Tools

Zed's built-in agent has access to a variety of tools that allow it to interact with your codebase and perform tasks.

Read & Search Tools

diagnostics

Gets errors and warnings for either a specific file or the entire project.

When a path is provided, shows all diagnostics for that specific file. When no path is provided, shows a summary of error and warning counts for all files in the project.

fetch

Fetches a URL and returns the content as Markdown. Useful for providing docs as context.

find_path

Quickly finds files by matching glob patterns (like "*/.js"), returning matching file paths alphabetically.

grep

Searches file contents across the project using regular expressions, preferred for finding symbols in code without knowing exact file paths.

list_directory

Lists files and directories in a given path, providing an overview of filesystem contents.

now

Returns the current date and time.

open

Opens a file or URL with the default application associated with it on the user's operating system.

read_file

Reads the content of a specified file in the project.

This tool supports two primary ways of reading text:

• Line range mode (best when you already have line numbers, e.g. from an outline):
  • Provide start_line and/or end_line (1-based, inclusive end).
• Byte window mode (best for paging efficiently and avoiding repeated small reads):
  • Provide start_byte (0-based) and/or max_bytes.
  • The returned content is rounded to whole line boundaries so it doesn’t start or end mid-line.

For large files, calling read_file without a range may return a file outline with line numbers instead of full content. To read large files efficiently without line-number paging, use byte window mode.

Byte window paging recommendations

• Prefer setting a larger max_bytes when you expect to read multiple adjacent sections, to reduce tool calls and avoid rate limiting.
• Use start_byte to page forward/backward deterministically.

When using byte window mode, the output includes a small header describing the effective returned window (requested/rounded/returned byte ranges and line ranges). Use the returned byte range to pick the next start_byte for continued paging.

thinking

Allows the Agent to work through problems, brainstorm ideas, or plan without executing actions, useful for complex problem-solving.

web_search

Searches the web for information, providing results with snippets and links from relevant web pages, useful for accessing real-time information.

Edit Tools

copy_path

Copies a file or directory recursively in the project, more efficient than manually reading and writing files when duplicating content.

create_directory

Creates a new directory at the specified path within the project, creating all necessary parent directories (similar to mkdir -p).

delete_path

Deletes a file or directory (including contents recursively) at the specified path and confirms the deletion.

edit_file

Edits files by replacing specific text with new content.

move_path

Moves or renames a file or directory in the project, performing a rename if only the filename differs.

terminal

Executes shell commands and returns the combined output, creating a new shell process for each invocation.