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Zed: High-performance AI Code Editor

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Re: Zed: High-performance AI Code Editor

#341

Post by freehorse »

dtkav wrote: post #309
ntonozzi wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The old panel still exists, they call it a text thread.

Yeah, but text threads cannot be used as context in the inline assist right now so there's no way to apply the code.

Ah that's a bummer. You can still add threads as context, but that you cannot use slash commands there, so the only way to add them or other stuff in the context is to click buttons with the mouse. It would be nice if at least slash commands were working there.

edit: actually it is still possible to include text threads in there

Re: Zed: High-performance AI Code Editor

#342

Post by samtheprogram »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #237
onli wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you run Linux, with its myriad of software configurations. And if this thread is correct Linux support is already far along, if it runs well on something old like the X230. It is not a realistic expectation for any project to work on your hardware if you are not at least willing to report an issue, or rather: No software will run flawlessly on all hardware always, that's not realistic. Error message, hardware con…

Once you get a knack for it, you can see that the original comment of "So I guess it's only fast on macos?" already has an attitude, and the rest of the thread comes at no surprise. How about "I'm getting <1FPS perf on {specs}" instead of the snark.

This. Honestly, their issue based on Zed’s issue tracker is likely with NVIDIA drivers inconsistencies, which ironically is due to the closed source nature of NVIDIA drivers (its workarounds all the way down bringing pain to app and driver developers), not Zed (which is indeed FOSS, just not “volunteer” driven).

Re: Zed: High-performance AI Code Editor

#343

Post by f311a »

astroalex wrote: post #340

In my personal experience I couldn't use Zed for editing python. Firstly, when navigating in a large python repository, looking up references was extremely slow (sometimes on the order of minutes). Secondly, searching for a string in the repo would sometimes be incorrect (e.g. I know the string exists but Zed says there aren't any results, as if a search index hasn't been updated). These two issues made it unusable.…

That’s because Python lacks good open source lsp. That’s true for other open source editors.

Re: Zed: High-performance AI Code Editor

#344

Post by dtkav »

freehorse wrote: post #341
dtkav wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but text threads cannot be used as context in the inline assist right now so there's no way to apply the code.

Ah that's a bummer. You can still add threads as context, but that you cannot use slash commands there, so the only way to add them or other stuff in the context is to click buttons with the mouse. It would be nice if at least slash commands were working there. edit: actually it is still possible to include text threads in there

You can add agent threads as context, but right now adding text threads as context doesn't work.

Re: Zed: High-performance AI Code Editor

#345

Post by freehorse »

dtkav wrote: post #303
xpe wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zed and Cursor are very different; I wouldn’t put them in the same bucket myself. I’ve been using the Zed AI assistant panel for a while (manual control over the context window by including files and diagnostics) — will try the new agentic panel soon.

Unfortunately the new agent panel completely nerfs the old workflow. I also love the old version (now called "Text Threads") for its transparency. Even though they brought back text threads, the context is no longer included (or include-able!) as context in the inline assist. That means that you can no longer select code, hit ctrl+enter, and type "use the new code" or whatever. I wish there was a way to just disable…

Actually, I just checked and an active text thread is added to the inline prompt context (you may need to click on the box at the bottom of the inline prompt to include it, but then it is added by default for the next). So it looks fine to me (and it is nicer that it is more explicit this way).

There is also the "+" button to add files, threads etc, though it would be nice if it could also be done through slash commands.

Re: Zed: High-performance AI Code Editor

#346

Post by intellectronica »

rtfeldman wrote: post #339
intellectronica wrote: post #332

I want to love Zed. The UX is absolutely amazing - it just feels like you're on turbo mode all the time. And the AI is excellent too. I don't know how far it can go, though, without the VSCode ecosystem.

Not to worry! When VS Code launched, it had a tiny ecosystem compared to Atom. When Atom launched, it had a tiny ecosystem compared to Sublime Text. Starting out with a much smaller ecosystem than already-popular alternatives is a totally normal part of the road to success. :)

Yes and no. An ecosystem can grow, even grow exponentially. But it is sensitive to competitive pressures. VSCode today is so much more widely adopted than anything before it. More than emacs, vim, anything really. So Zed has a good chance because it's simply excellent and many people (myself included) will be motivated to make it happen. But it's not determined that it will succeed in growing a comparable ecosystem.

One thing that works in favour of Zed, which previous IDEs didn't have, is that it's a lot easier to program things today, because of AI. It may even be possible to port many of the more popular extensions from VSCode to Zed with relatively low investment.

Re: Zed: High-performance AI Code Editor

#347

Post by DreaminDani »

keybits wrote: post #3

For people who have tried the new agent panel in Zed, how does it compare to something like Cursor or Windsurf? (I've yet to dive deep into AI coding tools and currently use Zed as an 'open source Sublime Text alternative' because I like the low latency editing.)

I'd say it's closer to Claude Code than to either of the two IDE-oriented ones. I say this because it actually does the right thing more often than either Cursor or Windsurf. It gathers the right context, asks for feedback when needed and has yet to "go back and forth between two failing solutions" like I've seen Cursor do.

I don't know what Zed's doing under the hood but the diffing tool has yet to fail on me (compared to multiple times per conversation in Cursor). Compared to previous Zed AI iterations, this one edits files much more willingly and clearly communicates what it's editing. It's also faster than Claude Code at getting up to speed on context and much faster than Cursor or Windsurf.

Re: Zed: High-performance AI Code Editor

#348

Post by dtkav »

senko wrote: post #322
dtkav wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but text threads cannot be used as context in the inline assist right now so there's no way to apply the code.

What, that was a thing? I was copypasteing manually, which was annoying and error prone, that's why I like the new agent panel more. Oops, I guess.

Yeah, It was great because you were in control of where and when the edits happened.

So you could manage the context with great care, then go over to the editor and select specific regions and then "pull in" the changes that were discussed.

I guess it was silly that I was always typing "use the new code" in every inline assist message. A hotkey to "pull new code" into a selected region would have been sweet.

I don't really want to "set it and forget it" and then come back to some mega diff that is like 30% wrong. Especially right now where it keeps getting stuck and doing nothing for 30m.

Re: Zed: High-performance AI Code Editor

#349

Post by freehorse »

dtkav wrote: post #344
freehorse wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah that's a bummer. You can still add threads as context, but that you cannot use slash commands there, so the only way to add them or other stuff in the context is to click buttons with the mouse. It would be nice if at least slash commands were working there. edit: actually it is still possible to include text threads in there

You can add agent threads as context, but right now adding text threads as context doesn't work.

It actually seems to work for me. I have an active text thread and it was added automatically to my inline prompt in the file. There was this box on the bottom of the inline text box. I think I had to click it the first time to include the context, but the subsequent times it was included by default.

Re: Zed: High-performance AI Code Editor

#350

Post by dtkav »

freehorse wrote: post #345
dtkav wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately the new agent panel completely nerfs the old workflow. I also love the old version (now called "Text Threads") for its transparency. Even though they brought back text threads, the context is no longer included (or include-able!) as context in the inline assist. That means that you can no longer select code, hit ctrl+enter, and type "use the new code" or whatever. I wish there was a way to just disable…

Actually, I just checked and an active text thread is added to the inline prompt context (you may need to click on the box at the bottom of the inline prompt to include it, but then it is added by default for the next). So it looks fine to me (and it is nicer that it is more explicit this way). There is also the "+" button to add files, threads etc, though it would be nice if it could also be done through slash comma…

Are you sure it is the right thread? On mine it shows the title of the last agent thread even though I'm in a text thread.
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