Comparison
SourceBrain vs CLAUDE.md
A CLAUDE.md, .cursorrules, or AGENTS.md is the right first move. The trouble starts when that one file grows: it gets dumped into every prompt, quietly goes stale, and no one trusts it anymore.
To be clear: a rules file is genuinely useful, and if a handful of conventions cover your whole project, you may not need anything more. SourceBrain starts earning its keep the moment your knowledge outgrows a single file, or more than one person (and more than one agent) needs to rely on it.
The core difference is one idea: a flat file is pushed into the context window whole, every turn. SourceBrain is pulled, the agent retrieves only the lessons that matter for the task, over MCP.
| CLAUDE.md / .cursorrules | SourceBrain | |
|---|---|---|
| How the agent gets it | The whole file is pasted into every prompt | Searched over MCP; only the lessons relevant to the task are pulled in |
| When the code changes | The note silently goes stale | Anchored to files and symbols, flagged as stale when the code drifts |
| Token cost | Grows every turn as the file grows | Flat: the agent reads only what it needs |
| Structure | One file that keeps growing | A path-addressed tree (auth/jwt, db/migrations), versioned like git |
| History | Git blame on a single file | Per-lesson version history with diffs |
| Sharing | A per-repo file, copy-pasted between tools | A shared workspace with roles; one source of truth for every agent |
| Non-engineers | Not really | Browse and search in the web app, no terminal or git |
Relevant, not everything
A rules file is all-or-nothing: every fact about your whole codebase, in the context window, on every single turn. SourceBrain lets the agent search and pull just the lessons that touch the file or task at hand, so the context stays small and on-point.
Memory that knows when it's wrong
The real failure of a flat file is confidence: the agent acts on a fact that was true three commits ago. SourceBrain anchors each lesson to real files, symbols, and line ranges, and flags it the moment that code moves, so stale memory surfaces instead of misleading.
It scales past a handful of rules
A dozen rules fit in one file. A few hundred do not. SourceBrain gives knowledge a tree, versions every edit, and links related lessons into a graph you can actually navigate, in the CLI or the browser.
One brain for the whole team
A CLAUDE.md lives in one repo, for one person's tools. SourceBrain is a shared workspace: everyone's agents read the same memory, product and support can browse it without a terminal, and edits can be reviewed before they land.
Keep what you have
Bring your CLAUDE.md with you
You don't retype anything. Point SourceBrain at the files you already have, and each one becomes a lesson you can anchor, version, and search from there.
Give your agent a memory it can't forget
Free for solo use, no account needed. Start local in ten seconds, then share with your team when you're ready.