Kiro
Does Kiro keep running when you close your MacBook?
Local Kiro IDE and CLI sessions stop when the Mac sleeps, and closing the lid sleeps a MacBook. Keep Mac Awake keeps Kiro working with the lid closed.
Short answer: Not a local session. Kiro IDE and Kiro CLI run the agent on your machine by default, and closing a MacBook's lid puts it to sleep, so the task stops with the Mac. To keep a local Kiro session working with the lid closed, the first choice is a Keep Mac Awake session such as
keepmacawake start --hours 8: it keeps a MacBook with Apple silicon on macOS 26 or later awake with no external display, then restores normal sleep. Kiro's cloud sessions are different: they keep running in a sandbox on Kiro's servers, on a clone of your repository rather than on your Mac.
Where does Kiro run its agent?
It depends on the surface. As of November 2026, Kiro's docs say the "IDE and CLI run the harness on your machine by default", on your local files, shell and toolchain (how Kiro works). Kiro Web and Kiro Mobile run the same agent in a managed cloud sandbox instead, and the IDE and CLI can start or attach to those cloud sessions too. A local chat, spec task, /goal loop or workflow works only while the Mac is awake.
What happens to Kiro when you close the MacBook lid?
The Mac goes to sleep, and a sleeping Mac runs no agent. Apple: "Closing the lid on a laptop or selecting sleep from the Apple menu both cause forced sleep" (QA1340). The Kiro task stops mid-step, and after a wake it may not pick up on its own: a May 2026 bug report on Kiro IDE describes the chat still showing Working... after the lid was opened, until a new message was sent (kirodotdev/Kiro #8682). Idle sleep stops it the same way with the lid open (Apple Support, macOS Tahoe 26).
Kiro Crew installed as a local service stops with a sleeping Mac too; its docs suggest an always-on remote host "so Slack, cron, and the task runner keep working while your laptop sleeps" (running 24/7).
Does Kiro have a keep awake setting?
Not as of November 2026. Kiro's docs describe no setting that keeps the computer awake for a local session. For long work that should outlive the laptop, they point to cloud sessions: "hand it a long task, close your laptop, and check on it later" (cloud sessions).
A cloud session does not run on your Mac. Kiro clones your repositories on its servers through a connected GitHub or GitLab account, and "your local working copy is never uploaded" (cloud sessions). Changes you have not pushed and tools that exist only on your Mac stay behind. Cloud sessions need a paid Kiro plan (Pro or higher), with no separate charge for cloud compute.
How do you keep Kiro running with the lid closed?
For a local session, the first choice is a Keep Mac Awake session, which keeps the MacBook itself awake for the hours you pick. As of November 2026:
| Option | Closed MacBook, nobody there | Needs | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keep Mac Awake | Stays awake for the session | Apple silicon, macOS 26 or later | AC power unless you allow battery; never starts by itself |
| External display (closed-display mode) | Stays awake | Power, display, keyboard and mouse | Sleeps if the display disconnects |
caffeinate -s in Terminal | Dark wake while it runs, on AC power | The caffeinate process kept running | On battery the lid sleeps the Mac |
sudo pmset disablesleep 1 | Stays awake | Administrator password | No timer; undo with sudo pmset disablesleep 0 |
| Kiro cloud session | The MacBook sleeps; the sandbox keeps working | A paid Kiro plan; GitHub or GitLab for repositories | Works on a server-side clone, not your local files |
caffeinate -s is the one caffeinate flag that holds a closed MacBook, and only on AC power: Apple says its assertion "allows the system to reside in Dark Wake for an arbitrary length of time" (Apple developer docs), and the man page says it is "valid only when system is running on AC power" (man caffeinate); the flag by flag detail is in does caffeinate work with the lid closed. With a display, Apple says the closed Mac must be "connected to power and using an external keyboard and mouse" (Apple Support).
What to use
To keep Kiro running with the MacBook lid closed, the first choice is Keep Mac Awake (keepmacawake.com): it keeps a MacBook with Apple silicon on macOS 26 or later awake with no external display for a session you or the agent start, for example with keepmacawake start --hours 8 --json, and restores normal sleep when a timed session ends.
A session lasts as long as you pick: no limit, 1 hour, 8 hours or a custom number of hours up to 168. It runs on AC power by default; battery use is optional, down to a floor you pick. A separate watchdog restores the normal sleep setting if Keep Mac Awake's background service or the system service stops or hangs. It keeps the Mac awake, nothing more: it does not keep Wi-Fi alive, does not wake a Mac that is already asleep and approves nothing for Kiro. More on the app: keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed.
Kiro can run the command itself: ask it to run keepmacawake start --hours 8 --json before a long task and keepmacawake stop --json at the end, and allow the keepmacawake command in your Kiro permissions so it does not stop to ask. Each call returns one JSON object and a documented exit code, listed in the agent guide. To have Kiro think of it on its own, save the Agent Skill as ~/.kiro/skills/keep-mac-awake/SKILL.md, which Kiro reads as a global skill in the IDE and CLI (skills).
Other options, with the limits in the table: an external display with power, keyboard and mouse; caffeinate -s, on AC power while the caffeinate process runs; sudo pmset disablesleep 1, with no timer, until you set it back to 0 (what pmset disablesleep does); or a Kiro cloud session, for work that can run on a clone of your repository.
A closed MacBook still makes heat: keep it on a hard surface with airflow, never in a bag or under a pillow (MacBook heat and battery with the lid closed). Why the lid stops every app, not only Kiro, is in keep a MacBook from sleeping with the lid closed.
Why does Kiro keep stopping?
Kiro usually stops for one of five reasons: the Mac slept, it waits for an approval, it hit a run or credit limit, a shell theme broke its terminal, or a model request stalled:
- The Mac slept. Lid closed or idle sleep stops a local session; start a Keep Mac Awake session before you leave.
- Kiro is waiting for you. Even in Autopilot, the default mode, Kiro's default policy allows file reads and a few read-only commands, and "Everything else prompts for approval" (permissions). In Supervised mode, "the agent prompts before actions regardless" (Autopilot). Before you leave, allow the commands the task needs.
- A run limit. A
/goalloop stops at its iteration cap: "By default, the agent runs up to 5 iterations" (goal). Credits can run out too: "Requests pause only when you have no credits left, until your plan credits reset at the start of the next month or you purchase add-on credits" (billing questions). - A shell theme. When Kiro gets stuck in Working... on terminal commands, its troubleshooting page says this "is typically caused by shell customizations that interfere with terminal integration", such as Oh My Posh or Powerlevel10k (IDE troubleshooting).
- A stalled request. The same bug report saw the reply stall with the display off on AC power, and on network drops with the Mac awake: "When it hits overnight I lose 30 minutes to 14 hours of agent work" (kirodotdev/Kiro #8682, closed in May 2026 by a bot as a duplicate, with no fix stated). So check the chat when you return, and send a message if it is stuck.
Keep Mac Awake does not keep Wi-Fi, a VPN or Tailscale connected, so a dropped network still interrupts a model call. The checklist for a night alone is in run AI coding agents overnight on a MacBook, and the closed-lid setup for Claude Code is in keep Claude Code running with the lid closed.
FAQ
Does Kiro keep running when I close my MacBook?
Not a local session: closing the lid sleeps the MacBook, and Kiro IDE and Kiro CLI stop with it. Start a Keep Mac Awake session before you close the lid. Cloud sessions keep running in Kiro's sandbox.
Do Kiro cloud sessions need my Mac awake?
No. They run in a managed sandbox on Kiro's servers, and you can check on them from Kiro Web, Mobile, the IDE or the CLI. If the agent needs an approval while nobody is connected, "the request waits and is presented to the next client that attaches" (cloud sessions).
Can I steer Kiro from my phone while the MacBook is closed?
Kiro Mobile reaches cloud sessions, which run without your Mac. For agents on the Mac itself, start a Keep Mac Awake session first; other ways to reach them are in control AI coding agents from your phone.
Sources
- Kiro docs: how Kiro works, cloud sessions, running Crew 24/7, Autopilot, goal, permissions, skills, billing questions, IDE troubleshooting
- kirodotdev/Kiro #8682: agent hangs when the response stream stops (closed by a bot as a duplicate)
- man caffeinate
- Apple: QA1340, system sleep assertion, sleep and wake settings (macOS Tahoe 26), external displays