Amazon Q Developer vs JetBrains AI / JunieUpdated 2026-03-16

SUMMARY

Amazon Q Developer (CLI) uses markdown configuration while JetBrains AI / Junie (IDE) uses markdown. They differ on 3 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.

FEATURE COMPARISON

FeatureAmazon Q DeveloperJetBrains AI / Junie
Config formatmarkdownmarkdown
Hierarchy support
Global config
Project config
Subdirectory scoping
File inclusion / imports
Ignore file.aiignore
IDE integrationCLI
Schema / structureFree-form (Markdown)Free-form (Markdown)
Git committed
EncodingUTF-8UTF-8

FILE MAPPING

PurposeAmazon Q DeveloperJetBrains AI / Junie
Project rules.amazonq/rules/*.md.aiassistant/rules/*.md
Settings / configuration.amazonq/mcp.json.noai

SIDE-BY-SIDE CODE SAMPLES

Amazon Q Developer
.amazonq/rules/*.md
markdown
# React Component Standards

## Purpose
Ensure consistent React component patterns across the frontend codebase.

## Priority
High

## Instructions
- Use functional components with TypeScript
- Define props interfaces above the component
- Use React.FC only when children are expected
- Colocate styles using CSS Modules (*.module.css)
- Extract hooks into separate files when reused
- Memoize expensive computations with useMemo
- Use React.lazy for route-level code splitting

JetBrains AI / Junie
.aiassistant/rules/*.md
markdown
# Kotlin Conventions

## Language Features
- Use Kotlin 2.x with coroutines for async work
- Prefer data classes for DTOs and value objects
- Use sealed classes/interfaces for domain errors
- Extension functions over utility classes

## Spring Boot
- Constructor injection (no field injection)
- Use @ConfigurationProperties over @Value
- Prefer WebFlux for reactive endpoints
- Use Spring Security with method-level security

## Testing
- JUnit 5 with Kotest assertions
- MockK for mocking (not Mockito)
- Testcontainers for integration tests
- Use @Nested for test organization

KEY DIFFERENCES

1. Global config

Amazon Q Developer: Supported. JetBrains AI / Junie: Not supported.

2. Ignore file

Amazon Q Developer: Not supported. JetBrains AI / Junie: .aiignore.

3. IDE integration

Amazon Q Developer: CLI. JetBrains AI / Junie: Supported.

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 JetBrains AI / Junie, configure .aiassistant/rules/*.md. 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

SEE ALSO

agentconfig.ing2026-03-16COMPARE(1)