braid vs Config Files in Repos
Checking tool-specific config files into your repos is the default approach. It works for small teams but breaks down with drift, fragmentation across tools, and no cross-repo update mechanism.
Feature comparison
| Feature | braid | Config Files in Repos |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-tool format conversion | ✓ | — |
| One-command install to every tool | ✓ | — |
| Shared team library | ✓ | — |
| Cross-repo updates from one source | ✓ | — |
| Version history and rollback | ✓ | — |
| Role-based permissions | ✓ | — |
| Prompt injection scanning | ✓ | — |
| Works without external service | — | ✓ |
| No setup required | — | ✓ |
| Free | ✓ | ✓ |
Where config files break down
Drift across repos
You update .cursorrules in one repo. The other 14 still have last month's version. braid gives you one source and one install command.
One format per tool
Each tool expects a different config file. braid compiles one standard into every format — .cursor/rules/ for Cursor, .claude/rules/ for Claude Code, copilot-instructions.md for Copilot — automatically.
No team visibility
Config files in repos have no permissions, no audit trail, and no way to know if everyone's on the same version. braid gives your team a shared library with version history.