to the shared rules re-renders the file on the next
apothem update.
Migration path
- Run
apothem profile initto create the shared profile if you have not yet. - Move the rules from your existing
.kiro/steering/into the shared corpus. - Run
apothem install --harness kiroto render theapothem-rules.mdsteering file. - Run
apothem verify --harness kiroto confirm the config landed. - Use
apothem update --harness kirofor every later change.