diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7498305436..23c1865367 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ data-prepper-main/src/test/resources/logstash-conf/logstash-filter.yaml
 .DS_Store
 .idea
 *.iml
-.kiro
+.kiro/*
+!.kiro/steering/
 .vscode
 .project
 .classpath
@@ -40,4 +41,3 @@ trace-tester.py
 
 # Claude Code
 .claude/settings.local.json
-CLAUDE.md
diff --git a/.kiro/steering/CONTRIBUTING.md b/.kiro/steering/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..f939e75f21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.kiro/steering/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../CONTRIBUTING.md
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.kiro/steering/developer_guide.md b/.kiro/steering/developer_guide.md
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..7493cb20f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.kiro/steering/developer_guide.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../docs/developer_guide.md
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ff1e7da5b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# CLAUDE.md
+
+OpenSearch Data Prepper welcomes AI-assisted development and does not require
+any particular AI tool. Guidance for contributors — human or AI — lives in the
+existing developer and contributing docs. This file imports those so Claude
+Code picks them up automatically; other AI tools should be pointed at the same
+files.
+
+@docs/developer_guide.md
+@CONTRIBUTING.md
diff --git a/docs/developer_guide.md b/docs/developer_guide.md
index a6699c5870..38a1cb4d96 100644
--- a/docs/developer_guide.md
+++ b/docs/developer_guide.md
@@ -251,6 +251,12 @@ fails, please check the *Summary* section of that Action. There may be artifacts
 can download these and view the result information. Additionally, many builds have *Unit Test Results* job
 which includes a summary of the results.
 
+## AI and agentic development
+
+We welcome and encourage the use of AI tools and agentic development.
+This project does not enforce or require any particular AI tool and the tool choice is similar to choosing an IDE.
+If you want to add AI tooling to the project, please commit it in such a way that it can be used by other AI tools.
+
 ## More Information
 
 We have the following pages for specific development guidance on the topics: