---
title: Agent Server Extensions
description: "Agent Server Extensions for Zed extensions."
---

# Agent Server Extensions

<div class="warning">

Note that starting from `v0.221`.x, [the ACP Registry](https://agentclientprotocol.com/registry) is the preferred way to install external agents in Zed.
You can learn more about it in [the release blog post](https://zed.dev/blog/acp-registry)

At some point in the near future, Agent Server extensions will be deprecated.

</div>

Agent Servers are programs that provide AI agent implementations through the [Agent Client Protocol (ACP)](https://agentclientprotocol.com).
Agent Server Extensions let you package an Agent Server so users can install the extension and use your agent in Zed.

You can see the current Agent Server extensions either by opening the Extensions tab in Zed (execute the {#action zed::Extensions} command) and changing the filter from `All` to `Agent Servers`, or by visiting [the Zed website](https://zed.dev/extensions?filter=agent-servers).

## Defining Agent Server Extensions

An extension can register one or more agent servers in the `extension.toml`:

```toml
[agent_servers.my-agent]
name = "My Agent"

[agent_servers.my-agent.targets.darwin-aarch64]
archive = "https://github.com/owner/repo/releases/download/v1.0.0/agent-darwin-arm64.tar.gz"
cmd = "./agent"
args = ["--serve"]

[agent_servers.my-agent.targets.linux-x86_64]
archive = "https://github.com/owner/repo/releases/download/v1.0.0/agent-linux-x64.tar.gz"
cmd = "./agent"
args = ["--serve"]

[agent_servers.my-agent.targets.windows-x86_64]
archive = "https://github.com/owner/repo/releases/download/v1.0.0/agent-windows-x64.zip"
cmd = "./agent.exe"
args = ["--serve"]
```

### Required Fields

- `name`: A human-readable display name for the agent server (shown in menus)
- `targets`: Platform-specific configurations for downloading and running the agent

### Target Configuration

Each target key uses the format `{os}-{arch}` where:

- **os**: `darwin` (macOS), `linux`, or `windows`
- **arch**: `aarch64` (ARM64) or `x86_64`

Each target must specify:

- `archive`: URL to download the archive from (supports `.tar.gz`, `.zip`, etc.)
- `cmd`: Command to run the agent server (relative to the extracted archive)
- `args`: Command-line arguments to pass to the agent server (optional)
- `sha256`: SHA-256 hash string of the archive's bytes (optional, but recommended for security)
- `env`: Environment variables specific to this target (optional, overrides agent-level env vars with the same name)

### Optional Fields

You can also optionally specify at the agent server level:

- `env`: Environment variables to set in the agent's spawned process. These apply to all targets by default.
- `icon`: Path to an SVG icon (relative to extension root) for display in menus.

### Environment Variables

Environment variables can be configured at two levels:

1. **Agent-level** (`[agent_servers.my-agent.env]`): Variables that apply to all platforms
2. **Target-level** (`[agent_servers.my-agent.targets.{platform}.env]`): Variables specific to a platform

When both are specified, target-level environment variables override agent-level variables with the same name. Variables defined only at the agent level are inherited by all targets.

### Complete Example

Here's a more complete example with all optional fields:

```toml
[agent_servers.example-agent]
name = "Example Agent"
icon = "icon/agent.svg"

[agent_servers.example-agent.env]
AGENT_LOG_LEVEL = "info"
AGENT_MODE = "production"

[agent_servers.example-agent.targets.darwin-aarch64]
archive = "https://github.com/example/agent/releases/download/v2.0.0/agent-darwin-arm64.tar.gz"
cmd = "./bin/agent"
args = ["serve", "--port", "8080"]
sha256 = "abc123def456..."

[agent_servers.example-agent.targets.linux-x86_64]
archive = "https://github.com/example/agent/releases/download/v2.0.0/agent-linux-x64.tar.gz"
cmd = "./bin/agent"
args = ["serve", "--port", "8080"]
sha256 = "def456abc123..."

[agent_servers.example-agent.targets.linux-x86_64.env]
AGENT_MEMORY_LIMIT = "2GB"  # Linux-specific override
```

## Installation Process

When a user installs your extension and selects the agent server:

1. Zed downloads the appropriate archive for the user's platform
2. The archive is extracted to a cache directory
3. Zed launches the agent using the specified command and arguments
4. Environment variables are set as configured
5. The agent server runs in the background, ready to assist the user

Archives are cached locally, so subsequent launches are fast.

## Distribution Best Practices

### Use GitHub Releases

GitHub Releases are a reliable way to distribute agent server binaries:

1. Build your agent for each platform (macOS ARM64, macOS x86_64, Linux x86_64, Windows x86_64)
2. Package each build as a compressed archive (`.tar.gz` or `.zip`)
3. Create a GitHub release and upload the archives
4. Use the release URLs in your `extension.toml`

## SHA-256 Hashes

For better supply-chain security, include SHA-256 hashes of your archives in `extension.toml`. Here's how to generate one:

### macOS and Linux

```bash
shasum -a 256 agent-darwin-arm64.tar.gz
```

### Windows

```bash
certutil -hashfile agent-windows-x64.zip SHA256
```

Then add that string to your target configuration:

```toml
[agent_servers.my-agent.targets.darwin-aarch64]
archive = "https://github.com/owner/repo/releases/download/v1.0.0/agent-darwin-arm64.tar.gz"
cmd = "./agent"
sha256 = "e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855"
```

## Testing

To test your Agent Server Extension:

1. [Install it as a dev extension](./developing-extensions.md#developing-an-extension-locally)
2. Open the [Agent Panel](../ai/agent-panel.md)
3. Select your Agent Server from the list
4. Verify that it downloads, installs, and launches correctly
5. Test its functionality by conversing with it and watching the [ACP logs](../ai/external-agents.md#debugging-agents)

## Icon Guideline

If your agent server has a logo, add it as an SVG icon.
For consistent rendering, follow these guidelines:

- Resize your SVG to fit a 16x16 bounding box with around one or two pixels of padding
- Keep the SVG markup clean by processing it through [SVGOMG](https://jakearchibald.github.io/svgomg/)
- Avoid gradients, which often increase SVG complexity and can render inconsistently

Note that we'll automatically convert your icon to monochrome to preserve Zed's design consistency.
(You can still use opacity in different paths of your SVG to add visual layering.)

## Publishing

Once your extension is ready, see [Publishing your extension](./developing-extensions.md#publishing-your-extension) to learn how to submit it to the Zed extension registry.
