Vendor Matrix

Vendor Matrix

The supported-CLI contract. Adding a new tool means a new column, not a fork. This matrix is the single most important table in SpecRoute — it appears in README.md, AGENTS.md, and agentic-docs/agent-cli-integrations.md and must stay in lock-step across all three.

Vendor	Runtime dir	Root context file	Skills	Agents	Commands	Hooks	MCP config
Claude Code	.claude/	CLAUDE.md	folder-per-skill SKILL.md	flat <name>.md + frontmatter	commands/<name>.md (merged into skills)	settings.json hooks (~30 events, 5 hook types)	.mcp.json / ~/.claude.json
Codex	.codex/	AGENTS.md	folder-per-skill SKILL.md	agents/<name>.toml	skills (/skills, $mention)	hooks.json or config.toml [hooks] (10 events; default-on)	config.toml [mcp_servers]
Gemini CLI [^antigravity]	.gemini/	GEMINI.md (delegation shim)	skills/<slug>/SKILL.md	agents/<name>.md	TOML in .gemini/commands/	settings.json hooks (11 events; v0.26.0+)	settings.json [mcpServers]
Kiro	.kiro/	steering/ files	skills/<slug>/SKILL.md	agents/<name>.md	/skill + manual steering	*.kiro.hook (10 events incl. file/agent/task triggers)	.kiro/settings/mcp.json
Cursor	.cursor/	.cursor/rules/*.mdc / AGENTS.md	skills/ SKILL.md	agents/<name>.md	commands/*.md	hooks.json v1 (~21 events; permission/decision schema)	.cursor/mcp.json
Windsurf / Devin [^devin]	.windsurf/ · .devin/	.devin/rules/*.md (pref) / .windsurf/rules/ (legacy)	Cascade SKILL.md	subagents	.windsurf/workflows/*.md	hooks.json (12 events; pre-hooks block, post-hooks observe)	~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

[^antigravity]: Google began superseding the standalone Gemini CLI with Antigravity CLI on 2026-06-18 for free / Google-One tiers (paid Gemini Code Assist / Enterprise retain access). The .gemini/ integration shape below remains valid for current installs. [^devin]: Windsurf was acquired by Cognition and is being relaunched as Devin Desktop (docs at docs.devin.ai); Cascade reaches end-of-life 2026-07-01, succeeded by Devin Local. .devin/rules/ now takes precedence over the legacy .windsurf/rules/.

Capability convergence

Earlier SpecRoute releases sorted vendors into capability tiers (Full / Near-full / Partial / Specialized / Rules-only). As of mid-2026 that distinction no longer holds. All six supported tools have converged on a common capability set — the Agent Skills open standard (SKILL.md), subagents, custom commands, lifecycle hooks, and MCP:

Vendor	Skills	Agents	Commands	Hooks	MCP
Claude Code	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Codex	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Gemini CLI	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Kiro	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Cursor	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Windsurf / Devin	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Vendors now differ in file format and conventions, not capability class — Codex agents are TOML where the others are Markdown; Gemini commands are TOML where Claude/Cursor are Markdown; MCP config lives in JSON for most but TOML for Codex. Pick vendors based on what your team uses; the framework's content (PRDs, specs, prompts, rules) and runtime-layer artifacts (skills, agents, commands, hooks) now land in any of them, each in its native shape.

Hook system depth

All six vendors ship hooks; per-vendor depth differs significantly:

Vendor	Event count	Blocking semantics	Hook types beyond shell
Claude Code	~30	rich (per-event)	http, mcp_tool, prompt, agent
Codex	10	per-event JSON	command only
Gemini CLI	11	per-event	command only
Kiro	10	pre-hooks block	askAgent, runCommand
Cursor	~21	permission schema	command, prompt
Windsurf	12	pre-hooks only	command, powershell

See Hooks for the per-vendor event matrix.

Root context files (load-bearing)

Every vendor auto-loads at least one context file at session start:

Vendor	Auto-loaded file	What goes there
Claude Code	CLAUDE.md	Delegation shim → AGENTS.md + Claude-specific overrides
Codex	AGENTS.md	Canonical, vendor-neutral substance
Gemini CLI	GEMINI.md	Delegation shim → AGENTS.md + Gemini-specific overrides
Cursor	.cursor/rules/*.mdc or AGENTS.md (.cursorrules legacy)	Rule files, MDC frontmatter; native AGENTS.md support
Kiro	.kiro/steering/*.md (inclusion: always)	Steering rules
Windsurf / Devin	.devin/rules/*.md (pref) or .windsurf/rules/*.md (trigger: always_on)	Rule files

The canonical pattern: AGENTS.md carries substance; CLAUDE.md / GEMINI.md etc. are short delegation shims. See Multi-Vendor Context Files.

MCP support

All six vendors now consume MCP server configurations, in different shapes:

Vendor	Shape	Path
Claude Code	mcpServers JSON object	.mcp.json (project) / ~/.claude.json (user)
Codex	[mcp_servers.<name>] TOML sections	.codex/config.toml
Gemini CLI	mcpServers JSON object	.gemini/settings.json
Kiro	mcpServers JSON object	.kiro/settings/mcp.json
Cursor	mcpServers JSON object	.cursor/mcp.json
Windsurf / Devin	mcpServers JSON object	~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

Maintaining these by hand is the failure mode. SpecRoute ships a single source of truth at runtimes/mcp/servers.yaml with per-vendor renderers (Claude .mcp.json, Codex TOML, Gemini JSON today; the remaining JSON-shaped vendors reuse the same mcpServers object). See MCP Integration.

Note: claude_desktop_config.json is the Claude Desktop app's MCP file, not Claude Code's. The Claude Code CLI reads .mcp.json (project, committed) and ~/.claude.json (user). Earlier SpecRoute releases pointed at the Desktop file in error.

Vendor neutrality is the contract

• Don't fold one vendor into another.
• Don't treat any vendor as the default.
• Every artifact declares which vendors it targets and uses each vendor's native shape.
• Don't drift the matrix between README.md, AGENTS.md, and agentic-docs/agent-cli-integrations.md — when one changes, all three change.

See also

• Agent CLI Integrations — concrete per-vendor wiring (copy commands)
• Cross-Vendor Sync — tools/sync-skills.py + MCP renderers keep things aligned
• Adding a Vendor — process for adding a new column
• Multi-Vendor Context Files — the AGENTS.md + delegation-shim pattern