Amazon Q Developer vs Axe | agentconfig.ing

Amazon Q Developer vs AxeComparisonUpdated 2026-03-17

SUMMARY

Amazon Q Developer (CLI) uses markdown configuration while Axe (CLI) uses toml. They differ on 2 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.

FEATURE COMPARISON

Feature	Amazon Q Developer	Axe	Notes
Config format	markdown	toml
Hierarchy support	✗	✗	Whether config files can be placed at multiple directory levels
Global config	✓	✓	User-wide configuration outside any project
Project config	✓	✓
Subdirectory scoping	✗	✗	Config files in subdirectories that apply only to that subtree
File inclusion / imports	✗	✗	Ability to include or reference other files from config
Ignore file	✗	✗
IDE integration	CLI	CLI
Schema / structure	Free-form (Markdown)	unknown	Whether config uses structured schema or free-form content
Git committed	✓	✓	Whether primary config files are intended to be version-controlled
Encoding	UTF-8	UTF-8

FILE MAPPING

Purpose	Amazon Q Developer	Axe
Settings / configuration	.amazonq/mcp.json	config.toml

KEY DIFFERENCES

1. Config format

Amazon Q Developer: markdown. Axe: toml.

2. Schema / structure

Amazon Q Developer: Free-form (Markdown). Axe: unknown.

WHICH SHOULD I USE?

Recommendation

Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use Amazon Q Developer, configure .amazonq/rules/*.md. If you use Axe, configure config.toml. Many projects include config files for multiple tools so each team member can use their preferred editor.

PORTABILITY TIP

sync-instructions.sh

bash

# Maintain a single source of truth:
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md CLAUDE.md
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md .cursorrules
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md AGENTS.md