| Document and Entity Information | 12 Months Ended |
| Dec. 31, 2023 | |
| Cover [Abstract] | |
| Document Type | PRE 14A |
| Amendment Flag | false |
| Entity Registrant Name | AKERO THERAPEUTICS, INC. |
| Entity Central Index Key | 0001744659 |
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure - USD ($) | 12 Months Ended | ||
| Dec. 31, 2023 | Dec. 31, 2022 | Dec. 31, 2021 | |
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure, Table | Pay Versus Performance Tabl e The following table sets forth information for each applicable year regarding the CAP of our Principal Executive Officer ("PEO"), Andrew Cheng, and of our other NEOs as a group, as well as certain Company financial performance measures, including our total shareholder return (“TSR”) and our net income (loss). Compensation Actually Paid Year (1) Summary (2) Compensation (3) Average (4) ($) Average (3) Value of Initial (5) Net Income (6) 2023 8,834,907 ( 3,352,393 ) 3,667,900 ( 451,001 ) 90.50 ( 151,759,000 ) 2022 10,446,243 24,442,634 4,157,718 8,994,894 212.40 ( 112,033,000 ) 2021 4,454,686 5,446,171 1,779,505 2,001,761 81.98 ( 100,777,000 ) 1. Dr. Cheng served as the Company's PEO and Bill White, Jonathan Young, Timothy Rolph and Catriona Yale were the Company's other NEOs for the entirety of 2023, 2022 and 2021. 2. Amounts reported represent the total compensation reported in the Summary Compensation Table for the indicated year for Dr. Cheng. 3. Compensation actually paid includes adjustments made to the amounts reported in the Summary Compensation Table. A reconciliation of those adjustments is set forth in the "Compensation Actually Paid Adjustments" table following the footnotes to this table. 4. Amounts reported represent the average of the total compensation reported in the Summary Compensation Table for the indicated year for the Company's NEOs, exclusive of Dr. Cheng. 5. Pursuant to SEC rules, the amounts reported reflect the value on the last day of the indicated year of $100 invested on December 31, 2020. Historical stock price performance is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance. 6. Amounts reported represent the net loss of the Company for the indicated year, as reported in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. | ||
| Named Executive Officers, Footnote | 1. Dr. Cheng served as the Company's PEO and Bill White, Jonathan Young, Timothy Rolph and Catriona Yale were the Company's other NEOs for the entirety of 2023, 2022 and 2021. | ||
| PEO Total Compensation Amount | $ 8,834,907 | $ 10,446,243 | $ 4,454,686 |
| PEO Actually Paid Compensation Amount | (3,352,393) | 24,442,634 | 5,446,171 |
| Non-PEO NEO Average Total Compensation Amount | 3,667,900 | 4,157,718 | 1,779,505 |
| Non-PEO NEO Average Compensation Actually Paid Amount | $ (451,001) | 8,994,894 | 2,001,761 |
| Equity Valuation Assumption Difference, Footnote | 8. Fair value or Change in Fair Value, as applicable, of equity awards in the “Compensation Actually Paid” columns was determined by reference to (i) for solely service-vesting RSU awards, the closing price per share on the applicable year-end date(s) or, in the case of vesting dates, the closing price per share on the applicable vesting date(s); and (ii) for stock options, because the options were no longer at-the-money as of the applicable year-end or vesting date(s), we used a Hull-White lattice model to estimate the fair value of the stock options at these dates considering the remaining contractual term of the stock options, an assumption about executives’ early exercise behavior, the risk-free rate as of the measurement date, and a volatility measured using a consistent approach with the grant date assumptions. For additional information on the grant date assumptions used to calculate the valuation of the awards, see Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, and prior fiscal years. | ||
| Compensation Actually Paid vs. Total Shareholder Return | |||
| Compensation Actually Paid vs. Net Income | |||
| Total Shareholder Return Amount | $ 90.5 | 212.4 | 81.98 |
| Net Income (Loss) | $ (151,759,000) | $ (112,033,000) | $ (100,777,000) |
| PEO Name | Dr. Cheng | Dr. Cheng | Dr. Cheng |
| PEO | Grant Date Fair Value of Stock Option and Stock Awards Granted in Fiscal Year [Member] | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Adjustment to Compensation, Amount | $ (7,798,707) | $ (9,221,643) | $ (3,571,922) |
| PEO | Value at Year-End of Outstanding and Unvested Equity Awards Granted During the Year [Member] | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Adjustment to Compensation, Amount | 9,044,378 | 11,612,591 | 6,680,778 |
| PEO | Change in Fair Value of Outstanding and Unvested Equity Awards from Last Day of Prior Year to Last Day of Current Year [Member] | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Adjustment to Compensation, Amount | (10,295,015) | 10,144,719 | (1,870,545) |
| PEO | Change in Fair Value as of the Vesting Date of Equity Awards Granted in Prior Years that Vested in the Current Year [Member] | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Adjustment to Compensation, Amount | (3,137,956) | 1,460,724 | (246,826) |
| PEO | Equity Awards [Member] | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Adjustment to Compensation, Amount | (12,187,300) | 13,996,391 | 991,485 |
| PEO | Service-vesting RSUs Granted in 2022 [Member] | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Adjustment to Compensation, Amount | 2,868,835 | ||
| Non-PEO NEO | Grant Date Fair Value of Stock Option and Stock Awards Granted in Fiscal Year [Member] | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Adjustment to Compensation, Amount | (2,979,952) | (3,381,243) | (1,190,645) |
| Non-PEO NEO | Value at Year-End of Outstanding and Unvested Equity Awards Granted During the Year [Member] | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Adjustment to Compensation, Amount | 3,569,167 | 4,257,919 | 2,226,935 |
| Non-PEO NEO | Change in Fair Value of Outstanding and Unvested Equity Awards from Last Day of Prior Year to Last Day of Current Year [Member] | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Adjustment to Compensation, Amount | (3,595,754) | 3,578,162 | (791,166) |
| Non-PEO NEO | Change in Fair Value as of the Vesting Date of Equity Awards Granted in Prior Years that Vested in the Current Year [Member] | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Adjustment to Compensation, Amount | (1,112,363) | 382,338 | (22,868) |
| Non-PEO NEO | Equity Awards [Member] | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Adjustment to Compensation, Amount | $ (4,118,901) | 4,837,176 | $ 222,256 |
| Non-PEO NEO | Service-vesting RSUs Granted in 2022 [Member] | |||
| Pay vs Performance Disclosure | |||
| Adjustment to Compensation, Amount | $ 1,051,886 | ||
