Google and code editor company Zed Industries have introduced the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) as a standard way for AI agents to integrate with an IDE, with the idea that this will prevent developers getting locked into VS Code.

"AI coding agents and editors are tightly coupled but interoperability isn't the default," states the [1]overview for the new protocol, complaining that "every new agent-editor combination requires custom work."

Microsoft's VS Code is the most popular programmer's editor and IDE, and the company has loaded it with AI features, many of which are specific to GitHub Copilot. Some AI competitors have forked VS Code in order to integrate smoothly with their own offerings, but it is not an ideal solution, particularly as Microsoft controls the VS Code marketplace for extensions.

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ACP, which is still under development, is a standardized protocol for agent-editor communication. Agent processes are started by the code editor and communicate using JSON-RPC over stdio (standard input/output). ACP reuses MCP (Model Context Protocol) specifications where possible, while also adding its own custom types. Formatted text is based on Markdown.

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Libraries that implement ACP are provided for both TypeScript and Rust.

According to a [5]post by Zed CEO and co-founder Nathan Sobo, the ACP project was initiated by Google, whose Gemini command-line interface (CLI) team were using Zed and wanted deeper integration. The consequence is that Zed is currently the only editor with immediate support, though there is also an extension for Neovim. The only ACP agent is Gemini CLI, which is the current reference implementation. This feature in Gemini CLI, which is open source, was originally called [6]Zed integration schema upgrade .

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[8]Google kneecaps indie Android devs, forces them to register

[9]Everything is 'different on Windows': Zed port delays highlight dev friction

[10]Microsoft makes MCP in Visual Studio GA but researchers warn of risks

Sobo said ACP could have a similar impact to the Language Server Protocol, developed by Microsoft as a standard for smart editor features for programming languages, but for AI agents. "ACP creates space for an ecosystem of agents," he said.

A Google statement said that "our 'bring your own IDE' philosophy is about providing choice, not locking users into a single environment." The integration with Zed, the company said, works to turn Gemini CLI into a visual agent.

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Part of the appeal of agents with a CLI, which includes Anthropic's popular Claude Code, is that developers can use them with any IDE. If widely adopted, ACP could offer both CLI-based and integrated IDE features without tying developers to any specific IDE.

VS Code is already the editor that every agent has to support. Google has a [12]Gemini CLI Companion for VS Code, and Anthropic has a [13]Claude Code extension . Microsoft therefore has the least incentive to support ACP, though this might, perhaps, be a test of the company's open source commitment.®

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[1] https://agentclientprotocol.com/overview/introduction

[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aLB9GdyrcYQB0dTHxTf1lwAAAJU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

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[5] https://zed.dev/blog/bring-your-own-agent-to-zed

[6] https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/pull/5536

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/27/bun_js_toolkit_adds_mysql/

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/26/android_developer_verification_sideloading/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/22/everything_is_different_on_windows/

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/21/microsoft_makes_mcp_generally_available/

[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aLB9GdyrcYQB0dTHxTf1lwAAAJU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[12] https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Google.gemini-cli-vscode-ide-companion

[13] https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=anthropic.claude-code

[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/