IDE Integration (ACP)

jcode supports integration with IDEs through the Agent Client Protocol (ACP), allowing you to use the AI coding agent directly within your editor.

What Is ACP?

The Agent Client Protocol is a standard for connecting AI coding agents to editors and IDEs. When you run jcode acp, it starts a headless JSON-RPC server on stdio — no TUI, just protocol-level communication designed for programmatic integration.

Prerequisites

Make sure jcode is installed and in your PATH:

which jcode

If not in PATH, use the full path in the IDE configuration below.

Zed

Zed has native ACP support.

Add the following to Zed’s settings file (~/.config/zed/settings.json):

{
  "agent_servers": {
    "jcode": {
      "type": "custom",
      "command": "jcode",
      "args": ["acp"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Field	Description
type	Fixed value "custom"
command	Path to jcode binary. Use full path if not in PATH
args	["acp"] to start in ACP mode
env	Environment variables (usually empty)

After saving, you can create jcode sessions in Zed’s Agent panel.

JetBrains IDEs

JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ IDEA, GoLand, PyCharm, WebStorm, etc.) support ACP through the AI Chat plugin.

If you don’t have a JetBrains AI subscription, enable llm.enable.mock.response in the Registry to access the AI Chat feature. Press Shift twice and search for “Registry” to open it.

In the AI Chat panel menu, click “Configure ACP agents” and add:

{
  "agent_servers": {
    "jcode": {
      "command": "/usr/local/bin/jcode",
      "args": ["acp"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

command must be the full path to the jcode binary. Run which jcode in your terminal to find it.

After saving, select jcode in the AI Chat Agent selector.

VS Code / Cursor

VS Code and Cursor can integrate with jcode as an ACP agent. Add to your settings.json:

{
  "chat.agent.configs": [
    {
      "name": "jcode",
      "command": "jcode",
      "args": ["acp"]
    }
  ]
}

Or use the Command Palette → “Chat: Add Agent” to configure.

How It Works

When you start an ACP session through your IDE:

1. The IDE launches jcode acp as a subprocess
2. Communication happens over stdin/stdout using JSON-RPC
3. jcode provides all its built-in tools (file read/write, search, execute, etc.)
4. Tool calls and approvals are handled through the IDE’s agent UI
5. All MCP servers configured in ~/.jcode/config.json are available

The agent uses the same model configuration, skills, and tools as the terminal TUI — just with a different interface.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Agent not appearing	Verify jcode acp works from your terminal
Command not found	Use full path: which jcode to find it
Model errors	Run jcode doctor to verify API connectivity
No tools available	Check ~/.jcode/config.json for valid provider config