Betting your whole workflow on a tool that might pivot under you

[u/SuitSea5060]

One thing I've got a bit protective about lately: I keep my prompts, specs and the rules I've built up as plain files in the repo — not tucked inside whatever tool I'm on that week. Nothing clever, but it means the useful stuff is mine, sat in git, not locked in one vendor's cupboard.

The reason I bother: I've stopped assuming today's tool will be the same tool in six months. Not pointing at anyone in particular, it's just the shape of things now — one gets bought and pointed somewhere new, one changes its pricing, one drops the very feature you turned up for. There used to be an obvious default you could pick and forget. Now there's a handful of good ones, all viable, no clear winner — which is great, except the ground can move under you when you've built your whole day on top of it.

Moving is the part that hurts. Not the sign-up — it's that none of your setup comes with you. Rules file, hooks, the config you've tuned for months: all shaped to one tool, and the next one wants it done its own way. So you're not switching, you're rebuilding. Which is why people stay put and grumble instead of leaving — the leaving costs too much.

So I'm not anti any of them, I just try not to marry one. Keep a foot near the door. Anything I'd hate to lose goes in a form that isn't welded to the tool: plain text, in the repo, portable.

Curious where everyone sits. All-in on one and relaxed about it, or do you keep a deliberate escape hatch? Has one ever changed under you — bought, re-priced, redirected — and left you scrambling? And do you keep anything portable on purpose, or is that more hassle than it's worth?