title: AI Agents in Zed description: Compare Zed Agent, External Agents, and Terminal Threads.
Agents
Zed supports three agent paths. Choose the path based on how you want agentic work to run.
| Agent path | Runs in | Uses | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zed Agent | Agent Panel and Threads Sidebar | Zed-configured LLM providers, native tools, skills, instructions, MCP | You want Zed's native agent integration |
| External Agents | Agent Panel and Threads Sidebar | ACP agent process and its own auth/config | You want Claude, Codex, OpenCode, Copilot, Cursor, Pi, or another ACP-integrated agent |
| Terminal Threads | Threads Sidebar and terminal | Native CLI/TUI auth/config | You want the tool's command-line experience organized in Zed |
An agent path is sometimes called a harness. It is the way agentic work is started, displayed, configured, and controlled in Zed.
Agent Path vs. LLM Provider {#agent-path-vs-llm-provider}
| Question | Start here |
|---|---|
| Which agent or CLI should run the work? | This page |
| Which model should power Zed AI features? | LLM Providers |
The Zed Agent uses models configured in Zed. External Agents and Terminal Threads may use their own model setup.
Thread Types {#thread-types}
Threads are the units shown in the Threads Sidebar. Thread types include:
- Zed Agent threads
- External Agent threads
- Terminal Threads
Use Parallel Agents to run and manage multiple threads at once.