SUMMARY
Firebase Studio (Platform) uses text configuration while Windsurf (IDE) uses markdown. They differ on 7 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.
FEATURE COMPARISON
| Feature | Firebase Studio | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|
| Config format | text | markdown |
| Hierarchy support | ✗ | ✓ |
| Global config | ✗ | ✓ |
| Project config | ✓ | ✓ |
| Subdirectory scoping | ✗ | ✓ |
| File inclusion / imports | ✗ | ✗ |
| Ignore file | ✗ | .codeiumignore |
| IDE integration | Platform | ✓ |
| Schema / structure | unknown | Free-form (Markdown) |
| Git committed | ✓ | ✓ |
| Encoding | UTF-8 | UTF-8 |
KEY DIFFERENCES
Firebase Studio: text. Windsurf: markdown.
Firebase Studio: Not supported. Windsurf: Supported.
Firebase Studio: Not supported. Windsurf: Supported.
Firebase Studio: Not supported. Windsurf: Supported.
Firebase Studio: Not supported. Windsurf: .codeiumignore.
Firebase Studio: Platform. Windsurf: Supported.
Firebase Studio: unknown. Windsurf: Free-form (Markdown).
WHICH SHOULD I USE?
Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use Firebase Studio, configure .idx/dev.nix. If you use Windsurf, configure .windsurfrules. Many projects include config files for multiple tools so each team member can use their preferred editor.
PORTABILITY TIP
# Maintain a single source of truth:
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md CLAUDE.md
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md .cursorrules
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md AGENTS.md