Zed — The editor for what's next

What it is

Zed is a high-performance, open-source code editor designed for modern software development. It is built from the ground up to facilitate collaboration between human developers and AI agents. The editor is targeted at professional developers and industry-leading teams who require speed, intelligence, and integrated collaborative tools within their development environment.

Main Features

Performance & Architecture

• Written from scratch in Rust for optimal efficiency
• Engineered to leverage multiple CPU cores and GPU acceleration
• Designed for minimal boot time, low UI interaction latency, and fast typing response

AI Integration

• Native support for agentic editing, allowing delegation of work to AI
• Edit Prediction feature powered by Zeta, an open-source language model
• Inline Assistant for transforming selected code via language models
• Text Threads for engaging with LLMs in a plain text interface
• Support for multiple AI models through the Agent Client Protocol

Collaboration Tools

• Integrated chat functionality for team communication
• Shared notes and collaborative document editing
• Screen and project sharing capabilities
• All collaborative features included without additional cost

Development Features

• Native multi-language debugger support
• First-class Git integration (staging, committing, pulling, pushing, diff viewing)
• Remote development support (UI runs locally, codebase executes on remote server)
• Multibuffer editing for composing excerpts from across the codebase
• Language Server Protocol (LSP) support
• Tree-sitter parsing for multiple languages
• Outline view for file symbol navigation
• Advanced text and line manipulation capabilities
• Vim-friendly with first-class modal editing support
• Terminal and task runner integration
• Interactive programming with Jupyter runtime support

Extensibility

• Growing ecosystem of community-developed extensions
• Support for language packages, themes, and functionality enhancements
• Custom snippets for automating repetitive workflows

How it works

Individual Development

Developers use Zed as their primary code editor, benefiting from its performance characteristics and built-in features like Git integration, debugging, and AI-assisted coding. The editor works out of the box with comprehensive language support through LSP and Tree-sitter.

AI-Assisted Workflows

Users can delegate coding tasks to AI agents, monitor their progress in real-time, and review suggested changes. The inline assistant allows for quick code transformations, while text threads provide a conversational interface with language models.

Team Collaboration

Team members can collaborate directly within the editor through integrated chat, shared notes, and real-time project sharing. This eliminates the need to switch between multiple applications for communication and collaboration.

Remote Development

Developers can connect to remote servers where their codebase resides, while the Zed UI runs locally on their machine. This enables working with powerful remote hardware while maintaining a responsive editing experience.

Key Points

• Developed by the creators of Atom, Electron, and Tree-sitter, representing 15 years of tooling experience
• Open-source with active community development and weekly release cycles
• Emphasis on performance with significant attention to latency reduction
• Does not lock users into a specific AI model, supporting multiple agents through extensible protocols
• Trusted by prominent developers and industry-leading teams
• Designed with careful attention to detail and user experience

Additional Details

• Availability: Currently available for macOS and Linux, with Windows support in development
• Pricing: The editor appears to be free (open-source), with no mentioned subscription costs
• Requirements: No specific system requirements mentioned, but optimized for modern hardware
• Extensions: Hundreds of community-developed extensions available for language support, themes, and functionality enhancements
• Community: Active open-source development with thousands of contributors and regular pull request merges
• Support: Documentation, community discussions, and support resources available
• License: Open-source (specific license not mentioned in content)