Best ACP Coding Agents for Zed, JetBrains and Neovim

The strongest Agent Client Protocol (ACP) coding agents for Zed, JetBrains and Neovim right now are Claude Agent ACP, Codex ACP, Mistral Vibe and Gemini CLI, with Poolside's pool as a closed-source option and CodeCompanion.nvim as the plugin that brings all of them into Neovim. Zed and JetBrains IDEs install these agents from the shared ACP Registry in a few clicks. Neovim reaches them through a plugin.

The Agent Client Protocol is the open standard that lets any editor run any coding agent, "similar to how the Language Server Protocol (LSP) standardized language server integration", in the words of its introduction. One note before we start: this is not IBM's Agent Communication Protocol, which shared the acronym and has merged into A2A under the Linux Foundation, according to ACP's own docs.

Every fact below was checked on 12 November 2026 against the ACP site, the Zed and JetBrains docs, and each project's README. Star counts come from the GitHub REST API on that date.

ACP agents compared

Pick	What it is	Zed	JetBrains	Neovim	ACP support	GitHub stars (12 Nov 2026)	Licence	AgenticMart page
Claude Agent ACP	Adapter for the Claude Agent SDK	Registry	Registry	Via CodeCompanion	Adapter	2,756	Apache-2.0	View
Codex ACP	Adapter for OpenAI Codex CLI	Registry	Registry	Via CodeCompanion	Adapter	571	Apache-2.0 (LICENSE file; GitHub does not detect it)	View
Mistral Vibe	Mistral's terminal coding agent	Registry or vibe-acp	Registry	Via CodeCompanion	Native	5,374	Apache-2.0	View
Gemini CLI	Google's terminal agent, now aimed at enterprise Code Assist	Registry	Registry	Via CodeCompanion	Native (gemini --acp)	108,798	Apache-2.0	View
pool	Poolside's coding agent CLI	Registry or pool acp	Registry	Custom config	Native	443	Proprietary (Poolside EULA)	View
CodeCompanion.nvim	Neovim plugin that acts as the ACP client	Not applicable	Not applicable	Yes	Client	6,934	Apache-2.0	View

"Registry" means the agent is listed in the ACP Registry as of 12 November 2026, which Zed and JetBrains both use to install agents. "Adapter" means a separate program translates between ACP and the agent's own interface. "Native" means the agent itself speaks ACP.

Two numbers to anchor the wider market, both counted on 12 November 2026: ACP's agents page names 51 agents, and the curated registry page shows 45 entries. The registry only includes agents that support authentication.

How ACP works inside each editor

Before the picks, here is what you are actually installing, because it changes how you set things up.

ACP local agents run as sub-processes of the editor and talk JSON-RPC over stdio. Remote agents over HTTP or WebSocket are described as a work in progress. So in practice your editor launches a command such as pool acp or gemini --acp and talks to it over standard input and output.

• Zed ACP: Zed calls these External Agents. Open the registry with zed: acp registry, or go to Agent Settings, External Agents, Add Agent, Install from Registry. The agent then appears in the new-thread menu. Zed says it does not charge for External Agents; billing is between you and the agent provider.
• JetBrains ACP: In AI Assistant, open AI Chat and choose Install From ACP Registry, or go to Settings, Tools, AI Assistant, Agents. JetBrains states you can use ACP agents without a JetBrains AI subscription. The IDE downloads a Node.js or Python runtime if the agent needs one. Mistral's docs say the registry needs JetBrains IDE 2025.3.2 or later.
• Neovim: There is no built-in ACP client. ACP's clients page lists CodeCompanion, agentic.nvim, avante.nvim and hermes.nvim as the Neovim routes.

One limit most guides skip: JetBrains says ACP agents are not supported in WSL at the time of writing. If you develop inside WSL on Windows, plan around that.

Claude Agent ACP: Claude Code in any ACP editor

Claude Agent ACP is the adapter that lets ACP clients use the Claude Agent SDK. It now lives under the agentclientprotocol GitHub organisation, and its README lists support for @-mentions, images, tool calls with permission requests, edit review, TODO lists, interactive and background terminals, custom slash commands and client MCP servers. It also serves the draft ACP v2 to clients that ask for it, while every other client gets v1.

Setup, quoted from the docs, not run for this post. In Zed, install Claude Agent from the registry, start a thread, then run /login to authenticate with an API key or with Claude Code where supported (Zed docs). An Anthropic key set for Zed's own agent does not carry over. For other clients the README gives the npm package:

npm install @agentclientprotocol/claude-agent-acp

The README also ships standalone executables for Linux, macOS and Windows that need no Node.js install.

Watch for this: the npm package @zed-industries/claude-agent-acp is deprecated. On 12 November 2026 npm shows it as "renamed to @agentclientprotocol/claude-agent-acp", stuck at version 0.23.1, while the new package is at 0.106.0. CodeCompanion's guide still shows the old name, so use the new one.

Pick it if you already pay for Claude or Claude Code and want the same agent in Zed, a JetBrains IDE and Neovim.

Codex ACP: OpenAI Codex inside your editor

Codex ACP is a stdio ACP server that starts the Codex App Server and maps its events back to the editor. The README lists ChatGPT login, API key and custom gateway authentication, choice of model, reasoning effort, approval and sandbox mode, and slash commands including /review, /compact and /mcp.

Setup, quoted from the README, not run for this post:

npx -y @agentclientprotocol/codex-acp

The package bundles a compatible @openai/codex, so you do not need to install Codex separately. Set CODEX_API_KEY or OPENAI_API_KEY for key-based auth, or NO_BROWSER=1 on a remote machine to hide the browser login. In Zed and JetBrains, install Codex from the registry instead.

Pick it if you use ChatGPT or OpenAI keys and want Codex with editor-native diffs and permission prompts.

Mistral Vibe: native ACP with clear JetBrains steps

Mistral Vibe is Mistral's open-source terminal coding agent, and it implements ACP directly rather than through an adapter. Mistral's docs are the clearest JetBrains walkthrough we found from any vendor, and they say the deprecated Mistral Code Enterprise JetBrains plugin should not be used: ACP is now the supported path.

Setup, quoted from the Mistral docs, not run for this post. In a JetBrains IDE: open Settings, go to Tools, AI Assistant, Agents, search for Mistral Vibe, click Install, then pick Mistral Vibe in the AI Chat agent selector and sign in. For a client without a registry, install the CLI and point the client at the vibe-acp command it installs. The README's install for macOS and Linux:

curl -LsSf https://mistral.ai/vibe/install.sh | bash

Or, on any platform with uv: uv tool install mistral-vibe. Vibe shares its agents, skills and MCP servers with the CLI through ~/.vibe/.

Pick it if you work in IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm or GoLand and want a native ACP agent with an Apache-2.0 licence.

Gemini CLI: native ACP, but check your account type

Gemini CLI has the most stars of any pick by a wide margin, and it speaks ACP natively. Its ACP mode doc shows the flag, quoted and not run for this post:

gemini --acp

In Zed, install it from the registry. If GEMINI_API_KEY is set, Gemini CLI uses it; otherwise Zed passes the key from its Google AI provider (Zed docs).

The catch nobody in the top results mentions: the Gemini CLI README now says it is designed for Gemini Code Assist Standard and Enterprise licences, and that free individual access and Google AI Pro and Ultra plans moved to Antigravity CLI on 18 June 2026. It also says it is not tuned for the Gemini 4 series. Google Antigravity appears separately in the ACP Registry.

Pick it if your company already has Gemini Code Assist on Google Cloud. Individual developers should read that README notice before installing.

pool: Poolside's agent, with a one-line Zed setup

pool runs as an ACP server inside editors and can also act as an ACP client that drives other agents, such as Claude Agent ACP or Codex ACP. Be clear about one thing: the repo's licence file says "All rights reserved" under the Poolside EULA, so it is not open source.

Setup, quoted from the Zed docs, not run for this post:

pool acp setup --editor zed

That command writes to ~/.config/zed/settings.json, so Zed's docs say Windows users should install from the registry or add it by hand:

{
  "agent_servers": {
    "Poolside": {
      "command": "pool",
      "args": ["acp"],
      "type": "custom"
    }
  }
}

Pick it if your team uses Poolside and you accept a proprietary licence.

CodeCompanion.nvim: the way into ACP from Neovim

CodeCompanion.nvim is not an agent. It is the Neovim plugin that acts as the ACP client, and its README lists ACP support for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Mistral Vibe, Copilot CLI, Goose, Kiro, OpenCode and others. Edits and permission requests land in a chat buffer, and its code review feature lets you comment on and accept or reject agent changes.

Setup, quoted from the CodeCompanion guide, not run for this post. After installing the agent and its adapter, set the chat adapter:

require("codecompanion").setup({
  interactions = {
    chat = {
      adapter = "claude_code", -- Or "codex", "gemini_cli", "opencode", "copilot_acp"...
    },
  },
})

Or try it without editing your config: :CodeCompanionChat adapter=claude_code. Remember to install @agentclientprotocol/claude-agent-acp, not the deprecated name in that guide.

Pick it if you live in Neovim and want one plugin that can switch between agents.

Adding an ACP agent that is not in the registry

Both big editors accept custom agents, which is how you run something new or your own build.

In Zed, Agent Settings, External Agents, Add Custom Agent opens an agent_servers entry. In JetBrains, AI Chat, Add Custom Agent creates ~/.jetbrains/acp.json. The JetBrains format, quoted from its docs and not run for this post:

{
  "default_mcp_settings": {},
  "agent_servers": {
    "Example Agent": {
      "command": "/path/to/agent",
      "args": ["acp"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

JetBrains recommends the full path to the executable. Its docs' sample includes an API_KEY in env, but notes most agents do not need one and authenticate in a terminal instead, which keeps keys out of the file. To debug, Zed has dev: open acp logs and JetBrains has Get ACP Logs.

ACP vs MCP in brief

ACP and MCP solve different halves of the same setup, and you use them together. ACP's docs put it plainly: MCP "connects an Agent to tools, resources, and prompts", while ACP connects a client to that agent (source). Most ACP agents are also MCP clients.

	ACP (Agent Client Protocol)	MCP (Model Context Protocol)
Connects	Editor to coding agent	Agent to tools and data
Typical transport	JSON-RPC over stdio, agent runs as editor sub-process	stdio or Streamable HTTP
Coding UI types	Diffs, plans, permission requests	Not its job
How they meet	The editor passes your MCP servers to the agent in session/new	The agent connects to those servers itself

Zed says its MCP servers may be forwarded over ACP, and JetBrains has a "Pass IntelliJ MCP server" setting. If MCP is new to you, start with what an MCP server is and MCP vs API. For one agent handing work to another agent, that is A2A, not ACP.

How we picked

We started from the ACP projects AgenticMart lists from public GitHub data on the ACP page, then kept the ones that:

1. Are a coding agent or adapter in the ACP Registry, so Zed and JetBrains users can install them without config.
2. Have setup steps in official docs we could quote.
3. Had a push to GitHub within the last three months as of 12 November 2026 (pool, last pushed 18 August 2026, is the oldest).
4. Show a licence on the repo.

We added CodeCompanion.nvim because Neovim has no built-in client. We did not install or run any of these for this post, and AgenticMart has not scanned them. Star counts show attention, not quality. Before you give an agent your codebase, read what it can touch on its listing page, check its permission and sandbox settings, and keep approval prompts on. Plenty of good agents did not make this short list; ACP's agents page has the rest, and you can browse more on AgenticMart's agents directory.

FAQ

What is the Agent Client Protocol?

The Agent Client Protocol is an open standard for communication between code editors and AI coding agents, modelled on the Language Server Protocol. Local agents run as editor sub-processes and talk JSON-RPC over stdio, so one agent can work in any ACP editor.

Does JetBrains support ACP?

Yes. JetBrains AI Assistant can install ACP agents from the registry or from a custom ~/.jetbrains/acp.json, and JetBrains says no AI subscription is needed for this. ACP agents are not supported in WSL at the time of writing.

How do I add an ACP agent to Zed?

Run zed: acp registry and install the agent, then start a thread from the Agent Panel. For an agent outside the registry, add a custom entry under agent_servers in Zed's settings with the agent's command and arguments.

ACP vs MCP: do I need both?

Usually, yes. ACP connects your editor to the coding agent, and MCP connects that agent to tools and data. The editor can hand your MCP servers to the agent when a session starts.

Is ACP the same as IBM's Agent Communication Protocol?

No. IBM's BeeAI project used the same acronym for an agent-to-agent messaging protocol, which has merged into A2A and was archived in August 2025, per ACP's docs. Articles about ACP with BeeAI or agent-to-agent messaging mean that other project.

Which ACP coding agent works in Neovim?

Any of the agents above, through a plugin such as CodeCompanion.nvim, agentic.nvim or avante.nvim. Neovim itself does not include an ACP client.

Built an ACP agent or client?

If you have shipped an ACP coding agent, an adapter or an editor plugin, developers comparing options need to find it. On AgenticMart you can list free now, paid selling opens soon. Submit your project, or browse every agent protocol we track.