MQTT^{on EC2}

Real talk, and our goal

• 1.5 hours, mixed audience of beginners and intermediate developers.
• Not everyone will finish a complete build today. That is completely normal.
• Your 1,000 Kiro credits stay active days after the workshop.

Kiro introduction and credits

What is Kiro? An agentic development environment that turns plain English specification into working code, tooling, and terminal workflows.

Kiro history and spec-driven value

Steering via a single plain English file such as project.md beats unstructured chat prompts: the intent stays stable, reviewable, and repeatable across sessions.

Kiro versus closed platforms

Under the hood: Kiro harnesses powerful models such as Claude or Sonnet. Raw model quality is the engine, not the whole vehicle.

What Kiro adds: a spec-driven workspace and orchestration harness that manages context, files, tools, and execution order, so you keep strict control over your code generation.

History and reach of Linux and Unix

Interactive check. Who here uses Linux or Unix devices?

You have been using Unix and Linux for years without calling it that. Today we just give it a terminal.

Linux and SSH terminal basics

# connect to your server
ssh user@host

# confirm who and where you are
whoami
hostname
uname -a

# packages need root
sudo apt update

HTTP REST versus MQTT

What is MQTT?

• Topics replace endpoints: workshop/chat
• Decoupled by design. Publisher and subscriber never need to know each other exists.
• QoS levels trade speed for guaranteed delivery.

Install Mosquitto on Linux

# install the broker and clients
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y mosquitto mosquitto-clients

# start it and check it
sudo systemctl enable mosquitto
sudo systemctl start mosquitto
sudo systemctl status mosquitto

Test pub and sub by hand

# terminal 1: subscribe
mosquitto_sub -h localhost -t workshop/chat

# terminal 2: publish
mosquitto_pub -h localhost -t workshop/chat -m "hello"

The project.md steering file

# Project: Minimal MQTT Chat WebApp and Linux Broker Setup

## Objective
Help the user learn how to set up an MQTT broker on a Linux SSH server,
test it using terminal commands, and build a barebones web application
to demonstrate real-time pub/sub messaging.

## Tech Stack
- Broker: Mosquitto MQTT Broker running on Linux via SSH
- Terminal Tools: `mosquitto_pub` and `mosquitto_sub`
- Web Frontend: Simple HTML, CSS, and JS using MQTT.js via CDN

## Core Requirements
1. Linux and SSH Instructions: Provide clear terminal commands to
   install and start Mosquitto on Linux.
2. Terminal Testing: Show how to open two terminal windows to publish
   and subscribe to a test topic (`workshop/chat`).
3. Chat WebApp: Generate a single `index.html` file with a basic input
   field, send button, and raw message log box without complex styling.

Prompting Kiro for the web app

Leverage the steering file to have Kiro generate a barebones web app tied to the broker. One file, no build step, no framework.

Real-time messages across browsers

Open two or more tabs. Every connected browser joins the topic and updates instantly, with no refresh and no polling. The SSH subscriber prints the same message, proving one broker serves all clients.

Wrap-up and Q&A

You have a broker running on Linux, a terminal-proven pub/sub path, and a browser client you built by describing it.

• Unfinished build? Your 1,000 Kiro credits stay active for days. Finish at home.
• Where to go next: TLS and auth on the broker, cloud VPS deployment, then firmware and IoT sensors.

What we do together

• Hands-On Workshops: real-world cloud engineering, backend architecture, and DevOps.
• Knowledge Sharing: learn directly from local builders, industry veterans, and fellow students.
• Networking and Growth: build meaningful professional connections beyond the classroom.
• Safe Space to Learn: ask questions, experiment with projects, and level up together.