MCP not working with Kiro-cli, but works with kiro-cli --classic

[prijupaul]

Checks

• I have searched github.com/aws/amazon-q-developer-cli/issues and there are no duplicates of my issue
• I have run q doctor in the affected terminal session
• I have run q restart and replicated the issue again

Operating system

macOS 26.6.1 (25G76)

Expected behaviour

The mcp servers are configured in my root folder . ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json
however, when i start kiro-cli, none of the mcp servers are picked.

the issue is resolved when i use kiro-cli --classic classic mode.

Actual behaviour

MCP server are not loaded with kiro-cli, but works fine in classic mode. both were launched from the same path.

Steps to reproduce

No response

Environment

<This will be visible to anyone. Do not include personal or sensitive information>

[q-details]
version = "2.18.1"
hash = "74b78bb5a369788e393b06654b2b213d937a41d2"
date = "2026-08-13T23:20:56.707604Z (5d ago)"
variant = "full"

[system-info]
os = "macOS 26.6.1 (25G76)"
chip = "Apple M1 Pro"
total-cores = 10
memory = "32.00 GB"

[environment]
cwd = "/Users/USER/Documents/TAB/CI_CD"
cli-path = "/Users/USER/Documents/TAB/CI_CD"
os = "Mac"
shell-path = "/bin/zsh"
shell-version = "5.9"
terminal = "iTerm 2"
install-method = "unknown"

[env-vars]
PATH = "/Users/USER/.nvm/versions/node/v22.21.1/bin:/Users/USER/.antigravity/antigravity/bin:/Users/USER/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools:/Users/USER/.rbenv/shims:/usr/local/bin:/System/Cryptexes/App/usr/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/local/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/appleinternal/bin:/pkg/env/global/bin:/Library/Apple/usr/bin:/opt/homebrew/bin:/Applications/iTerm.app/Contents/Resources/utilities:/Users/USER/.local/bin"
QTERM_SESSION_ID = "e9fb435cd4f847a3883e0c8c107546e0"
Q_SET_PARENT_CHECK = "1"
Q_TERM = "2.18.1"
SHELL = "/bin/zsh"
TERM = "xterm-256color"
__CFBundleIdentifier = "com.googlecode.iterm2"