Environment Variables

This page lists environment variables that affect Zed's behavior.

Where Zed Gets Environment Variables

Launch Method	Environment Source
CLI (`zed .`)	Inherits from the shell session
Dock / Launcher / Window Manager	Spawns a login shell in home directory
Per-project	Spawns a login shell in the project directory

When launched via the CLI, Zed inherits environment variables from your shell. When launched from the Dock or a launcher, Zed spawns a login shell to obtain a base environment.

For project-specific environments (e.g., when using direnv, asdf, or mise), Zed spawns an additional login shell in the project directory and stores those variables for use in tasks, terminals, and language servers.

Environment Variable Reference

Variable	Purpose
`XDG_CONFIG_HOME`	On Linux, overrides the default config location (`~/.config/zed`)
`ZED_LOG_LEVEL`	Sets the log verbosity (`debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error`)
`ZED_BUNDLE`	When set, indicates Zed is running as a bundled app
`ZED_STATELESS`	When set, Zed won't persist window state between sessions
`ZED_ALWAYS_ACTIVE`	When set, Zed behaves as if it's always the active application
`http_proxy` / `HTTP_PROXY`	HTTP proxy URL for network requests
`https_proxy` / `HTTPS_PROXY`	HTTPS proxy URL for network requests
`no_proxy` / `NO_PROXY`	Comma-separated list of hosts to bypass proxy

Variables Set by Zed

Zed sets these variables in spawned processes (tasks, terminals, language servers):

Variable	Value
`ZED_TERM`	Set in the integrated terminal
`TERM`	Set to a terminal type in the integrated terminal
`EDITOR`	Set to `zed --wait` when appropriate
`VISUAL`	Set to `zed --wait` when appropriate

Usage in Tasks and Terminals

Environment variables from your project are available in:

Tasks: All task commands have access to the project environment
Terminal: The integrated terminal inherits project-specific variables
Language servers: Servers spawned for a project use that project's environment

{
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "echo env",
      "command": "echo $MY_PROJECT_VAR"
    }
  ]
}

Note: Environment handling changed in Zed 0.152.0. The CLI now always passes its environment to Zed, even when an instance is already running.