Agent Panel: Profiles, Model Support, MCP Servers, and Text Threads

Profiles act as a way to group tools. Zed offers three built-in profiles and you can create as many custom ones as you want. #### Built-in Profiles {#built-in-profiles} - `Write`: A profile with tools to allow the LLM to write to your files and run terminal commands. This one essentially has all built-in tools turned on. - `Ask`: A profile with read-only tools. Best for asking questions about your code base without the concern of the agent making changes. - `Minimal`: A profile with no tools. Best for general conversations with the LLM where no knowledge of your code base is necessary. You can explore the exact tools enabled in each profile by clicking on the profile selector button > `Configure Profiles…` > the one you want to check out. #### Custom Profiles {#custom-profiles} You can create a custom profile via the `Configure Profiles…` option in the profile selector. From here, you can choose to `Add New Profile` or fork an existing one with a custom name and your preferred set of tools. You can also override built-in profiles. With a built-in profile selected, in the profile selector, navigate to `Configure Tools`, and select the tools you'd like. Zed will store this profile in your settings using the same profile name as the default you overrode. All custom profiles can be edited via the UI or by hand under the `assistant.profiles` key in your `settings.json` file. ### Model Support {#model-support} Tool calling needs to be individually supported by each model and model provider. Therefore, despite the presence of tools, some models may not have the ability to pick them up yet in Zed. You should see a "No tools" label if you select a model that falls into this case. We want to support all of them, though! We may prioritize which ones to focus on based on popularity and user feedback, so feel free to help and contribute to fast-track those that don't fit this bill. All [Zed's hosted models](./models.md) support tool calling out-of-the-box. ### MCP Servers {#mcp-servers} Similarly to the built-in tools, some models may not support all tools included in a given MCP Server. Zed's UI will inform about this via a warning icon that appears close to the model selector. ## Text Threads {#text-threads} ["Text threads"](./text-threads.md) present your conversation with the LLM in a different format—as raw text. With text threads, you have full control over the conversation data.

This section describes the Agent Panel's profile system for grouping tools, including built-in profiles (Write, Ask, Minimal) and custom profiles. It explains how to configure and override profiles, and how custom profiles are stored in settings.json. It addresses model support for tool calling, noting that not all models support it, and that Zed's hosted models do. MCP server support is also discussed, with warnings if models don't support all tools in a server. Finally, it briefly introduces text threads, which present conversations with the LLM as raw text, giving users full control over the data.