Zed
Give Zed's agent the DebugAI tools with one command, or one entry in your Zed settings.
Zed's agent gets the three DebugAI tools: lookup_error, debug_error and report_outcome. You need Node.js 18.14.1 or later. node -v prints your version.
If your Zed settings have comments
The entry goes into Zed's main settings.json. install keeps every setting in it but drops comments, because JSON has nowhere to put them. The backup it writes first still has them. Run npx -y @debugai/mcp install --client=zed --dry-run to see the change first, or paste the entry from the config it writes in by hand to keep your comments.
Run setup
npx -y @debugai/mcp setupIt signs you in through your browser with a short code (free account, 10 debugs a day, no card). Then it adds DebugAI to every MCP client it finds on this machine, Zed included, and finishes by running doctor to check the result.
To change Zed's config and nothing else:
npx -y @debugai/mcp login
npx -y @debugai/mcp install --client=zedLet Zed reload
Nothing to restart. Zed reloads its settings when the file is saved, and debugai appears in the agent panel.
Check it works
Run npx -y @debugai/mcp doctor. Under MCP clients you want this line:
✓ Zed — debugai configuredThen hand Zed's agent an error and ask for the lookup by name:
Use the debugai lookup_error tool on this error: TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'name')lookup_error makes no model call and does not count against your daily limit, so this check is free.
You'll know it worked when
The agent calls lookup_error and gets back a line like Not seen before in this project (shop). Call debug_error with the full error for an analysis. The name in brackets is your project's folder.
The config it writes
Zed takes a different key from the other clients, context_servers, and a nested command:
~/.config/zed/settings.jsonOr under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME when that is set.
{
"context_servers": {
"debugai": {
"source": "custom",
"command": { "path": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@debugai/mcp@latest"] }
}
}
}- Your key is never written into this file. It lives in
~/.debugai/config.jsonwith0600permissions, and every MCP client on the machine reads it from there. If you add the entry by hand, runnpx -y @debugai/mcp loginonce to store it. - Before changing the file,
installsaves a copy beside it, namedsettings.json.debugai-backup-<timestamp>. Every other setting in the file is kept. npx -y @debugai/mcp uninstalltakes the entry out of every client config again.
Next
- Work with your agent: the lookup, debug and report loop, and how to point an answer at the right project.
- MCP server troubleshooting:
doctoroutput, sign-in from inside a chat, and the errors an agent can get back.