The directory

XeroHack's output is opinionated. The opinion comes from the directory: a curated, versioned set of tools, vendors, and primitives the engine reaches for when it builds a scaffold.

What an entry is

Each entry is the canonical record for a tool across three surfaces:

• The public directory index.
• The per-tool review page at /directory/{slug}.
• The engine's recommendation prompts — the interview reads the same data.

Adding a tool to the directory makes it both publicly browsable and engine-recommendable. Select it during the interview and XeroHack pre-wires it into your scaffold.

Trade-offs are required

Every entry must articulate at least one real trade-off, written even-handedly:

"Claude Code wins on autonomy; Cursor wins on IDE ergonomics."

Not a one-sided pitch. A directory that argues against its own entries is the only kind worth trusting — and the only kind an agent should be willing to recommend.

Coupon-book economics

The directory is also a revenue surface. Vendors can pay for prominent placement, a "Featured" slot, or per-redemption tracking. When a vendor has a discount, the couponCode is surfaced behind a free account and applied automatically during the interview.

Coupons are never faked. An entry without a paid placement simply has no coupon — the trade-off it carries is the same either way.