Zed Agent

Zed ships with a built-in OpenAI-compatible provider type. Declare the endpoint, models and context lengths in settings.json and the Agent Panel can use the models aicentos offers.

PrerequisitesCopy anchor link

First create a dedicated key for Zed on the console's "API Keys" page (naming it zed-agent is recommended).

• Console: https://aicentos.com
• Create a key: https://aicentos.com/keys
• Wallet top-up: https://aicentos.com/wallet

Zed does not read the API Key from settings.json; it reads an environment variable derived from the provider ID: the ID is converted to upper snake case with an _API_KEY suffix. So with the provider ID set to aicentos, the environment variable name is AICENTOS_API_KEY.

Configuration to fill inCopy anchor link

Setup stepsCopy anchor link

• Open Zed's settings.json (run zed: open settings from the command palette).
• Add the language_models.openai_compatible configuration:

{
  "language_models": {
    "openai_compatible": {
      "aicentos": {
        "api_url": "https://aicentos.com/v1",
        "available_models": [
          {
            "name": "gpt-5",
            "display_name": "GPT-5 (aicentos)",
            "max_tokens": 128000,
            "max_output_tokens": 16384,
            "capabilities": {
              "tools": true,
              "images": false,
              "chat_completions": true
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

• Export the environment variable (add it to ~/.zshrc and reload the shell):

export AICENTOS_API_KEY="sk-your-aicentos-key"

• Open the Agent Panel and pick a model under that provider in the model dropdown.

You can also click Add Provider in the Agent settings and fill in the provider name, API URL, model ID and context window through the graphical interface.

TestCopy anchor link

Once configured, start a new conversation in the Agent Panel and try a lightweight test with a simple prompt first; only rely on tool calls once responses come back normally.

NotesCopy anchor link

• api_url should only go up to https://aicentos.com/v1; do not append the full /chat/completions path — Zed assembles it itself.
• The API Key must not be written directly into settings.json; use an environment variable (or store it in the system keychain via the provider settings UI). A non-empty environment variable takes precedence over the keychain.
• max_tokens is the context window; set it to the model's actual value. Leaving it out breaks context management.
• Tool calling is enabled by default (capabilities.tools); image input and parallel tool calls are off by default — enable them manually if needed.
• Official documentation: https://zed.dev/docs/ai/llm-providers
• See the docs site for more details: https://docs.aicentos.com