Devin vs Kilo Code | agentconfig.ing

Devin vs Kilo CodeComparisonUpdated 2026-03-18

SUMMARY

Devin (Agent) uses markdown configuration while Kilo Code (IDE) uses markdown. They differ on 3 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.

FEATURE COMPARISON

Feature	Devin	Kilo Code	Notes
Config format	markdown	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	Agent	✓
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	Devin	Kilo Code
Settings / configuration	.devin/wiki.json	.kilocodemodes

SIDE-BY-SIDE CODE SAMPLES

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

Kilo Code

.kilorules

markdown

# Project Rules

## Stack
- TypeScript 5.x with strict mode
- React 19 + Next.js 15 (App Router)
- Tailwind CSS v4 for styling
- Drizzle ORM for database access

## Code Standards
- Named exports only (no default exports)
- Prefer `const` assertions and satisfies operator
- Use Result<T, E> pattern for error handling
- Maximum 30 lines per function

## File Organization
- Colocate tests: `foo.ts` → `foo.test.ts`
- One component per file
- Barrel exports (index.ts) for public module APIs

## Git
- Conventional commits: feat|fix|chore|docs|test
- Squash merge feature branches
- Branch naming: type/description

KEY DIFFERENCES

1. Hierarchy support

Devin: Supported. Kilo Code: Not supported.

2. Subdirectory scoping

Devin: Supported. Kilo Code: Not supported.

3. IDE integration

Devin: Agent. Kilo Code: Supported.

WHICH SHOULD I USE?

Recommendation

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