Zed Editor Just Dropped an AI Smorgasbord: Multiple Prediction Providers, ACP Registry, and Why VS Code Might Finally Be Sweating
Just when you thought the AI code editor market couldn't get any more crowded, Zed Editor—the Rust-powered speedster that's been quietly making everyone question their life choices—decided February was the perfect time to drop not one, but two bombshells that should have Microsoft's VS Code team looking over their shoulder.
Image credit: Zed Industries
The Multi-Provider Buffet Is Finally Here
On February 4th, Zed announced that edit prediction—those magical moments where your editor somehow knows what you're about to type before your fingers even commit—now supports not just one, but five different providers. We're talking Zeta (Zed's own open-source brainchild), GitHub Copilot's Next Edit Suggestions, Ollama, Codestral, and Sweep.
Here's why this matters: while other editors were busy playing favorites with a single AI provider, Zed was apparently building a UN for language models. You can now configure multiple providers simultaneously through the Edit Prediction menu, effectively treating your code editor like an AI tasting menu. "I'll have a side of Copilot with my Ollama main course, please."
The cynic in me wonders if this is actually brilliant or just feature bloat. But here's the thing—different tasks need different models. Sometimes you want the lightning-fast local inference of Ollama. Other times you need the heavy-duty reasoning power that only a cloud model can deliver. Zed's approach of letting you mix and match based on the task at hand is actually, well, thoughtful. Almost like they think developers have brains.
ACP Registry: Because One Editor Is Never Enough
Then came the January 28th announcement about the ACP (Agent Client Protocol) Registry going live. This might sound like alphabet soup, but here's the play: you can now register an agent once and have it work across Zed, JetBrains IDEs, and any other ACP-compatible editor.
Image credit: Zed Industries
This is the kind of developer experience that makes you wonder why nobody did it sooner. The ACP Registry essentially treats AI agents like plugins—write once, run everywhere. No more rebuilding the same agent integration for every editor that catches your eye. It's interoperability done right, and it's exactly the kind of boring-yet-crucial infrastructure that actually moves the industry forward.
The Bigger Picture: Why Zed's Approach Feels Different
Here's what's interesting about Zed's recent moves. While other AI-native editors are busy shouting about how many AI features they can cram into your face, Zed seems to be taking a different tack. They're building infrastructure that lets you control your AI experience, not drown in it.
The ACP Registry isn't about trapping you in Zed's ecosystem—it's about making it easy to leave while still getting value. The multi-provider support isn't about pushing you toward Zed's preferred AI partner—it's about acknowledging that different models work better for different workflows. It's almost... suspiciously user-centric.
Image credit: Zed Industries
Performance Still Their Ace in the Hole
Let's not forget that underneath all this AI wizardry, Zed is still the same Rust-powered beast that makes other editors feel like they're running through molasses. The company reported 74,667 GitHub stars and performance metrics that would make any Electron-based editor weep: 10x faster startup than VS Code, 5x lower memory usage, and rendering at 120fps while everyone else is struggling to hit 60.
Speed matters when you're living in your AI-enhanced editor all day. A sluggish AI suggestion feels like a punchline to a joke nobody told. Zed's architecture means even with all these new AI integrations, the editor itself stays snappy. It's the kind of performance that makes you resent every other editor you've ever used.
The Takeaway
Zed's recent announcements aren't flashy—they're foundational. The multi-provider support and ACP Registry represent a mature approach to AI tooling that's less about hype and more about giving developers actual control over their workflow. It's the kind of boring infrastructure that actually matters.
VS Code still has the ecosystem advantage, and Cursor has mindshare. But Zed is quietly building something that could be far more durable: an editor that doesn't just integrate AI, but gives you the tools to make AI work for you, not the other way around.
Sometimes the most revolutionary moves are the ones that don't look revolutionary at all. Zed's recent drops might be exactly that—the unspectacular plumbing that makes everything else possible. The question isn't whether Zed can compete with the big players anymore. It's whether the big players can pivot fast enough to match Zed's fundamentally different approach.
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