Claude Code: Now in Beta in Zed

I like Zed in concept. I like Zed in the architectural and foundational aspects. I want more tools like Zed to exist.

But, I find Zed challenging to adopt due to random nuances. First, settings management is a mixed bag and sometimes I just want a quick way to open the "settings.json" from the settings pane without fussing around. Then I'd like the "settings.json" to stay open (reopen) on a restart of Zed. Then I'd like the ability to use an LLM that doesn't have native tool calling support, which Zed seems to be the only app I've used that doesn't have a workaround. Then I'd like the UI to be a little easier to navigate as a new user, it feels a bit scattered and overwhelming at times.

I haven't used Zed much and I may give it another shot (soon), but it very much feels like a tool built by engineers for engineers... Which is great for power users, but seems not so great for new adopters.

I don't think the shortcomings are a blocker, but they are the reason I haven't adopted Zed. The shortcomings are just enough for me to take a step back and say "maybe I'll try again later".

I spent a while trying to set it up, as I share your general take on their ethos. Personally, I'm okay with a 'power user'-focused text editor, even! But the relative lack of syntax highlighting options got me to give up. Maybe I'm just spoiled from SublimeText's dope, complex, extensible system for specifying "contexts" in themes, but Zed was just nowhere near enough for me.

The keybinding system is also nuts if you turn on Vim mode, but I think I'd eventually get used to that. But functions need to be a different color than arguments, which need to be a different color than local variables... Just non-negotiable.

I look forward to trying it again sometime soon! The AI features seem rad, this included.