Zed Lite

Zed Lite is a trimmed build of Zed focused on local editing, Git workflows, terminal usage, language/theme extension support, and lightweight previews.

This repository intentionally removes the cloud, AI, collaboration, remote development, debugger, onboarding, update-channel, and multi-product release paths from upstream Zed. The product identity is fixed as Zed Lite.

Scope

Kept:

• Core editor, buffers, panes, search, command palette, settings, keymaps, Vim mode, snippets, diagnostics, LSP, and language tooling.
• Git integration and Git UI.
• Integrated terminal.
• Language and theme extension runtime.
• Preview UI for Markdown, CSV, SVG, and images.
• Multi-platform packaging for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Removed:

• AI assistants, model providers, edit prediction, agents, and web search.
• Login, cloud API, collaboration, calls, channels, and sharing.
• Remote development, SSH/WSL/dev containers, remote server, and REPL/notebooks.
• Debug adapter UI and debugger support.
• Auto-update, multi-channel release logic, and old release workflows.

Build

Use the lite feature set explicitly:

cargo check -p zed --no-default-features --features zed/lite
cargo build -p zed --no-default-features --features zed/lite

The CLI has a matching lite feature:

cargo build --no-default-features --features zed/lite,cli/lite --package zed --package cli

Package

Packaging scripts always build Zed Lite. There are no dev, nightly, preview, or stable variants.

./script/bundle-linux
./script/bundle-mac aarch64-apple-darwin
./script/bundle-mac x86_64-apple-darwin
pwsh script/bundle-windows.ps1 -Architecture x86_64

Generated artifacts use lite names:

• target/release/zed-lite-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
• target/aarch64-apple-darwin/release/Zed-Lite-aarch64.dmg
• target/x86_64-apple-darwin/release/Zed-Lite-x86_64.dmg
• target/zed-lite-windows-x86_64.zip

Repository Notes

• AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, and GEMINI.md point to .rules.
• Root rules should describe the lite fork, not upstream Zed release process.
• Do not reintroduce removed cloud, AI, collaboration, remote, debugger, or multi-channel release modules unless explicitly requested.

License

Zed Lite keeps the upstream licensing model: GPL-3.0-or-later for the main application, with Apache-2.0 components where marked. Third-party dependency license data is generated through the existing license scripts.