PearAI vs Zed | agentconfig.ing

PearAI vs ZedComparisonUpdated 2026-03-16

SUMMARY

PearAI (Editor) uses markdown configuration while Zed (Editor) uses markdown. They differ on 2 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.

FEATURE COMPARISON

Feature	PearAI	Zed	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	Editor	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	PearAI	Zed
Project rules	.pearai/rules	.rules
Project instructions	AGENTS.md	Rules Library

SIDE-BY-SIDE CODE SAMPLES

PearAI

.pearai/rules

markdown

# PearAI Project Rules

## Framework
- Next.js 15 App Router with TypeScript
- Drizzle ORM with PostgreSQL
- TailwindCSS v4 for styling

## Patterns
- Use server actions for mutations
- Colocate loading.tsx and error.tsx with page routes
- Prefer RSC; add "use client" only when needed

## Naming
- Components: PascalCase (UserProfile.tsx)
- Utilities: camelCase (formatDate.ts)
- Database tables: snake_case

## Dependencies
- Do NOT add new dependencies without asking
- Use date-fns for date manipulation
- Use zod for all validation

## Commands
- Dev: pnpm dev
- Build: pnpm build
- Lint: pnpm lint

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. Hierarchy support

PearAI: Not supported. Zed: Supported.

2. Global config

PearAI: Not supported. Zed: Supported.

WHICH SHOULD I USE?

Recommendation

Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use PearAI, configure .pearai/rules. 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