Why develop this when the core editor is almost unusable? On Linux wayland, copypaste is broken, the file manager is laggy and snippets do not trigger before the heavy hint logic is done. This is just on top of my head, the list is long
I started using Zed a couple weeks ago and immediately had issues with copy/paste/buffer on an M1 Mac. I tried a few suggested fixes and they didn't work.
There are a lot of subtle bugs. I'm on macOS too, but perhaps my workflow is unusual? Every time I open it, I find small bugs. There are so many features that it's hard to maintain them, I guess.
For example, a lot of disable buttons do not actually disable stuff. They just hide it from the UI.
It still doesn't actually display a window my end until I press a keyboard key or move the mouse. So very often I sit and wait for it to open, only to realize I have to press a random key for it to unhide.
That's something I've never encountered on Linux/KDE/Wayland/Flatpak across Debian Trixie, Arch, and Fedora. Might be worth nuking your local Zed files and trying again.
Just installed it, works on my kde and niri setups (I logged out and switched to each), copy paste works as well. File manager laggi-ness I didn't notice I don't use it, I use it mostly to type stuff out.
I have never used snippets so unsure about that too, going from command bar seemed to work.
I think it might be bad, but could also be it's not correctly configured maybe try asking codex/claude or something to check if it can fix/fine tune the config, if that doesn't work file issues?
I do suspect it might be working for me cause I got lucky I do see an open issue[1], but given Zed is used a bunch the lack of comments does suggest maybe it's not that wide spread either way not a good look.
I had to stop using Zed because of this issue (which persists despite being closed): <a href="https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/38109" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/38109
I can't use an editor where the file contents I'm being shown don't match the reality of the file. I guess this issue doesn't affect most people somehow, but in the age of CLI agents I'm not sure how more people aren't running into it.
I was really enjoying Zed for a short while before I ran into this fundamental issue.
All I can say is it's the only editor I've ever used with this type of issue and unfortunately it's a deal breaker for me. I can get by with any other editor even if they aren't my favorite, but only Zed made me realize that the most important thing an editor can do for me is accurately show me files.
Have you checked your fs.inotify.max_user_watches value? Maybe your value is too low and Zed can't watch the files that are changing. I know the JetBrains IDEs need the default to be increased on Linux because they detected it and prompted me to increase it.
Even if that's the case, max_user_watches is never less than 8k unless you've set it lower for some reason. If the editor is prioritizing currently open files as it should, there should basically never be a problem even if project sync suffers.
The limit is per-user, not per-editor. Every process under your UID shares the same max_user_watches pool. So the editor's "prioritize open files" behavior can't help when a resident daemon like Watchman has already consumed the budget. Zed doesn't error out when it hits the watch limit. It logs a warning and periodically retries to establish the watch. Until it can do so, external file changes aren't reflected in the editor.
I just checked my workstation and found Watchman alone holds ~556K watches across 34 roots. It keeps those watches even after the tool that spawned it disconnects. Notably, I've never invoked Watchman manually -- other tools do. And the 8k floor isn't much of a floor. My nixpkgs checkout alone is 37,686 directories, 4.6x that.
Truthfully, I had no idea Watchman stays resident and accumulates watched roots. But, that's kind of the point. It's a very easy thing to miss.
Are you editing outside Zed? That’s the only time I see this issue.
Eg Pi has its own tools for editing files and ignores the ones Zed sends over ACP. If I used Zeds AI pane to have Pi change a file, I can see the edits in the ACP window but the editor view doesn’t update.
I end up having to use something from the command palette to force refresh it, something like “Editor: Reload File”.
It happens to me across Windows, OSX, native ArchLinux and ArchLinux via WSL.
I'm pretty sure I also ran into this very recently in linux wayland while working with symlinked files. It would show an empty file or show the old content if you recreate the symlink or modify the file externally
"Almost unusable"? Slight hyperbole don't you think? I initially tried the Flatpak version on Fedora 44 and had a few minor problems, but since switching to the terra repos version (terrapkg.com) I've had zero issues, Have you tried that?
For me, its a massive improvement over IntelliJ for my daily workflow.
This is surprising to hear. I have Zed on my tablet as IntelliJ (PyCharm/RustRover) turn it into a space heater. Zed's introspection/refactoring/general language knowledge etc isn't on the same tier at JB; it's closer to VsCode in that regard. I.e., I'd classify Zed as a project-based editor, while JB is an IDE.
I have been using Zed for about a year now on Debian 12 / Wayland and it works flawlessly. Even with Toshy (macOS) keybindings. I have it installed now on my Framework 13 Pro (also Fedora 44, and also with Toshy) and it works great aside from a subtle (100ms?) lag when using ctrl+arrow-key. Otherwise it is great.
The only thing that doesn't work well is inertial scrolling[0]. But scrolling is a fucking shit show on Linux no matter what... so I don't necessarily fault Zed for this. The same issue occurs in other apps.
Im on nixos and tried all immediate flavours of zed: stable, unstable and nightly. Nightly seems to be most stable and every time i pull the flake, i prey for more bugs to be fixed. Sometimes it works
Agree, copy-paste feels like it works 80% of the time, which is maddening when 1 in 5 copy paste attempts fail. (mostly from zed to something else) Why??
At least Excel has the courtesy to telling you "Hey the copy-paste buffer said it didn't catch that, can you try again?"
I've been using this "almost unusable" editor daily on both Linux and Mac for the past year and now experience no issues. while I still have JetBrains I haven't used it at all in at least six months.
Thankfully it's been working well for me when i use it, which tbh hasn't been that much lately since I'm getting an agent to write code for me more and more.
One thing they need to add is a way to double click on file names in agent output to navigate to it. It works in the bottom terminal but not the agent terminal panes or built in agents
lucky you, but here's the issue (note: there have been at least 3 issues before this one) <a href="https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/58651" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/58651 crossing fingers it's solved for real now. i only use wayland on my laptop where it seems to be fixed, my go-to machine is with Xorg where there's no copy-paste problems
I'm on macOS, but the core editor is far from unusable. I think it's unfair to call it that.
Zed is my daily driver and I'm pretty happy with it. I often switch over to other editors to do things Zed can't, but it's rarer than you'd think and really isn't that much of a hassle.
yza · · focus · HN ↗
Pavilion2095 · · focus · HN ↗
dylanz · · focus · HN ↗
Petersipoi · · focus · HN ↗
Shit, as someone who uses Zed everyday, I didn't realize what I am using is unusable.
yza · · focus · HN ↗
mosburger · · focus · HN ↗
f311a · · focus · HN ↗
For example, a lot of disable buttons do not actually disable stuff. They just hide it from the UI.
yza · · focus · HN ↗
Daunk · · focus · HN ↗
Terrible Linux support.
MrDrMcCoy · · focus · HN ↗
minraws · · focus · HN ↗
I have never used snippets so unsure about that too, going from command bar seemed to work.
I think it might be bad, but could also be it's not correctly configured maybe try asking codex/claude or something to check if it can fix/fine tune the config, if that doesn't work file issues?
I do suspect it might be working for me cause I got lucky I do see an open issue[1], but given Zed is used a bunch the lack of comments does suggest maybe it's not that wide spread either way not a good look.
[1]: <a href="https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/47004" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/47004
Maybe I got lucky?? Does it not auto update on linux maybe I am on an old build... Very suspicious.
yza · · focus · HN ↗
MrDrMcCoy · · focus · HN ↗
JaggedJax · · focus · HN ↗
I can't use an editor where the file contents I'm being shown don't match the reality of the file. I guess this issue doesn't affect most people somehow, but in the age of CLI agents I'm not sure how more people aren't running into it.
I was really enjoying Zed for a short while before I ran into this fundamental issue.
honeycrispy · · focus · HN ↗
JaggedJax · · focus · HN ↗
nirvdrum · · focus · HN ↗
AlotOfReading · · focus · HN ↗
nirvdrum · · focus · HN ↗
I just checked my workstation and found Watchman alone holds ~556K watches across 34 roots. It keeps those watches even after the tool that spawned it disconnects. Notably, I've never invoked Watchman manually -- other tools do. And the 8k floor isn't much of a floor. My nixpkgs checkout alone is 37,686 directories, 4.6x that.
Truthfully, I had no idea Watchman stays resident and accumulates watched roots. But, that's kind of the point. It's a very easy thing to miss.
everforward · · focus · HN ↗
Eg Pi has its own tools for editing files and ignores the ones Zed sends over ACP. If I used Zeds AI pane to have Pi change a file, I can see the edits in the ACP window but the editor view doesn’t update.
I end up having to use something from the command palette to force refresh it, something like “Editor: Reload File”.
It happens to me across Windows, OSX, native ArchLinux and ArchLinux via WSL.
the__alchemist · · focus · HN ↗
puika · · focus · HN ↗
danmoz · · focus · HN ↗
For me, its a massive improvement over IntelliJ for my daily workflow.
mhaberl · · focus · HN ↗
Why?
I used Zed for about 6 months but I lost motivation.
I have the full jetbrains subscription and use it for some debugging etc. I got vim for quick edits and cli tooling for ai. I got no use case for Zed.
the__alchemist · · focus · HN ↗
whalesalad · · focus · HN ↗
The only thing that doesn't work well is inertial scrolling[0]. But scrolling is a fucking shit show on Linux no matter what... so I don't necessarily fault Zed for this. The same issue occurs in other apps.
- [0] <a href="https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/14473" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/14473
enraged_camel · · focus · HN ↗
That's a bit of a low bar. Perhaps that's the disconnect?
yza · · focus · HN ↗
NortySpock · · focus · HN ↗
At least Excel has the courtesy to telling you "Hey the copy-paste buffer said it didn't catch that, can you try again?"
Linux Wayland (Ubuntu 26.04)
adulion · · focus · HN ↗
throwatdem12311 · · focus · HN ↗
insane_dreamer · · focus · HN ↗
subarctic · · focus · HN ↗
One thing they need to add is a way to double click on file names in agent output to navigate to it. It works in the bottom terminal but not the agent terminal panes or built in agents
janilowski · · focus · HN ↗
yza · · focus · HN ↗
manlymuppet · · focus · HN ↗
Zed is my daily driver and I'm pretty happy with it. I often switch over to other editors to do things Zed can't, but it's rarer than you'd think and really isn't that much of a hassle.