Bolt vs Claude CodeComparisonUpdated 2026-03-16
SUMMARY
Bolt (Platform) uses text configuration while Claude Code (CLI) uses markdown. They differ on 7 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.
FEATURE COMPARISON
| Feature | Bolt | Claude Code |
|---|---|---|
| Config format | text | markdown |
| Hierarchy support | ✗ | ✓ |
| Global config | ✗ | ✓ |
| Project config | ✓ | ✓ |
| Subdirectory scoping | ✗ | ✓ |
| File inclusion / imports | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ignore file | ✗ | .claudeignore |
| IDE integration | Platform | CLI |
| Schema / structure | Free-form (Markdown) | Free-form (Markdown) |
| Git committed | ✓ | ✓ |
| Encoding | UTF-8 | UTF-8 |
FILE MAPPING
| Purpose | Bolt | Claude Code |
|---|---|---|
| Project instructions | .bolt/prompt | CLAUDE.md |
SIDE-BY-SIDE CODE SAMPLES
Bolt
.bolt/prompt
text
You are building a SaaS dashboard application.
Stack: Remix with TypeScript, Prisma ORM, PostgreSQL, TailwindCSS.
Key rules:
- Use server loaders for data fetching, not client-side fetch
- All forms use Remix Form with progressive enhancement
- Use Prisma for all database operations
- Style with TailwindCSS utility classes, no custom CSS
- Components go in app/components/, routes in app/routes/
- Use zod for form validation on both client and server
Claude Code
CLAUDE.md
markdown
# Project Name
> TypeScript + React monorepo. Deployed on Vercel.
## Code Style
- TypeScript strict mode — no `any`, no `ts-ignore`
- Named exports only (no default exports)
- Prefer functional patterns: map/filter/reduce over for-loops
- Error handling: use Result<T, E> from `src/lib/result.ts`
## Architecture
- `src/routes/` — Route handlers (thin layer, delegates to services)
- `src/services/` — Business logic, one file per domain entity
- `src/db/` — Drizzle ORM schema and query helpers
- `src/lib/` — Shared utilities (logger, result type, validation)
## Commands
```bash
pnpm install # Install dependencies
pnpm dev # Start dev server (port 3000)
pnpm test # Run Vitest suite
pnpm test:e2e # Run Playwright tests
pnpm lint # ESLint + Prettier check
pnpm db:migrate # Run pending Drizzle migrations
```
## Git Conventions
- Conventional Commits: `feat:`, `fix:`, `chore:`, `docs:`
- Branch naming: `feat/short-description`, `fix/issue-number`
- Squash merge to main; delete branches after merge
## Notes
- The `src/legacy/` directory is being migrated. Do not add new code there.
- All dates are stored as UTC. Never use local time.
@docs/api-patterns.md
@docs/database-conventions.md
KEY DIFFERENCES
Bolt: text. Claude Code: markdown.
Bolt: Not supported. Claude Code: Supported.
Bolt: Not supported. Claude Code: Supported.
Bolt: Not supported. Claude Code: Supported.
Bolt: Not supported. Claude Code: Supported.
Bolt: Not supported. Claude Code: .claudeignore.
Bolt: Platform. Claude Code: CLI.
WHICH SHOULD I USE?
Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use Bolt, configure .bolt/prompt. If you use Claude Code, configure CLAUDE.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
Tool pages:
agentconfig.ing2026-03-16COMPARE(1)