JetBrains × Zed: Open Interoperability for AI Coding Agents in Your IDE

Denis Shiryaev

At JetBrains, our mission is simple: help developers achieve engineering excellence without distractions or vendor lock-in. Today, we’re excited to share that we’re collaborating with Zed on the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) – an open protocol that lets AI coding agents work inside editors, including JetBrains IDEs, if both are ACP-compatible.

Why this collaboration matters

• No vendor lock-in: Use the agent you prefer inside the IDE you love.
• Confidence and control: See exactly what the agent is planning, review diffs, and approve actions.
• A great UX in your IDE: Streaming updates, clear intent, and changes that fit naturally into editor workflows.

What developers get in JetBrains IDEs

• Bring your agent. The ACP protocol makes agents editor-agnostic, so agents work anywhere you code.
• Full control. The goal is a system where the IDE mediates access to files, the terminal, and other tools via the ACP protocol – you decide what runs.
• The same workflows you’re used to. Your environment stays yours by default.
• Shorter feedback loops. Prompt, observe progress, and validate – all in one place.

The JetBrains × Zed advantage

Zed has quickly innovated in protocol design and seen real-world adoption. JetBrains brings decades of IDE expertise, including refactoring, debugging, navigation, and performance at scale. Together, we’re aligning on ACP-driven experiences that feel native in JetBrains IDEs while remaining open and portable across the ecosystem. The result is agents that are portable, powerful, and predictable inside your daily tools.

What’s next

We’re working closely with Zed on the next milestones for ACP-powered experiences in JetBrains IDEs. As work progresses, we’ll share details on early implementations, developer previews, and how partners can extend ACP-based integrations.

Our goal hasn’t changed: empower developers with freedom of choice, clarity of control, and first-class productivity with AI agents that feel at home in JetBrains IDEs.

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