Google and Zed Industries have announced the launch of the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) — a new standard designed to integrate AI agents with code editors. The initiative seeks to free developers from the de facto dependence on Microsoft’s VS Code, which today serves as the primary environment for most AI-driven tools.
According to the project’s authors, each current “agent–editor” pairing requires manual integration, hindering ecosystem growth. As the protocol overview notes: “Interoperability is not the norm, and every new combination demands bespoke effort.”
At present, VS Code dominates the IDE market, aggressively promoting its AI capabilities through GitHub Copilot. Some competitors have attempted to fork VS Code to embed their own solutions, but this remains only a workaround, as Microsoft retains full control of the extension marketplace.
ACP introduces a standardized channel for communication between agents and editors. The editor launches agent processes, with data exchanged via JSON-RPC over standard input/output streams. The protocol partially draws on Model Context Protocol (MCP) specifications and employs Markdown for text formatting. ACP libraries are already available in TypeScript and Rust.
According to Zed’s blog, the project was initiated by the Google Gemini CLI team, which sought deeper integration with the Zed editor. At present, ACP supports only Zed (alongside an extension for Neovim), with the reference implementation being the open-source Gemini CLI.
Zed co-founder Nathan Sobo observed that ACP could follow the trajectory of the Language Server Protocol (LSP) — created by Microsoft and now a universal standard for IDE intelligence — but this time applied to AI agents: “ACP creates space for an entire ecosystem of agents.”
Google emphasizes its “bring your own IDE” philosophy, meaning developers should have the freedom of choice rather than being tethered to a single product. Integration with Zed transforms Gemini CLI into a fully fledged visual agent.
The appeal of CLI-based agents, such as Anthropic’s Claude Code, lies in their ability to operate across any environment. If widely adopted, ACP could merge the universality of CLI workflows with the convenience of native IDE integration.
Microsoft, however, has little incentive to embrace ACP. VS Code remains the must-have platform for virtually all agents. While Google already offers a Gemini CLI Companion extension for VS Code and Anthropic provides Claude Code, Microsoft’s willingness to support ACP may ultimately serve as a litmus test of its commitment to genuine open-source principles.
