# Skink vs Zed: Zed-style features in the terminal

> Zed is a fast GUI editor; Skink brings Zed-style features (LSP, tree-sitter, git, ACP agents, multi-cursor) into the terminal, where SSH just works.

Source: https://skink.cc/compare/zed/

Zed is a desktop GUI editor; it does not run inside a terminal. Skink is a terminal editor that borrows many of Zed's ideas: language servers and tree-sitter by default, multiple cursors, a project-wide refactor preview, git hunks, and AI agents over the Agent Client Protocol (ACP), which Zed introduced.

If you have a desktop and like Zed, keep using Zed. If you live in a terminal or work on servers over SSH, Skink is the terminal-native option.

## Who should pick Zed

- **A polished GUI.** Zed's GPU-rendered UI, font rendering, image previews and smooth scrolling are things a terminal app cannot match.
- **Real-time collaboration.** Shared projects, following a teammate's cursor, calls. Skink has nothing like that.
- **A mature debugger.** Zed's has more polish. Skink's built-in debugger is new.
- **Extensions.** Themes, languages, agent servers. Skink has no plugin system yet.
- **Maturity.** Skink is alpha.

## Who should pick Skink

- **You work inside a terminal:** tmux, a tiling setup, or plain SSH where there is no GUI at all.
- **Nothing to install locally.** Edit on a server with only an SSH client and a terminal on your side.
- **One binary everywhere.** The same editor on your laptop, a Raspberry Pi and a cloud VM.
- **Modeless editing and the mouse**, like in Zed, but in the terminal.

## Feature comparison

| | Skink | Zed |
|---|---|---|
| Runs in | Any terminal | Its own desktop window |
| Editing model | Modeless (Vim mode not planned) | Modeless, optional Vim and Helix modes |
| Mouse | Yes | Yes |
| LSP | Built in | Built in |
| tree-sitter | Built in | Built in |
| Multiple cursors | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-file refactor preview | Refactor preview with checkboxes | Multibuffers |
| Built-in terminal | Terminal tabs and dock | Terminal panel |
| AI agents | ACP client (Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex, ...) | Built-in agent plus ACP external agents |
| Collaboration | No | Yes |
| Debugger | Built in | Yes |
| Extensions | None yet | Yes |
| Remote work | Runs on the remote host over plain SSH | Remote development: local Zed app + headless server over SSH |
| Footprint | Small | Large (desktop app) |
| Maturity | Alpha | Mature |

## Remote work is the real difference

Zed's remote development keeps the UI on your machine and runs a headless Zed server on the remote host; the two talk over SSH. That works well when you have the Zed app locally.

It does not help when you are on a machine with only a terminal, a tablet with an SSH app, a jump host, or a container shell.

Skink takes the other route: it *is* the remote process. You SSH in and run `skink`. Language servers, git and terminals all run on the server, and only terminal output crosses the wire.

Copy uses OSC 52, so text lands on your local clipboard. See [SSH and remote editing](https://skink.cc/remote/ssh-remote-editing/).

## Zed ideas you will recognise

- **Agents over ACP.** Skink is an ACP client like Zed. Claude Code (through claude-code-acp), Gemini CLI, opencode, Goose, Antigravity and Codex are supported. Alt+Shift+A opens the agent panel with tool calls and the plan. Files the agent writes are staged and reviewed before they touch disk.
- **Inline AI edits.** Ctrl+G on a selection asks the agent to rewrite it. The answer shows as an inline diff you accept or reject per change.
- **Everything is a tab.** Files, terminals, diffs, search results and help share one tab bar.
- **Quick open and palette.** Alt+P (or `:recent`) for files, with `>` for commands and `@` for symbols. F1 opens the command palette.
- **Git.** Gutter hunks, stage or revert from an inline peek (Alt+Shift+D), inline blame, side-by-side diff.

### No multibuffers

Skink does not have multibuffers (editing excerpts from many files in one buffer). The closest equivalents are the refactor preview for multi-file changes and project search with `:greprep` for replace-in-files.

## Zed keys and their Skink equivalents

Zed's default keymap is close to VS Code's, and so is Skink's (via Micro). These do what you expect:

- Ctrl+S save, Ctrl+F find
- Ctrl+D add the next match as a cursor
- Ctrl+/ toggle comment
- Alt+↑ / ↓ move lines
- Ctrl+Shift+F search in all files

The differences:

| Action | Zed | Skink |
|---|---|---|
| File finder | Ctrl+P | Alt+P or `:recent` (Ctrl+P is find previous) |
| Command palette | Ctrl+Shift+P | F1 |
| Go to definition | F12 | Alt+G or `:def` |
| Terminal | Ctrl+` | F12 |

Rebind anything in `~/.config/skink/bindings.json`.

**Tip:**
Every Skink key also runs as a typed command: Ctrl+E, type the name, Enter. Handy when a terminal or window manager grabs a chord. See [typed commands](https://skink.cc/editing/typed-commands/).

## Try it

```sh
curl -fsSL https://skink.cc/install.sh | sh
skink .
```

Run it on the server you SSH into, or locally in your terminal. Also read [can you run Zed in the terminal?](https://skink.cc/articles/zed-in-the-terminal/)