Windsurf rules
Cursor's activation model with a different vocabulary — trigger modes instead of rule types — plus hard character caps, which is the one place a format here will silently drop instructions rather than fail loudly.
What the corpus measured
2026-08-03Repositories
14
2026-08-03Adopting repositories, not files.Share of corpus
2.0%
2026-08-03Of every repository RuleStack indexes.Median length
515w
2026-08-0390th percentile 1,518 words.Median quality
58
2026-08-0337.3% name a command; 70.6% contain code.Repositories carrying Windsurf rules, 2026-08-01 to 2026-08-03
Real Windsurf rules files
| Repository | Format | Stack | Covers | Score | Changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| danielvm-git/bigpowers.windsurf/rules/guard-git.md · 114 | Windsurf rules | stylearchgitsecurity+2 | 89/100 | 2 days ago | |
| danielvm-git/bigpowers.windsurf/rules/organize-workspace.md · 114 | Windsurf rules | buildstylegitdeployment+2 | 89/100 | 2 days ago | |
| danielvm-git/bigpowers.windsurf/rules/develop-tdd.md · 114 | Windsurf rules | teststylearchtesting-strategy+5 | 85/100 | 2 days ago | |
| danielvm-git/bigpowers.windsurf/rules/quick-fix.md · 114 | Windsurf rules | teststylegitdeployment+1 | 85/100 | 2 days ago | |
| danielvm-git/bigpowers.windsurf/rules/commit-message.md · 114 | Windsurf rules | lint-formatstyletypesgit+3 | 82/100 | 2 days ago | |
| danielvm-git/bigpowers.windsurf/rules/extract-design.md · 114 | Windsurf rules | lint-formatstyledependenciesui | 82/100 | 2 days ago | |
| danielvm-git/bigpowers.windsurf/rules/session-state.md · 114 | Windsurf rules | lint-formatstyleagent-behaviour | 82/100 | 2 days ago | |
| danielvm-git/bigpowers.windsurf/rules/setup-environment.md · 114 | Windsurf rules | setupstylesecuritydo-not+1 | 81/100 | 2 days ago | |
| danielvm-git/bigpowers.windsurf/rules/wire-ci.md · 114 | Windsurf rules | buildtestlint-formatstyle+1 | 81/100 | 2 days ago |
What it asserts
2026-08-01Read from the format’s own documentation and checked by hand. Capabilities are asserted; adoption is measured.
- File
- .windsurf/rules/*.md
- When it applies
- Four trigger modes in frontmatter: always_on, glob, model_decision, manual. The legacy single-file .windsurfrules is still read.
- Size limits
- Per-rule and total character caps apply; long rules are truncated rather than rejected.
- Tools that read it
- WindsurfCascade
Capabilities
- Read by more than one tool
- Frontmatter
- Glob targeting
- Imports other files
- Nested / per-directory
- Multiple files
- User-level scope
Strengths
- Trigger modes give the same glob and on-demand targeting as Cursor rules
- Workspace and global rule scopes
Weaknesses
- Windsurf-only
- Character caps truncate silently — a long rule can be half-applied with no error
- No imports
Measured — counted from real repositories, nightlyAsserted — read from the vendor docs, dated
Repositories that carry Windsurf rules and something else
Counted pairwise across the whole corpus. The percentage is of repositories carrying Windsurf rules — the number a “Windsurf rules vs …” search is really asking for.
+ Cursor rules
85.7%
2026-08-0312 repos carry both6.7% the other way
+ Copilot instructions85.7%
2026-08-0312 repos carry both9.5% the other way
+ AGENTS.md71.4%
2026-08-0310 repos carry both2.5% the other way
+ Cline rules57.1%
2026-08-038 repos carry both10.1% the other way
+ GEMINI.md50.0%
2026-08-037 repos carry both21.2% the other way
+ CLAUDE.md50.0%
2026-08-037 repos carry both2.8% the other way
+ .cursorrules28.6%
2026-08-034 repos carry both14.8% the other way
