Bolt vs Zed | agentconfig.ing

Bolt vs ZedComparisonUpdated 2026-03-16

SUMMARY

Bolt (Platform) uses text configuration while Zed (Editor) 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	Zed	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	Editor
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	Zed
Project instructions	.bolt/prompt	Rules Library

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

Zed

.rules

markdown

# Project Rules

## Stack
- TypeScript 5.x with strict mode
- React 19 with Server Components
- Tailwind CSS v4
- Drizzle ORM with PostgreSQL

## Code Style
- Prefer named exports over default exports
- Use "use client" directive only when interactivity is required
- Colocate tests in __tests__ directories next to source files
- Use Zod for all runtime validation

## Architecture
- App Router with nested layouts in app/
- Server actions in app/actions/
- Database schema in db/schema.ts
- Shared utilities in lib/

## Commands
- Dev server: pnpm dev
- Type check: pnpm typecheck
- Test: pnpm test
- Lint: pnpm lint

KEY DIFFERENCES

1. Config format

Bolt: text. Zed: markdown.

2. Hierarchy support

Bolt: Not supported. Zed: Supported.

3. Global config

Bolt: Not supported. Zed: Supported.

4. IDE integration

Bolt: Platform. Zed: Editor.

WHICH SHOULD I USE?

Recommendation

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