Complete Guide to AI Coding Rules Files for Every IDE
March 6, 2026 · 15 min read
AI coding assistants work best when they understand your project's conventions. Every major AI IDE supports some form of rules file — a config file that tells the AI about your tech stack, coding standards, and preferences. This guide covers all 15 supported IDEs.
📑 Quick Reference
| IDE | Rules File |
|---|---|
| 🖱️ Cursor | .cursorrules |
| 🏄 Windsurf | .windsurfrules |
| 🤖 Claude Code | CLAUDE.md |
| 🐙 GitHub Copilot | .github/copilot-instructions.md |
| ⚡ Cline | .clinerules |
| ⚙️ Zed AI | .zed/rules |
| 🔧 Aider | .aider.conf.yml |
| ▶️ Continue.dev | .continuerc.json |
| 🧠 Devin AI | devin.md |
| 📦 Amazon Q | .amazonq/rules |
| ⚡ Bolt.new | bolt.instructions.md |
| 💜 Lovable | lovable.instructions.md |
| 🔄 Replit AI | .replit/ai-rules |
| 🚀 Augment Code | augment-guidelines.md |
| 🧩 JetBrains AI | guidelines.md |
Already know which IDE you need? Skip to our generator to create your rules file in seconds. Or read on for detailed setup guides for each IDE.
🏄 Windsurf — .windsurfrules
Windsurf by Codeium is an AI-native code editor built on VS Code. It uses Cascade Flow for deep context awareness and supports agentic workflows.
Setup
Create a `.windsurfrules` file in your project root. Windsurf automatically detects and applies the rules.
Format
Markdown with YAML frontmatter. Use `---\ntrigger: always_on\n---` at the top for persistent rules.
--- trigger: always_on --- # Role You are an expert React developer using TypeScript. # Conventions - Use functional components with hooks - Use TypeScript strict mode - Prefer const over let
👉 Browse all Windsurf presets or generate custom Windsurf rules
🤖 Claude Code — CLAUDE.md
Claude Code is Anthropic's terminal-native CLI for AI-assisted coding. It reads CLAUDE.md for project context and coding standards.
Setup
Create a `CLAUDE.md` file in your project root. Claude Code reads it automatically when you run commands.
Format
Standard Markdown. Use headers to organize sections like ## Tech Stack, ## Conventions, ## Avoid.
# CLAUDE.md ## About This Project You are an expert Python developer using FastAPI. ## Tech Stack - Python 3.12+ - FastAPI - Pydantic v2 ## Conventions - Use type hints for all functions - Use async/await for I/O operations
👉 Browse all Claude Code presets or generate custom Claude Code rules
🐙 GitHub Copilot — .github/copilot-instructions.md
GitHub Copilot is the most widely used AI coding assistant with 20M+ users. It reads project-specific instructions from a markdown file.
Setup
Create `.github/copilot-instructions.md` in your repository. Copilot reads this file for custom coding context.
Format
Standard Markdown. Use clear headings and bullet points for conventions and preferences.
# GitHub Copilot Instructions ## Context You are an expert Next.js developer. ## Tech Stack - Next.js (App Router) - TypeScript - Tailwind CSS ## Conventions - Use Server Components by default - Use TypeScript strict mode
👉 Browse all GitHub Copilot presets or generate custom GitHub Copilot rules
⚡ Cline — .clinerules
Cline is an open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It has 1.2M+ monthly active users.
Setup
Create a `.clinerules` file in your project root. Cline picks it up automatically when working in the project.
Format
Plain text or Markdown. Similar format to .cursorrules — just list your Role, Stack, Conventions, and Anti-patterns.
# Role You are an expert Go developer using Gin. # Tech Stack - Go 1.23+ - Gin web framework - GORM # Conventions - Handle errors explicitly - Use interfaces for dependency injection - Write table-driven tests
⚙️ Zed AI — .zed/rules
Zed is a high-performance code editor written in Rust with native AI integration. It supports popular LLMs and local models via Ollama.
Setup
Create a `.zed/rules` file in your project. Zed reads it to customize AI assistant behavior.
Format
Plain text with clear sections for role, conventions, and preferences.
# Role You are an expert Rust developer using Actix Web. # Conventions - Use Result<T, E> for error handling - Never use unwrap() in production - Use async/await with Tokio
🔧 Aider — .aider.conf.yml
Aider is an open-source AI pair programming tool that works in the terminal. It supports multiple AI models and integrates with Git.
Setup
Create a `.aider.conf.yml` in your project root or home directory for global settings.
Format
YAML configuration with coding conventions. You can also use a conventions file referenced from the config.
# .aider.conf.yml model: claude-3.5-sonnet auto-commits: true # Conventions # Use TypeScript strict mode # Prefer functional components # Always handle errors explicitly
▶️ Continue.dev — .continuerc.json
Continue is an open-source autopilot for VS Code and JetBrains that's highly configurable, supporting custom AI models and integrations.
Setup
Create a `.continuerc.json` in your project root to configure Continue's behavior for the project.
Format
JSON configuration with model settings and custom instructions.
{
"models": [{"provider": "anthropic", "model": "claude-3.5-sonnet"}],
"customInstructions": "You are an expert Vue.js developer using Nuxt 3 and TypeScript."
}👉 Browse all Continue.dev presets or generate custom Continue.dev rules
🧠 Devin AI — devin.md
Devin by Cognition Labs is marketed as the first AI software engineer. It can autonomously plan, code, debug, and deploy applications.
Setup
Create a `devin.md` file in your project root to guide Devin's understanding of your codebase.
Format
Markdown with project context, architectural decisions, and coding standards.
# Devin.md ## Project Context This is a Django REST API project. ## Architecture - Follow MVT pattern - Use serializers for all API endpoints - Use class-based views for CRUD
👉 Browse all Devin AI presets or generate custom Devin AI rules
📦 Amazon Q Developer — .amazonq/rules
Amazon Q Developer is AWS's AI coding assistant, optimized for cloud development with built-in security scanning.
Setup
Create `.amazonq/rules` in your project to provide Amazon Q with project-specific context.
Format
Markdown rules with conventions for AWS-specific patterns and general coding standards.
# Role You are an expert AWS developer using CDK and TypeScript. # Conventions - Use AWS CDK v2 for infrastructure - Use DynamoDB single-table design - Follow AWS Well-Architected Framework
👉 Browse all Amazon Q Developer presets or generate custom Amazon Q Developer rules
⚡ Bolt.new — bolt.instructions.md
Bolt.new is an AI-powered web app builder that creates full-stack applications from natural language prompts in the browser.
Setup
Add a `bolt.instructions.md` file to guide Bolt's code generation for your specific project standards.
Format
Markdown with clear instructions about tech stack, design patterns, and code quality standards.
# Bolt Instructions ## Stack - React + Vite - Tailwind CSS - Supabase backend ## Design - Use modern, dark theme - Mobile-first responsive design
👉 Browse all Bolt.new presets or generate custom Bolt.new rules
💜 Lovable — lovable.instructions.md
Lovable is a text-to-app platform that generates React + Vite frontends with Supabase backends from natural language.
Setup
Create `lovable.instructions.md` to customize Lovable's code generation for your project.
Format
Markdown with architectural preferences and coding standards.
# Lovable Instructions ## Tech Stack - React + Vite - Supabase - Tailwind CSS ## Conventions - Use TypeScript strict mode - Use React Query for data fetching
👉 Browse all Lovable presets or generate custom Lovable rules
🔄 Replit AI — .replit/ai-rules
Replit is a cloud-based IDE with built-in AI features including code completion, explanation, and full-stack app generation.
Setup
Create `.replit/ai-rules` in your project to customize Replit AI's behavior.
Format
Plain text or Markdown with coding conventions and project context.
# Role You are building a Python Flask API. # Conventions - Use Flask blueprints for routes - Use SQLAlchemy for database access - Write tests with pytest
👉 Browse all Replit AI presets or generate custom Replit AI rules
🚀 Augment Code — augment-guidelines.md
Augment Code is an AI platform for professional engineers working with large, complex codebases. It understands entire repos.
Setup
Create `augment-guidelines.md` in your project root with coding standards and architecture.
Format
Markdown guidelines with sections for architecture, conventions, and patterns.
# Augment Guidelines ## Architecture - Microservices with gRPC - Event-driven with Kafka ## Conventions - Use dependency injection - Follow clean architecture layers
👉 Browse all Augment Code presets or generate custom Augment Code rules
🧩 JetBrains AI — guidelines.md
JetBrains AI Assistant integrates directly into IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm, and other JetBrains IDEs with language-specific optimizations.
Setup
Create `guidelines.md` in your project root. JetBrains AI uses it for context-aware suggestions.
Format
Markdown with project context, tech stack, and coding conventions.
# Guidelines ## Project Spring Boot REST API with JPA. ## Tech Stack - Java 21 - Spring Boot 3 - PostgreSQL ## Conventions - Use constructor injection - Use DTOs for API responses
👉 Browse all JetBrains AI presets or generate custom JetBrains AI rules
Get Started
Ready to create rules for your project? Use our free generator — it supports all 15 IDEs and 20+ frameworks:
🚀 Generate Rules for Any IDE