Junie vs Roo Code | agentconfig.ing

Junie vs Roo CodeComparisonUpdated 2026-03-16

SUMMARY

Junie (Agent) uses markdown configuration while Roo Code (IDE) uses markdown. They differ on 1 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.

FEATURE COMPARISON

Feature	Junie	Roo 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

SIDE-BY-SIDE CODE SAMPLES

Junie

.junie/guidelines.md

markdown

# Project Guidelines

## Language & Framework
- Kotlin with Spring Boot 3.x
- Gradle with Kotlin DSL
- JDK 21 with virtual threads

## Architecture
- Hexagonal architecture (ports & adapters)
- Domain events for cross-module communication
- CQRS for read-heavy endpoints

## Code Standards
- Follow Kotlin coding conventions
- Use data classes for DTOs
- Prefer sealed classes for domain errors
- Extension functions over utility classes

## Testing
- JUnit 5 with Kotest assertions
- Testcontainers for integration tests
- MockK for mocking (not Mockito)

## Build & Run
- Build: ./gradlew build
- Test: ./gradlew test
- Run: ./gradlew bootRun

Roo Code

.roo/rules/*.md

markdown

# Code Standards

## TypeScript
- Enable strict mode in all tsconfig files
- No `any` types — use `unknown` and narrow
- Prefer interfaces over type aliases for object shapes

## React
- Functional components only
- Use custom hooks for shared stateful logic
- Colocate component, styles, and tests

## Git
- Conventional commits (feat:, fix:, chore:, etc.)
- Keep commits atomic and focused
- Squash merge feature branches

KEY DIFFERENCES

1. IDE integration

Junie: Agent. Roo Code: Supported.

WHICH SHOULD I USE?

Recommendation

Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use Junie, configure .junie/guidelines.md. If you use Roo Code, configure .roo/rules/*.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