Zed is an exciting new code editor with a focus on performance that recently released a Windows version (joining the already existing Linux and MacOS versions). Today we are going to look at the process of fully configuring the Zed editor to be an ideal code editor for Godot developers, step by step.
First off, you obviously need to download Zed for you operating system of choice, then install it.
Once you have Zed installed, install the GDScript extension. You can install it directly from this website by choosing Install in Zed.
The next step is only needed on Windows! You need to install ncat, an open source networking protocol. The easiest way to do this is via the NMap project. Download the latest stable release for Windows self installer and install it. If prompted to add to system path, make sure you do so. You may need to reboot at this point, at the very least you will need to restarted any command line terminals you have open. Now test by opening up a command prompt and typing “ncat”. Any result other than “‘ncat’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.” and you are good to go! Remember, MacOS and Linux both already have ncat installed and do not need to perform this step.
Now you can configure the location of Zed in the Godot Editor. In Godot, go to the Editor menu and select Editor Settings. Next locate the Text Editor->External section in the left hand panel. Configure the following settings:
If you are having difficulty locating Zed.exe, right click the shortcut in the Start Menu and choose Locate File Location. If the located file location is a shortcut, you will have to perform this step again. This will open it in Explorer and you should be able to copy the file path into the Exec Path and simply add \Zed.exe to the end.
Another option that may work for locating the Zed install (on Windows, Mac and Linux) is open a terminal or Command Prompt and type
which zed
The results should look something like this:
Now that you have configured these settings, clicking any GDScript file should automatically open your project in Zed.
Now if you want to debug your program from Zed directly, there is one last step to perform. In you Godot project root, create a new folder called .Zed then inside that folder create a file called Launch.json. Inside this JSON file, enter the following code:
[
{
"adapter": "godot",
"label": "Godot (Launch)",
"request": "launch"
},
{
"adapter": "godot",
"label": "Godot (Attach)",
"request": "attach"
}
]
You should now be able to launch and debug your Godot game directly inside Zed. Simply choose Run->Start Debugger or hit F4. Please note that Zed makes use of the Godot Langauge Server for code completion and analysis, so it requires that Godot be open to function properly! You can learn more about the process and see Godot and Zed working together in the video below.
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