Skink vs Zed: Zed-style features in the terminal
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
Section titled “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
Section titled “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
Section titled “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
Section titled “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.
Zed ideas you will recognise
Section titled “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
Section titled “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
Section titled “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.
Try it
Section titled “Try it”curl -fsSL https://skink.cc/install.sh | shskink .Run it on the server you SSH into, or locally in your terminal. Also read can you run Zed in the terminal?