Bolt vs Gemini Code AssistComparisonUpdated 2026-03-18
SUMMARY
Bolt (Platform) uses text configuration while Gemini Code Assist (IDE) 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 Code Assist |
|---|---|---|
| Config format | text | markdown |
| Hierarchy support | ✗ | ✓ |
| Global config | ✗ | ✗ |
| Project config | ✓ | ✓ |
| Subdirectory scoping | ✗ | ✓ |
| File inclusion / imports | ✗ | ✗ |
| Ignore file | ✗ | ✗ |
| IDE integration | Platform | ✓ |
| Schema / structure | Free-form (Markdown) | Free-form (Markdown) |
| Git committed | ✓ | ✓ |
| Encoding | UTF-8 | UTF-8 |
FILE MAPPING
| Purpose | Bolt | Gemini Code Assist |
|---|---|---|
| Project instructions | .bolt/prompt | GEMINI.md |
| Project instructions | AGENTS.md | AGENT.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 Code Assist
GEMINI.md
markdown
# Project Rules
## Overview
E-commerce platform built with Go microservices and React frontend.
All services communicate via gRPC with Protocol Buffers.
## Go Services
- Follow standard Go project layout (cmd/, internal/, pkg/)
- Use structured logging with slog (not log or fmt.Println)
- Error handling: always wrap errors with fmt.Errorf("%w", err)
- Database access through repository pattern in internal/repo/
- All public functions must have godoc comments
## API Design
- Proto files live in proto/ directory with buf for linting
- Use field masks for partial updates
- Pagination via cursor-based tokens, not offset
## Testing
- Table-driven tests for all business logic
- Use testcontainers-go for integration tests
- Minimum 80% coverage on internal/ packages
- Mock external services with gomock interfaces
## Do Not
- Use global variables or init() functions
- Import internal packages across service boundaries
- Commit generated .pb.go files (CI generates them)
KEY DIFFERENCES
Bolt: text. Gemini Code Assist: markdown.
Bolt: Not supported. Gemini Code Assist: Supported.
Bolt: Not supported. Gemini Code Assist: Supported.
Bolt: Platform. Gemini Code Assist: Supported.
WHICH SHOULD I USE?
Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use Bolt, configure .bolt/prompt. If you use Gemini Code Assist, 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
SEE ALSO
Tool pages:
File references:
agentconfig.ing2026-03-18COMPARE(1)