Bolt vs CursorUpdated 2026-03-16

SUMMARY

Bolt (Platform) uses text configuration while Cursor (IDE) uses mdc. They differ on 7 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.

FEATURE COMPARISON

FeatureBoltCursor
Config formattextmdc
Hierarchy support
Global config
Project config
Subdirectory scoping
File inclusion / imports
Ignore file.cursorignore
IDE integrationPlatform
Schema / structureFree-form (Markdown)Hybrid (MDC frontmatter + Markdown)
Git committed
EncodingUTF-8UTF-8

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

Cursor
.cursor/rules/*.mdc
mdc
---
description: React component conventions and patterns
globs: "*.tsx"
alwaysApply: false
---

# React Component Rules

- Use functional components with explicit return types
- Define props interface directly above the component
- Export components as named exports, never default
- Use Tailwind CSS utility classes exclusively

KEY DIFFERENCES

1. Config format

Bolt: text. Cursor: mdc.

2. Hierarchy support

Bolt: Not supported. Cursor: Supported.

3. Global config

Bolt: Not supported. Cursor: Supported.

4. Subdirectory scoping

Bolt: Not supported. Cursor: Supported.

5. Ignore file

Bolt: Not supported. Cursor: .cursorignore.

6. IDE integration

Bolt: Platform. Cursor: Supported.

7. Schema / structure

Bolt: Free-form (Markdown). Cursor: Hybrid (MDC frontmatter + Markdown).

WHICH SHOULD I USE?

Recommendation

Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use Bolt, configure .bolt/prompt. If you use Cursor, configure .cursorrules. 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)