Gemini CLI Lands in Zed, Brings Google’s AI to Code Editor

Google’s Gemini CLI is now integrated into Zed, an open-source AI code editor, enabling developers to access AI-powered assistance directly within their IDE.

Since its launch, Gemini CLI has seen rapid adoption, with over 1,000 community pull requests expanding its capabilities, according to the company. Designed as a lightweight orchestrator, the tool integrates with emerging standards, including MCP, markdown-based instructions, custom extensions and OpenTelemetry. According to Google, the open ecosystem is quickly making Gemini CLI a critical component of many engineering systems.

The integration with Zed brings Gemini’s models into the Rust-based editor environment. Developers can now generate and refactor code in place, get instant explanations for errors and use Gemini in Zed’s integrated terminal. The aim is to merge the strengths of terminal workflows and IDE usability for a faster, more responsive experience.

Zed’s team highlighted that the collaboration was also a way to showcase its newly developed Agent Client Protocol (ACP). 

“You can now interact with third-party agents directly within Zed,” the company wrote in a blog, adding that ACP, built on JSON-RPC, creates a lean framework for editors to communicate with agents. 

They compared it to how the Language Server Protocol unbundled language intelligence, noting ACP is designed to let developers switch between multiple agents without leaving the editor. Gemini CLI serves as the first reference implementation for this.

Beyond features, the companies emphasise a new model of collaboration with AI. Developers can follow Gemini’s work live, review changes in a separate interface similar to pull requests, and provide context from external sources such as documentation or API specifications. Once approved, edits are integrated seamlessly back into the codebase without requiring manual copy-pasting.

“Zed is already a popular choice within the Gemini team, so this collaboration was a natural fit,” the company announced. The integration is now live, with setup guides available on both Gemini CLI’s GitHub repository and Zed’s official blog. Recently, Zed has raised $32 million in a Series B round led by Sequoia to build DeltaDB, a new version control system that links real-time code edits with conversations. Now, with an integration with Gemini, it should be an attractive offering to new-age developers.