Zed

What it is

Zed is a code editor that its README calls high-performance and multiplayer, from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter. It runs on macOS, Linux and Windows. Zed Industries, Inc., a for-profit company, develops it, and its source is licensed primarily under GPL-3.0-or-later, with Apache-2.0 components where marked. Besides editing, the docs describe real-time collaboration, remote projects over SSH and an Agent Panel that hosts Zed’s own agent, Claude, Codex and others. This entry covers installing it and setting up the agents.

1. Install Zed for your system
2. Open a project folder
3. Pick an agent in the Agent Panel, or leave AI off
4. Prompt it and review its changes

Who it suits

Developers who want a fast editor and a choice of coding agents in one window, and teams that edit the same project together. Its docs carry guides for people moving from VS Code, IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm or RustRover.

Skip it if you need an editor in the browser. The README lists the web as not yet available.

Where to use it

Zed installs on three systems. The install page says FreeBSD builds from source, and the Linux page says the same for some architectures and distributions.

• macOS: macOS 12.0 or later, on Apple Silicon or Intel, from a disk image or Homebrew
• Windows: Windows 11 version 22H2 or later, or Windows 10 version 1903 or later, from the installer or winget
• Linux: 64-bit Intel, AMD or Arm with a Vulkan 1.3 driver, from an install script, a tarball or a distribution package
• Elsewhere: FreeBSD, other Linux architectures and some distributions (such as RHEL 8, and RHEL 9 on Arm) build from source with Cargo

Agents work in the Agent Panel in three ways, which differ in who holds the sign-in.

How to set it up

Get it saves a zip of Mindket’s setup notes in your downloads folder, with the steps from Zed’s docs for each system and each agent. The install is one command or one download.

1. Install Zed with the command for your system.
2. Start it and open a folder.
3. On macOS, run the cli::InstallCliBinary action from the command palette to get the zed command. The CLI page says Linux packages and Windows include it, and Windows needs the install folder on your PATH.
4. Open the Agent Panel with Cmd+Shift+A on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+A on Linux and Windows.
5. Install Claude, Codex or another agent from the ACP Registry, or choose a model for the Zed Agent.

brew install --cask zed

winget install -e --id ZedIndustries.Zed

curl -f https://zed.dev/install.sh | sh

The preview build gets updates about a week before stable. On Linux, ZED_CHANNEL=preview selects it.

curl -f https://zed.dev/install.sh | ZED_CHANNEL=preview sh

How to use it

Open a folder from a terminal, or press Cmd+O or Ctrl+O inside Zed.

zed ~/projects/my-app

If you forget a shortcut, search for the action in the command palette. For Vim keys, run the workspace::ToggleVimMode action. Language support beyond the built-in set comes from extensions, which open with Cmd+Shift+X or Ctrl+Shift+X.

To make Zed the editor Git opens, the CLI page gives these two lines.

export EDITOR="zed --wait"
export VISUAL="zed --wait"

Example

You keep a project in ~/projects/my-app and pay for Claude. You open it from a terminal:

zed ~/projects/my-app

You press Cmd+Shift+A and install Claude Agent from the ACP Registry. In its thread you type /login and sign in. Claude Agent owns that sign-in, and a key you saved for the Zed Agent does not configure it. Later you start a Codex thread for a second task. Because both might touch the same files, you run it in a new Git worktree from the worktree picker in the title bar.

For newcomers and experts

If you are new. A code editor is where you read and change a project’s files. An agent is a program that makes those changes from your instructions, and Zed can host several. Start with the editor alone: install it, open a folder and search the command palette for what you want. Nothing here needs an account to begin. Add an agent when you want one, and turn AI off with the disable_ai setting if you do not.

For experts. External Agents speak the Agent Client Protocol, and Zed hosts the thread while the agent keeps its own models, tools and auth. A custom agent that speaks it goes in settings. Terminal Threads run the CLI as it is, and agent.terminal_init_command starts one for you.

{
  "agent_servers": {
    "my-agent": {
      "type": "custom",
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["~/projects/agent/index.js", "--acp"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

MCP servers you add in Zed go to the Zed Agent directly and may be forwarded to an External Agent. By default the Zed Agent asks before it runs a permission-gated tool (terminal commands, file edits and deletes, fetch, web search, skills) or an MCP tool. agent.tool_permissions and per-tool rules change that. For project instructions it takes the first file it finds from .rules, .cursorrules, .windsurfrules, .clinerules, .github/copilot-instructions.md, AGENT.md, AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md and GEMINI.md. A new folder opens in Restricted Mode, which keeps its .zed/settings.json, tasks, language servers and MCP servers from running until you trust it.

Good to know

Most of this entry is about install and agent setup. A few limits sit outside it.

• License: the README says GPL-3.0-or-later for most of the source, with Apache-2.0 components where marked
• Updates: Zed updates itself, and Settings has an Auto Update switch
• Telemetry: the docs say Zed collects anonymous usage metrics and crash reports, which the telemetry setting’s diagnostics and metrics switches turn off. Hosted AI and collaboration also collect server-side metadata, which those services require
• AI and your code: where a request goes depends on the path. Zed-hosted models, your own key, an External Agent and a local model each follow different terms
• Plans: the docs say Zed-hosted models and Zeta edit prediction need Zed Pro (or its trial), Student or Business. The Free plan can use your own API keys, External Agents, and other edit-prediction providers such as Copilot or a local model
• Sharing: a collaborator on a shared project can reach your local files inside that project
• Linux packages: third-party packages may lag behind and may rename the binary
• Not an endorsement: Mindket wrote these notes, and Zed Industries did not make or endorse them