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Opening Files and Projects

The Zed CLI provides flexible options for opening files and directories, controlling how they are added to workspaces, and managing multiple windows.

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Basic File Opening

Open a single file: 
zed myfile.txt
Open multiple files: 
zed file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt

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Opening Directories

Open a directory as a workspace: 
zed ~/projects/myproject
Open multiple directories: 
zed ~/projects/project1 ~/projects/project2
Each directory opens in its own workspace unless you use workspace management flags.

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Line and Column Positioning

Open a file at a specific line: 
zed myfile.txt:42
Open a file at a specific line and column: 
zed myfile.txt:42:10
The line and column numbers are 1-based. This syntax is parsed using the PathWithPosition format and works with:
  • Absolute paths: /home/user/file.txt:10:5
  • Relative paths: src/main.rs:42
  • Paths that don’t exist yet: newfile.txt:1
When opening non-existent paths, Zed will canonicalize the existing portion of the path and append the non-existing part.

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Workspace Management

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New Window (-n, --new)

Create a new workspace window, even if the paths are already open: 
zed -n ~/projects/myproject
This is useful when you want to work on the same project in multiple windows with different file selections.

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Add to Current Workspace (-a, --add)

Add paths to the currently focused workspace: 
zed -a newfile.txt
zed -a ../other-project
When multiple workspace windows are open, files are added to the focused window. This is ideal for expanding your current workspace without opening new windows.

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Reuse Window (-r, --reuse)

Replace the current workspace with new paths: 
zed -r ~/projects/different-project
This closes the current workspace and opens the new paths in the same window.

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Flag Interaction

The workspace management flags override each other:
  • --new, --add, and --reuse are mutually exclusive
  • The last specified flag takes precedence
  • Without any flag, Zed uses its default behavior (open in new window or reuse based on settings)

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Waiting for Closure (-w, --wait)

Wait for all opened files to be closed before the CLI exits: 
zed --wait commit-message.txt
Behavior:
  • For files: waits until all specified files are closed
  • For directories: waits until the created window is closed
  • Exit code reflects success of the editing session
This is essential for integrating Zed with tools that expect the editor to block: 
export EDITOR="zed --wait"
git commit  # Opens Zed and waits for you to save and close

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Reading from Standard Input

Read content from stdin: 
ps aux | zed -
cat myfile.txt | zed -
echo "Quick note" | zed -
The - argument must be the only path argument. Zed creates a temporary file with the stdin content and opens it.

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Anonymous File Descriptors

On Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD, Zed supports reading from anonymous file descriptors: Linux: 
zed /proc/self/fd/3 3< <(echo "data")
Zed detects memfd: anonymous files. macOS and FreeBSD: 
zed /dev/fd/3 3< <(echo "data")
Zed detects FIFO and socket file types.

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URL Opening

Open URLs directly: 
zed zed://settings
zed https://github.com/zed-industries/zed
zed file:///home/user/document.txt
zed ssh://server/path/to/file
Supported URL schemes:
  • zed:// - Zed-specific URLs
  • http:// and https:// - Web URLs
  • file:// - Local file URLs
  • ssh:// - SSH remote paths

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Windows: WSL Integration

On Windows, the CLI automatically handles paths from WSL distributions. When launching Zed from within WSL, paths are converted to file:// URLs with the WSL path resolved. The --wsl flag is used internally and should not be set manually.

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Custom User Data Directory

Open files with a custom data directory: 
zed --user-data-dir ~/.zed-custom myfile.txt
This affects where Zed stores:
  • Database
  • Extensions
  • Logs
  • Settings
Default locations:
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Zed
  • Linux: $XDG_DATA_HOME/zed (typically ~/.local/share/zed)
  • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Zed

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Foreground Mode

Run Zed in the foreground, keeping the terminal attached: 
zed --foreground myfile.txt
This is useful for:
  • Debugging startup issues
  • Viewing log output in real-time
  • Running Zed in a terminal-based workflow

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Custom Zed Binary

Specify a custom path to the Zed application or binary: 
zed --zed /path/to/Zed.app myfile.txt
This allows you to:
  • Use a development build
  • Run multiple Zed versions
  • Use a custom installation location

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Examples

Edit a Git commit message: 
export EDITOR="zed --wait"
git commit
Open a project in a new window: 
zed -n ~/projects/myproject
Add a file to the current workspace: 
zed -a src/new_module.rs
Open a file at a specific location: 
zed src/main.rs:42:10
Pipe command output to Zed: 
curl https://example.com | zed -

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See Also