Set Up Amazon Devices Builder Tools for AI-Powered Development

Amazon Devices Builder Tools for AI-Powered Development includes a Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server and Agent Skills. These components provide Amazon Devices-specific metadata, tools, and workflows to your AI coding agent. Your agent follows recommended patterns and best practices for project setup, feature integrations, performance analysis, crash debugging, and testing. Amazon Devices Builder Tools provides full support for Vega OS and limited support for Fire OS. For current per-platform capabilities, see the Amazon Devices Builder Tools ReadMe. Watch this video for an overview of Amazon Devices Builder Tools.

Amazon Devices Builder Tools includes:

MCP Server — A standalone npm package that provides Amazon Devices metadata, tools, and capabilities to compatible AI coding agents.
Agent Skills — Lightweight, modular, markdown-based instruction sets that guide your agent through Fire TV development workflows.
Steering documents — Context files that ground your AI assistant in Amazon Devices best practices.

Amazon Devices Builder Tools doesn’t collect, transmit, or store any of your confidential information. For details, see Privacy FAQ. Amazon Devices Builder Tools is a standalone npm package and isn’t bundled with the Vega SDK. Install it separately using the steps on this page. For the full list of Agent Skills, MCP tools, MCP prompts, supported workflows, supported agents, and manual configuration options, see the Amazon Devices Builder Tools ReadMe.

Prerequisites

Node.js 18 or later. If the MCP server fails to start on Node v26 with an SQLite3 bindings error, use Node v24. See Troubleshoot Amazon Devices Builder Tools.
Vega SDK v0.22 or later — required only for Vega app development workflows. Fire OS workflows don’t require the Vega SDK.

Get started

To configure Amazon Devices Builder Tools for your AI agent and add Amazon Devices-specific context to your project, run the following command in your terminal (Bash or ZSH shell):

npx -y @amazon-devices/amazon-devices-buildertools-mcp@latest init-context

This command installs and configures MCP, Steering, and Skills for your AI agent. It prompts you to select your agent, choose an installation directory, and handle existing context files. On subsequent runs of init-context, the command checks for updates and downloads new capabilities automatically. When the command completes successfully, you see output similar to:

✅ MCP configuration updated
✅ Context document installed
✅ Setup complete for Kiro

Interactive mode (default)

When running in interactive mode, you’re guided through:

Choose your AI agent (for example, Cursor, Kiro, or Other/Custom).

The tool confirms your selection and continues to the MCP settings prompt.

Enter y/n to automatically update your agent’s MCP settings file.

The tool prints ✅ MCP configuration updated and continues to the context document path prompt.

Choose the default context document installation path or enter a custom path.

The tool confirms the path and continues to the action prompt.

Choose action: merge (add new content to existing file), update (overwrite existing file), or save (write to a new file).

The tool writes the context document and prints the success output shown above.

Non-interactive mode

Use command-line options to skip prompts and automate the setup process:

npx -y @amazon-devices/amazon-devices-buildertools-mcp@latest init-context --agent <agent-name> --force

Available options:

Option	Description
Target AI agent (cursor, cline, kiro, claude-code-cli, claude-code-desktop, github-copilot, amazon-q, other)
`-p, --context-document-path`	Path to save context document
`-d, --skip-context-document`	Skip context document installation (MCP config only)
`-m, --skip-mcp-config`	Skip MCP configuration (context document only)
`-f, --force`	Skip all confirmation prompts and force overwrite
`-h, --help`	Show help for init-context command

Check agent setup status

After installing the MCP server and context documents, verify your setup using the check-status command:

npx -y @amazon-devices/amazon-devices-buildertools-mcp@latest check-status

To check a specific agent:

npx -y @amazon-devices/amazon-devices-buildertools-mcp@latest check-status --agent <agent-name>

This command checks:

Context document installation status and version
MCP configuration status
Detection of legacy configurations

Example output:

Agent                  │ Context Document         │ MCP Configuration
───────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────
Kiro                   │ ✅ v5.1                   │ ✅ Configured

📊 Summary:
   Total agents checked: 1
   ✅ Fully configured: 1

Verify setup

After installation, first run check-status to confirm your configuration is correct (see Check agent setup status). Then confirm your agent can access Amazon Devices Builder Tools. In your AI agent’s chat, enter:

List the tools provided by Amazon Devices Builder Tools and Agent Skills

Your agent should respond with a list of available tools including analyze_perfetto_traces, get_app_hot_functions, list_documents, read_asset, read_document, search_documentation, and symbolicate_acr. Then try an Amazon Devices-specific prompt:

Help me setup Vega SDK

If your agent responds with Amazon Devices-specific setup steps (rather than generic React Native instructions), the configuration is working correctly. If you encounter issues, see Troubleshoot Amazon Devices Builder Tools for AI-Powered Development. After you verify setup, try prompts such as “Build and run my app on Virtual Device” or “Help me debug Time to First Frame (TTFF) in my app.”

Privacy FAQ

Q1: Does Amazon Devices Builder Tools collect or send my code, queries, or other confidential data to Amazon?

A: No. Amazon Devices Builder Tools doesn’t collect, transmit, or store any of your confidential information, including:

Your code samples or app source code.
Your queries or prompts to the AI assistant.
Your project files or configurations.
Any other developer data or intellectual property.

However, documentation search queries issued by your AI agent are sent to Amazon Services to find documentation relevant to your request.All interactions between Amazon Devices Builder Tools and your AI assistant happen locally on your machine. Your code and queries remain private and are processed only by your chosen AI assistant, according to that assistant’s own privacy policies. The only exception is documentation search queries.

Q2: What data does the AI assistant have access to?

A: Your AI assistant processes your queries and code according to its own privacy policy and terms of service. Amazon Devices Builder Tools provides tools and Amazon Devices-specific context to your assistant. The assistant’s data handling practices are governed by its provider. Review your AI assistant’s privacy policy to understand how it handles your data.

Q3: Will Amazon collect any data about my use of Amazon Devices Builder Tools?

A: Amazon collects anonymous telemetry data to improve Amazon Devices Builder Tools. This telemetry includes feature usage patterns, error rates, and performance metrics. You can disable telemetry collection in the settings.Important privacy protections:

No confidential data is collected: Your queries, code samples, project files, or any other developer-created content are never sent to Amazon.
Local processing: The MCP runs entirely on your local machine. The only exception is documentation search queries (see Q1).
Anonymous data only: Telemetry data doesn’t include personally identifiable information.

Amazon also offers an optional developer survey to understand the usefulness of Amazon Devices Builder Tools. Participation in this survey is voluntary.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter any issues, see Troubleshoot Amazon Devices Builder Tools for AI-Powered Development.

​Prerequisites

​Get started

​Interactive mode (default)

​Non-interactive mode

​Check agent setup status

​Verify setup

​Privacy FAQ

​Troubleshooting

​Related topics