Claude Code vs DevinUpdated 2026-03-16

SUMMARY

Claude Code (CLI) uses markdown configuration while Devin (Agent) 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

FeatureClaude CodeDevin
Config formatmarkdownmarkdown
Hierarchy support
Global config
Project config
Subdirectory scoping
File inclusion / imports
Ignore file.claudeignore
IDE integrationCLIAgent
Schema / structureFree-form (Markdown)Free-form (Markdown)
Git committed
EncodingUTF-8UTF-8

FILE MAPPING

PurposeClaude CodeDevin
Project instructionsCLAUDE.mdAGENTS.md
Settings / configuration.claude/settings.json.devin/wiki.json

SIDE-BY-SIDE CODE SAMPLES

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
Devin
AGENTS.md
markdown
# Agent Instructions

## Setup
- Python 3.12 with uv package manager
- PostgreSQL 16 and Redis 7
- Run: uv sync && uv run alembic upgrade head

## Commands
- Dev server: uv run uvicorn app.main:app --reload
- Tests: uv run pytest -x --tb=short
- Lint: uv run ruff check . && uv run mypy .
- Format: uv run ruff format .

## Code Style
- FastAPI with async endpoints
- Pydantic v2 for all schemas
- SQLAlchemy 2.0 async sessions
- Repository pattern for data access

## PR Guidelines
- Keep PRs focused on a single issue
- Add tests for new functionality
- Run the full test suite before submitting

KEY DIFFERENCES

1. Global config

Claude Code: Supported. Devin: Not supported.

2. File inclusion / imports

Claude Code: Supported. Devin: Not supported.

3. Ignore file

Claude Code: .claudeignore. Devin: Not supported.

4. IDE integration

Claude Code: CLI. Devin: Agent.

WHICH SHOULD I USE?

Recommendation

Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use Claude Code, configure CLAUDE.md. If you use Devin, configure AGENTS.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

agentconfig.ing2026-03-16COMPARE(1)