Jesse MCP — connect in Zed

Make sure Jesse is running and your .env is set up so the MCP server starts and prints a URL (see MCP server setup if you have not done that yet).

These steps assume you use Zed with MCP support. Jesse exposes a running HTTP MCP server, so use Zed’s Remote custom server mode when available.

Register Jesse in Zed

1. Open the Agent Panel menu.
2. Choose Add Custom Server....
3. Select Remote.
4. Set the server name to jesse.
5. Use the URL Jesse printed in the terminal. It should end with /mcp (often http://localhost:9002/mcp unless you changed MCP_PORT).
6. Leave headers or authentication fields empty unless your Zed version explicitly requires them.
7. Save the server.

If something fails, turn on MCP_LOG_IN_TERMINAL in .env while you debug—see Environment variables for MCP.

Settings JSON

Zed stores MCP servers under context_servers. The equivalent settings entry is:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "jesse": {
      "url": "http://localhost:9002/mcp"
    }
  }
}

If you changed MCP_PORT, use that port in the URL instead.

Local fallback

If your Zed version prompts for OAuth on the Remote setup or cannot connect directly to Jesse’s HTTP endpoint, use the Local tab with mcp-remote as a STDIO bridge:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "jesse": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "http://localhost:9002/mcp"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

This fallback requires Node.js and npx.

Agent rules (optional but recommended)

Jesse automatically writes and maintains AGENTS.md at the project root every time you run jesse run, so Zed can read the rules without you pasting anything. See MCP agent rules for details on what's in the file, how the auto-sync works, and how to add your own notes without losing them on upgrade.

Test the connection

After saving the MCP server, ask Zed:

Use the Jesse MCP server and list the available tools.

If Zed cannot find the server, confirm Jesse is still running and that the URL matches the terminal output. Zed’s Agent Panel settings view also shows whether each context server is active.

• Zed — Model Context Protocol

Same machine, same network story

If Zed runs on Windows and Jesse runs inside WSL (or the other way around), localhost can refer to different machines. If you see connection errors, run Jesse and Zed in the same environment so they share one loopback network.