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💻 Device Setup Guide

This guide is for school IT preparing student devices before hackathon day. The goal is simple: at least one working laptop per hackathon team with Kiro installed and signed in.

Aim for 1 device per team, not per student

Each team is usually 3–4 students sharing one laptop. Most schools will only need to set up a handful of devices. No need for mass deployment — focus on getting a small number ready and tested well.

ChromeOS Not Supported

Kiro does not run on ChromeOS (Chromebooks). Devices must run macOS or Windows (x64). If your school primarily uses Chromebooks, contact the event organisers to discuss alternatives.

Kiro Is Free

Kiro is completely free to use. Students sign in with a personal Google (Gmail) account — no AWS account, credit card, or special setup needed.

🖥️ Minimum System Requirements​

RequirementDetails
macOSIntel or Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3+)
Windows64-bit (x64) — ARM is not supported
InternetStable connection — Kiro needs internet for all AI interactions
BrowserGoogle Chrome (latest stable version)
Disk spaceAt least 2 GB free for Kiro, Node.js, and the starter project
Linux not covered

Linux works with Kiro but is not covered by this setup guide. If a student needs to use a Linux machine on the day, contact the event organisers ahead of time.

✅ Pre-Event Checklist​

Complete these steps on every device that will be used by a hackathon team. Do this at least one week before your event date so there's time to fix issues.

1️⃣ Download and install Kiro​

Download Kiro from kiro.dev/downloads and install it for the appropriate platform.

  1. Download the .dmg installer from kiro.dev/downloads. There are two Mac builds — pick the one that matches your chip:

    • Apple Silicon (arm64) — M1, M2, M3, or newer.
    • Intel (x64) — older Macs.
    Not sure which Mac you have?

    Click the Apple menu (🍎) → About This Mac and check the Chip line. Anything starting with "Apple M" → Apple Silicon. Anything mentioning Intel → Intel.

  2. Open the .dmg file and drag Kiro into the Applications folder.

  3. Launch Kiro from Applications. If macOS Gatekeeper blocks the app, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.

2️⃣ Download and install Node.js LTS​

Node.js is required to run student projects locally.

  1. Download the macOS installer (.pkg) from nodejs.org.
  2. Run the installer and accept the defaults.
  3. Verify by opening Terminal and running:
node --version

You should see a version number (e.g. v22.x.x).

3️⃣ Ensure Google Chrome is installed​

Students will use Chrome to preview their apps. If Chrome isn't already installed, grab it from google.com/chrome.

4️⃣ Download the starter projects​

There are five starter projects — one per problem theme. The event organiser will tell you which starter(s) your school's teams will use. Download the matching ZIP(s) onto each team device and extract to a known location (e.g. the desktop).

Direct ZIP downloads:

  • 🌊 Water Watch NZ (ocean / water pollution) — Download ZIP
  • 💛 How Are You Today? (youth wellbeing) — Download ZIP
  • 🍲 Kai Share (community food sharing) — Download ZIP
  • 🦎 Kaitiaki Watch (native species conservation) — Download ZIP
  • ♻️ Green School Tracker (school sustainability) — Download ZIP

The full list with Git repo URLs and project descriptions is on the Resources page.

Pre-install dependencies if you can

If the device has internet during setup, open a terminal in the extracted starter folder and run npm install once. The day-of npm start will then be instant — students don't have to wait for dependencies to download on hackathon morning.

5️⃣ Open Kiro and sign in with Google​

Launch Kiro for the first time. You'll see a welcome screen — click the green Sign in button:

Kiro welcome screen with the KIRO wordmark, the tagline "An agentic IDE that helps you do your best work", and a green Sign in button

Kiro will then ask how to sign in. Click Google and sign in with a personal @gmail.com account:

Kiro sign-in options page with Google highlighted, plus GitHub, Builder ID, and Your organization options

Confirm Kiro opens to the main editor without errors. That's it — no AWS account, no credit card, no extra setup.

Use a personal Gmail, not a school Workspace account

Many school Google Workspace tenants block third-party OAuth apps by default, which causes "This app is blocked by your administrator" errors. A standard personal @gmail.com avoids that whole class of problem.

Use a shared test account during setup

Use one shared Gmail to verify everything works on each device, then sign out. Students will sign in with their own personal Gmail accounts on the day.

Other sign-in options

Kiro also supports GitHub, AWS Builder ID, and Your organization SSO. If a student genuinely can't use a personal Google account, contact the event organisers and we'll help you choose the next-best option.

6️⃣ Run a smoke test​

Confirm Kiro is actually working end-to-end. The Kiro window is split into a few areas:

Kiro IDE interface showing the Editor in the centre, the Chat Panel on the right with an "Ask a question or describe a task" input, the Views sidebar on the left, and the Status Bar across the bottom

  1. In the Chat Panel on the right (the box labelled "Ask a question or describe a task..."), type a simple prompt:

    Say hello

  2. Press Enter and wait a few seconds.

  3. Confirm Kiro returns a response in the chat. This proves the device has internet, Kiro is signed in, and the AI features are functional.

Test every device

Repeat this smoke test on every device you've set up. One untested device is one team that can't start on the day.

If anything fails at any step, head to the Troubleshooting page.

🌐 On the Day — Network Notes​

The hackathon runs at Deloitte offices, where the network is configured to allow everything Kiro and npm need. You don't need to coordinate with Deloitte's network team.

The work that matters is making sure Kiro is installed and signed in at the school before the day. Once Kiro is on the device and authenticated, it will work fine on the Deloitte Wi-Fi.

📞 Support​

Reach out to the regional point of contact for your school — they'll help with pre-event setup issues, device questions, and anything else that comes up.

Regional Points of Contact

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