Name
Pacer and Amazon Q autocomplete
In short
Amazon Q Developer CLI, now Kiro CLI, includes the autocomplete popover that came from Fig, together with an AI chat and agents, and it asks you to sign in. Pacer is only the popover. It started from the autocomplete code that Amazon released as open source, and it removes the sign-in and the AI.
Where they differ
- Sign-in
- Amazon Q and Kiro CLI need an account. Pacer needs none.
- AI
- Amazon Q and Kiro CLI add AI chat and agents. Pacer has no AI; its suggestions come from spec files and your own shell.
- Network
- Pacer makes no network calls while you type. Only
pacer updateandpacer doctoruse the network, and only when you run them. - Local features
- Pacer adds changed files first, branches with their last commit, ranking by what you run in each repo, a guard for risky commands,
pacer stats, andpacer doctor.
Which to choose
If you use Amazon Q or Kiro CLI mostly for the popover, Pacer gives you that without an account. If you use their AI chat, keep them for that, but do not run both popovers in the same shell. The guide for moving from Kiro CLI or Amazon Q shows how to switch.