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External agents
Zed supports many external agents, including CLI-based ones, through the Agent Client Protocol (ACP).
Zed supports Gemini CLI (the reference ACP implementation), Claude Agent, Codex, GitHub Copilot, and additional agents you can configure.
https://zed.dev/docs/ai/external-agents
Claude
Zed runs the Claude Agent SDK, which runs Claude Code under the hood, and communicates to it over ACP, through a dedicated adapter.
Remote
https://zed.dev/docs/remote-development
Remote Development lets you edit code on a remote server while running Zed locally. The UI stays responsive because it runs on your machine, while language servers, tasks, and terminals run on the server.
For day-to-day workflows, pair remote development with Tasks, Terminal, and Debugger.
SSH
Zed can edit code on a remote machine over SSH while the UI stays local. The editor, keymaps and settings run on your laptop; the file system, language servers, terminals and tasks run on the remote host.
Requirements:
- Key-based SSH access to the remote (
ssh user@hostshould already work from your terminal). - A writable home directory on the remote — Zed installs a small server there on first connect.
Connect:
- Open the command palette and run
projects: open remote(orcmd-alt-o). - Click + Add Server, fill in host, user and (optionally) port and identity file.
- Pick the connection, then choose a folder on the remote to open as a project.
You can also predefine hosts in ~/.config/zed/settings.json:
{ "ssh_connections": [ { "host": "dev.example.com", "username": "david", "projects": [{ "paths": ["~/code/site"] }] } ]}Language servers, formatters and the integrated terminal all run on the remote, so the experience matches working locally — without copying the repo to your laptop.
https://zed.dev/docs/remote-development
Isard
Zed expects uname -sm to return only Linux x86_64, but your server prepends a MOTD/banner.
You are using IsardVDI.
(_(/_/'_____/)" | | |""""""|
Enjoy.Zed can’t parse the platform from the noisy output, so detection fails.
You need to silence the banner for non-interactive SSH sessions (interactive shells can keep it).
Find what’s printing the banner
On the remote, check these in order:
grep -rl "IsardVDI\|Enjoy" ~/.bashrc ~/.bash_profile ~/.profile /etc/profile /etc/profile.d/ /etc/motd /etc/issue /etc/update-motd.d/ 2>/dev/nullMost likely culprits: /etc/motd, a script in /etc/profile.d/, or ~/.bashrc/~/.profile.