Zed

Overview

Zed is a high-performance code editor written in Rust, developed by the creators of the Atom editor. Its core philosophy is speed, pursuing extreme performance from startup to operation. Zed uses the GPUI engine for GPU-accelerated rendering, supporting editing of files with millions of lines without lag. With built-in AI assistant, real-time collaboration, integrated terminal, and more, it is a next-generation editor for modern developers. Zed is open source and supports macOS and Linux.

Installation

Zed supports macOS and Linux (Windows version is under development). It can be installed via the official website download or package managers. The first launch after installation will guide you through configuration.

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

# Or via Homebrew
brew install --cask zed

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

# Or download the AppImage
# Download from https://zed.dev/download

Configuration

Zed uses JSON for configuration, with the config file located at ~/.config/zed/settings.json. It supports configuration of themes, fonts, keybindings, AI, collaboration, and more. The configuration uses a layered structure, supporting project-level configuration.

// settings.json
{
  "theme": "One Dark",
  "buffer_font_family": "JetBrains Mono",
  "buffer_font_size": 14,
  "tab_size": 2,
  "features": {
    "copilot": true
  },
  "assistant": {
    "default_model": "gpt-4",
    "version": "2"
  }
}

Keybindings

Zed provides efficient keyboard shortcuts, supporting Vim, Emacs, VS Code, and other keymap schemes. Keybindings can be customized via keymap.json. Zed's command palette (Cmd+Shift+P) provides quick access to all features.

// keymap.json
[
  {
    "context": "Editor",
    "bindings": {
      "cmd-shift-a": "editor::selectAll",
      "ctrl-cmd-f": "editor::format"
    }
  },
  {
    "context": "Pane",
    "bindings": {
      "alt-1": "pane::activateItem 0"
    }
  }
]

AI Features

Zed has a built-in AI assistant, supporting OpenAI, Anthropic, GitHub Copilot, and more. It can generate code, explain code, refactor, fix bugs, and more. The AI assistant is deeply integrated with the editor, able to understand the current file and project context. It supports inline editing and sidebar chat.

// Use the AI assistant
// Cmd+I: inline edit
// Cmd+Shift+A: open the assistant panel

// In the assistant panel:
// "Add type annotations to this function"
// "Explain the logic of this code"
// "Refactor this component and extract subcomponents"

Collaboration

Zed provides real-time collaboration features, allowing multiple people to edit the same file simultaneously. The collaboration feature is based on CRDT technology, supporting low-latency sync. You can share projects, terminals, and chat history. Collaboration requires no additional service, working directly through Zed's infrastructure.

# Start a collaboration session
# In Zed: Cmd+Shift+P -> "collaboration: open"

# Invite others
# Share the session link with teammates
# Teammates click the link to join the session

Extensions

Zed supports an extension system, allowing installation of language support, themes, tools, and other extensions. Extensions are installed through Zed's extension store. WASM extensions are supported, ensuring security and performance. The community is actively developing more extensions.

# Install extensions
# In Zed: Cmd+Shift+P -> "zed: extensions"

# Common extensions
# - Language Support (various languages)
# - Emmet
# - Git Integration
# - Themes

Themes

Zed comes with multiple beautiful themes and supports customization. Themes are defined in JSON format, allowing precise control of colors, fonts, icons, and more. The community provides a large number of themes to choose from. Automatic switching between light and dark modes is supported.

// Custom theme
// ~/.config/zed/themes/my-theme.json
{
  "name": "My Theme",
  "author": "Me",
  "themes": [{
    "appearance": "dark",
    "style": {
      "background": "#1e1e2e",
      "foreground": "#cdd6f4",
      "syntax": {
        "keyword": "#cba6f7",
        "string": "#a6e3a1"
      }
    }
  }]
}

Performance

Zed's core advantage is performance. Written in Rust, with the GPUI engine for GPU-accelerated rendering and Tree-sitter for incremental parsing. Startup time is <1 second, and it can smoothly edit files with millions of lines. Memory usage is low, and response speed is fast. Zed's performance far exceeds that of Electron editors.

Remote Development

Zed supports remote development, allowing you to connect to remote servers for development. Through SSH connection, code runs on the remote server while the local editor provides the UI. Container development is supported, integrated with Docker. The remote development experience is almost the same as local.

# Remote development configuration
// settings.json
{
  "remote": {
    "projects": {
      "my-server": {
        "host": "server.example.com",
        "username": "user",
        "paths": ["/home/user/project"]
      }
    }
  }
}