Bolt vs Gemini CLI | agentconfig.ing

Bolt vs Gemini CLIComparisonUpdated 2026-03-16

SUMMARY

Bolt (Platform) uses text configuration while Gemini CLI (CLI) uses markdown. They differ on 4 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.

FEATURE COMPARISON

Feature	Bolt	Gemini CLI	Notes
Config format	text	markdown
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	Platform	CLI
Schema / structure	Free-form (Markdown)	Free-form (Markdown)	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	Bolt	Gemini CLI
Project instructions	.bolt/prompt	GEMINI.md
Project instructions	AGENTS.md	.gemini/styleguide.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

Gemini CLI

GEMINI.md

markdown

# Project Context

## Stack
- Node.js 22 with TypeScript 5.x
- Express.js for the API server
- Prisma ORM with PostgreSQL
- React 19 with Vite for the frontend

## Architecture
- Monorepo with pnpm workspaces
- packages/api — Express REST API
- packages/web — React SPA
- packages/shared — Shared types and utilities

## Commands
- pnpm dev — Start all services
- pnpm test — Run vitest across all packages
- pnpm lint — ESLint + Prettier check
- pnpm db:migrate — Run Prisma migrations

## Conventions
- Use barrel exports (index.ts) for public APIs
- Error responses use RFC 7807 Problem Details format
- All API endpoints require authentication except /health

KEY DIFFERENCES

1. Config format

Bolt: text. Gemini CLI: markdown.

2. Hierarchy support

Bolt: Not supported. Gemini CLI: Supported.

3. Global config

Bolt: Not supported. Gemini CLI: Supported.

4. IDE integration

Bolt: Platform. Gemini CLI: CLI.

WHICH SHOULD I USE?

Recommendation

Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use Bolt, configure .bolt/prompt. If you use Gemini CLI, configure GEMINI.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