Zed + xCloud

Install one-click apps with Zed on xCloud

Installing one-click apps with Zed means asking the Agent Panel in the editor to find an app in the xCloud catalogue, check a server, install it after your approval and report the address, with xCloud named in the request so the agent does not guess.

Skill: xcloud:deploy
Toolsets: oneclick-apps, catalog, servers
Free with every xCloud account

Set up Zed All Zed guides

YouUse xCloud to install Uptime Kuma on my Frankfurt server, staging hostname.

oneclickApps_compatibilityread-only

AgentFrankfurt fits Uptime Kuma. Stack, runtime, state and billing pass and the resource check is clean. Install it on a free staging hostname?

YouYes.

oneclickApps_installneeds approval

AgentDone. Uptime Kuma is ready on your staging hostname.

Last updated: October 2026. Keep a human in the loop: xCloud stops and asks before anything that creates, deploys, updates, reboots, deletes or buys.

Setup

How Do You Set Up Zed to Install one-click apps on xCloud?

Connect Zed once; every job on this account uses the same connection. Then ask in plain words.

1
Add xCloud as a remote server
Open Settings, then AI, then MCP Servers, click Add Server and choose Add Remote Server. Or run the zed: open settings file action and add this to settings.json yourself. Zed writes the same entry either way.
JSON
```
{
  "context_servers": {
    "xcloud": {
      "url": "https://app.xcloud.host/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```
2
Sign in and check the dot
Because the entry has no Authorization header, Zed prompts you to authenticate through the MCP OAuth flow. Approve the teams and the access level in the browser. In Settings, AI, MCP Servers a green dot next to xcloud with the tooltip Server is active means it worked. Then ask this in the Agent Panel.
Prompt
```
Who am I on xCloud?
```
3
No browser sign-in? Use an API key
Create a token with the mcp:invoke scope plus the read abilities for the areas it will use (read:servers and read:sites, with read:billing and read:addons for billing and add-on tools) and the matching write: abilities if it should change things in Settings, Developers, API Tokens and add it as a header. With an Authorization header set, Zed skips its OAuth prompt. Replace YOUR_TOKEN with the token, which contains a pipe character, and keep it out of git and out of chat.
JSON
```
{
  "context_servers": {
    "xcloud": {
      "url": "https://app.xcloud.host/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}
```

Check it worked

Then ask Zed for the job itself, for example:

Prompt

Use xCloud to search the one-click catalogue for an uptime monitor and tell me what each result needs from a server.

In practice

How Does One-click apps Work from Zed?

In an editor, the word install is ambiguous. The Zed agent can edit files and run commands, so install Ghost could mean a package in your project, a Homebrew formula or an app on your server. Say what you mean: use xCloud to install Ghost on my Frankfurt server. Naming xCloud steers the model to the context server you added in settings.json, and Zed itself notes that how reliably MCP tools get called varies by model. Once it picks the xCloud tools, the flow is the catalogue search, the install form, the compatibility check, the install and the status polling.

Zed's tool permission default is confirm, so every MCP call asks first. That is safe but noisy for a job that polls, so use the per-tool key format, mcp:xcloud: followed by the tool name, to allow the read tools only, such as the catalogue search, the compatibility check and the install status. Leave the install and lifecycle tools on confirm. xCloud still requires its own explicit confirmation for the install, so the agent restates the app, server and address and asks you once in the panel before it sends anything. The panel then shows the phase changes until the install is terminal, with a failure naming pre_install, install, post_install or provisioning.

Servers you configure in Zed are also forwarded to External Agents, so an agent you run over the Agent Client Protocol can reach the same xcloud entry. That means one config can serve the Zed Agent and another agent inside the same window. What does not change is the job's boundaries: a few apps, among them n8n, Supabase and Umami, install only from the dashboard, and the agent will check that your server fits and then give you the click path rather than attempt it.

Zed specific: Keep agent.tool_permissions.default on confirm when installs are on the table. Before Zed v0.224.0 the setting was agent.always_allow_tool_actions, and if an older config still has that switched on, an install or a redeploy could run without Zed asking. xCloud's confirmation still applies, but check which setting your version reads. Always name the server too, since the agent should not pick one for you.

What xCloud does for one-click apps

xCloud lists the one-click catalogue, checks whether an app fits a given server, installs it once you approve and reports each install phase until it finishes. Afterwards the agent can fetch the login details and stop, start or redeploy the app. A few apps install only from the dashboard, and the agent tells you where to click.

Find the app. The agent searches the catalogue by name or purpose and shows what it found. An empty catalogue means the list has not synced on that environment, so the agent never answers that an app does not exist from an empty list.
Read the install form. The agent reads the app's fields. Fields xCloud generates for you can be left out. For the address you choose a free xCloud staging hostname or your own domain, and a live domain needs the full site name.
Check the server fits. You name the server, or the agent lists yours and asks. The compatibility check covers the server stack, runtime, state, billing and RAM, CPU and disk against the latest monitoring snapshot. If monitoring data is missing the resource check was skipped, and the agent says the result is inconclusive.
Approve and install. The agent restates the app, the server and the address, and asks once. On your yes it sends the install with an explicit confirmation and an idempotency key, so a retried request cannot create a second copy.
Poll the install. The agent polls the install status every five to ten seconds until it is terminal. A failure names its phase: pre_install, install, post_install or provisioning, so you know where it stopped.
Hand over and manage. The agent gives you the URL. It fetches the login details only when you ask, shows them once in the reply and tells you to store them in a password manager. Later it can stop, start, restart or redeploy the app after your approval.

Reference

One-click apps Settings and Limits on xCloud

The facts Zed works within when it installs one-click apps. Where a row names the dashboard, that step stays yours to take there.

Setting or limit	What applies
Catalogue	Searchable by name. It holds hundreds of apps, and most run on a Docker server. Public facts such as supported stacks and minimum size come from the catalogue listing
Compatibility check	Per server: stack, runtime, server state, billing and RAM, CPU and disk. monitor_available set to false means the resource check was skipped, not passed
Too-small servers	A server that is too small stays too small. The agent suggests a larger server instead of retrying the install
Stack requirements	An app that needs another stack is refused with a 422 that reads "This app requires a ... server. This server is on the ... stack."
Dashboard-only installs	n8n, Supabase, Nextcloud, Mautic, LibreChat, Open WebUI, Ollama, Umami, WireGuard, phpMyAdmin and Site.pro. The API answers 404 for these eleven; install them from Add site, One-Click Apps in the dashboard
Address	Staging hostname for a free xCloud address, or go live with your own domain. A demo site promoted to a live domain cannot return to the demo address
Idempotency	The install carries an Idempotency-Key, so a retried request cannot create a duplicate site
Install phases	pre_install, install, post_install and provisioning. is_terminal marks the end, and failed_phase says where a failure happened
Credentials	Read on request and shown once in the reply. Some apps have none to read because you create the first admin inside the app
Lifecycle	Stop, start, restart and redeploy run synchronously. Stop takes the app offline and redeploy recreates its containers. Both answer 422 while an install is running or after a failed install
Agentic servers	An OpenClaw, Hermes, Paperclip or DeepSeek Harness server never takes a one-click app

Rules Zed has to follow

Installing, stopping and redeploying an app stop for your approval; browsing the catalogue and the compatibility check never change anything.
A missing resource reading is reported as inconclusive, never as a pass.
Login details are shown once, only when you ask, and never repeated in a summary or a later message.
For the eleven dashboard-only apps the agent checks that the server fits, then gives you the dashboard path instead of trying the install.
A failed install is not retried blindly: the agent names the failed phase and reads the site's recent events first.

Example prompts

What Can You Ask Zed to Do for One-click apps?

Type these as written and swap in your own repository, site and server names. Reads and routine actions such as backups, cache purges, PageSpeed scans and vulnerability scans run straight away; creating, deploying, updating, rebooting, deleting, buying or starting a broken-link scan stops and asks first.

Prompt

Use xCloud to search the one-click catalogue for an uptime monitor and tell me what each result needs from a server.

Prompt

Use xCloud to install Uptime Kuma on my Frankfurt server on a staging hostname. Check the fit first and ask me once.

Prompt

Use xCloud to show the login details for the Uptime Kuma app on Frankfurt. I will store them in a password manager.

Prompt

Which one-click apps are compatible with my Frankfurt server?

Prompt

Search the one-click catalogue for a self-hosted blog and tell me what each result needs from a server.

Prompt

Install Uptime Kuma on the Frankfurt server on a staging hostname, wait until it is ready, then give me the login details.

Prompt

Check whether Immich fits my Amsterdam server before I install it, and tell me if the resource check was inconclusive.

Prompt

I want n8n on my Frankfurt server. Check that the server fits, then tell me where to click to install it.

Prompt

The Uptime Kuma install on the Frankfurt server failed. Which phase failed, and what do the recent events say?

Prompt

Redeploy the Ghost app on blog.example.com, but tell me what a redeploy does before you run it.

Zed and One-click apps: Frequently Asked Questions

What people ask before they let Zed install one-click apps through xCloud.

Why should I say xCloud when I ask Zed to install an app?

Because install is ambiguous in an editor. The Zed agent could treat it as a local package or a shell command. Writing use xCloud to install the app on your server steers it to the xCloud tools you added under context_servers.

How do I stop Zed prompting on every status check during an install?

Allow the read tools by name with the mcp:xcloud: key format in your tool permissions and keep the install and lifecycle tools on confirm. The status polling then runs quietly while the install and any stop or redeploy still ask first.

Can an agent install any app in the one-click catalogue?

Most of them. Eleven apps install only from the dashboard: n8n, Supabase, Nextcloud, Mautic, LibreChat, Open WebUI, Ollama, Umami, WireGuard, phpMyAdmin and Site.pro. For those the agent checks that your server fits and points you to Add site, One-Click Apps.

How does the agent know an app will fit my server?

It runs the compatibility check for that server, which covers the stack, runtime, server state, billing and the RAM, CPU and disk readings from the latest monitoring snapshot. If monitoring data is missing, the agent tells you the resource check was inconclusive.

What does a 422 during an app install mean?

Usually that the app needs a different server stack than the one you picked, and the message names both. Pick a server on the required stack. A 422 on stop, start or redeploy means an install is still running or the last install failed.

Where do the login details for a one-click app come from?

The agent can read them from xCloud when you ask and shows them once in the reply. Store them in a password manager. Some apps have no generated login because you create the first administrator inside the app.

Can an agent stop or restart a one-click app?

Yes. Stop, start, restart and redeploy are available, and they run straight away once you approve. Stop takes the app offline and redeploy recreates its containers, so the agent asks before either.

Other agents