---
title: "Kilobat in Zed: context_servers MCP setup and agent skills | Kilobat"
url: "https://kilobat.app/agents/zed.html"
description: "Add Kilobat as an MCP context server in Zed's settings.json, install the agent skills, and control which Kilobat tools Zed's agent may run."
---

Agent setup

# Set up Kilobat in Zed

Zed's agent can measure the Mac's network, trace a route and compare DNS resolvers through Kilobat's MCP server.

Free CLI and MCP server · macOS 14 or later · Checked: 30 October 2026

## Install the CLI

The Kilobat CLI is free and open source, and it includes the MCP server. Install it with Homebrew:

```
brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat
```

Check it with `kilobat --version`. `kilobat doctor` says whether the Kilobat app is running, its network filter is on and Pro is active; the tools work without the app, which adds Wi-Fi names, history and rule enforcement. The CLI needs macOS 14 or later.

## Connect the MCP server

1. Run `zed: open settings file` from the command palette, or add a server in Settings › AI › MCP Servers.
2. Add Kilobat under `context_servers`:

   ```
   {
     "context_servers": {
       "kilobat": {
         "command": "kilobat",
         "args": [
           "mcp"
         ],
         "env": {}
       }
     }
   }
   ```
3. Open the Agent Panel and ask a network question. If Kilobat's tools don't appear, run `zed: open log` to see why the server didn't start.

An app opened from the Dock doesn't always see the PATH your shell uses. If the server doesn't start, replace `kilobat` with the full path that `command -v kilobat` prints: `/opt/homebrew/bin/kilobat` on Apple silicon, `/usr/local/bin/kilobat` on Intel.

## Add the skills

Nine Agent Skills teach the agent to read Kilobat's measurements and to ask before changing settings. Install them for all your projects with [skills.sh](https://skills.sh/seifip/kilobat-skills):

```
npx skills add seifip/kilobat-skills -g -a zed
```

This puts them in `~/.agents/skills/`. Leave out `-g` to install them for the current project only, or leave out both flags to pick agents from a list.

The `kilobat` skill is the entry point: it holds the setup and safety rules and sends the agent to the skill that fits, such as `mac-network-troubleshooting` or `mac-agent-runs`. See [all nine skills](https://kilobat.app/docs.html#network-troubleshooting-skill).

## Try these prompts

Ask in plain words. The agent picks the tools; these are the ones each request usually needs.

| Ask | MCP tools |
|---|---|
| The internet feels slow. Find out why and tell me what to fix first. | `diagnose_network`, `get_status` |
| npm install hangs on registry.npmjs.org. Find the layer that fails. | `diagnose_connection` |
| Does my VPN carry all my traffic, or only some of it? | `get_exit_path` |
| Trace the route to github.com three times and tell me where the delay starts. | `trace_route`, `get_route_history` |
| Pages are slow to start loading. Compare DNS resolvers and tell me if switching would help. Don't change anything yet. | `benchmark_dns`, `diagnose_network` |
| Run a 10 MB speed test and say whether a video call will hold up. | `run_speedtest` |

## What Zed can and can't change

Kilobat's MCP server marks every tool as read-only or as a change, and each change tool's description tells the agent to get your confirmation first. The [kilobat skill](https://github.com/seifip/kilobat-skills/tree/main/skills/kilobat) holds the same rule: read freely, ask before changing.

### Runs without asking

- Measure Wi-Fi, router, internet and DNS latency, and per-app traffic: `diagnose_network`, `get_status`, `get_wifi`, `scan_wifi`.
- Find the layer that stops one host, trace a route and compare resolvers: `diagnose_connection`, `trace_route`, `benchmark_dns`.
- Read history, sessions, rules and approvals: `get_usage_report`, `list_sessions`, `list_rules`, `list_approvals`.
- Ping for latency spikes with `run_stutter_test`, which sends pings only.

### Asks you first

- A speed test, which uses up to 80 MB (`run_speedtest`; on a metered network, 10 MB or less), and a five-second LAN test (`run_lan_test`).
- Looking up your public IP with Cloudflare (`get_exit_path` with `public_ip`).
- Profiles, app rules, blocked hosts, the new-app mode, budgets, quotas, a network's data cost and pausing updaters (`set_profile`, `set_app_rule`, `block_destination`, `set_new_app_mode`, `set_budget`, `set_app_quota`, `set_network_cost`, `set_updater_pause`).
- DNS, which macOS also guards with an administrator password prompt (`set_dns`).
- Keeping the Mac running with the lid closed, every time (`keep_awake` with `lid_closed`). A plain `keep_awake` changes no settings and ends when it expires.

### Can't do

- Let a waiting app connect on its own: `decide_approval` can block at once, but allowing opens Kilobat's approval window for you to confirm.
- Change AirDrop visibility: `set_airdrop_visibility` opens System Settings for you.
- Change sleep settings, another app's settings, or anything outside Kilobat. It never reads prompts or replies.
- Enforce rules without the Kilobat app and its network filter (Pro). Without them, rules are saved, not applied, and the agent should say so.

Keep `agent.tool_permissions.default` at `confirm`, or add per-tool rules for Kilobat's change tools, keyed like `mcp:kilobat:set_dns`.

If the agent can also run shell commands, the `kilobat` CLI can do what the MCP tools do. The skills tell it which commands to run freely and which to ask about.

## Track agent runs

Zed has no hook setup in Kilobat yet. Without hooks, Kilobat goes by an agent's traffic and CPU, so a quiet run may be done or waiting for you. An agent with its own hooks can call `kilobat agent-event start|working|waiting|done|failed --agent <name> --session <id> --cwd <folder>`; the command prints nothing and always exits 0. Add `--verbose` to see what happened when you try it by hand. See [Connect agents](https://kilobat.app/docs.html#connect-agents) in the docs.

## Sources

- [Zed docs: Model Context Protocol](https://zed.dev/docs/ai/mcp)
- [Kilobat docs: AI agents and MCP](https://kilobat.app/docs.html#agents)
- [skills.sh: supported agents and their skill folders](https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills/blob/main/docs/agents.md)

Checked on 30 October 2026. Agents change their settings often; if a step no longer matches, tell us at the support address.

## Other agents

- [Claude Code](https://kilobat.app/agents/claude-code.html): Give Claude Code your Mac's network as tools: per-app traffic, Wi-Fi, DNS, why a host fails and keep-awake.
- [Codex CLI](https://kilobat.app/agents/codex.html): Codex can check the network before a big download, find why its own request hangs and keep the Mac awake for a long task.
- [Cursor](https://kilobat.app/agents/cursor.html): Let Cursor's agent see why a package download hangs, which app is using the connection and whether the network is metered before a big pull.
- [Gemini CLI](https://kilobat.app/agents/gemini-cli.html): Gemini CLI can diagnose the Mac's network, scan Wi-Fi and keep the Mac awake while it works.
- [Claude Desktop](https://kilobat.app/agents/claude-desktop.html): Ask Claude why the Wi-Fi is slow, what used your hotspot data or whether your VPN carries everything, and it reads the answer from your Mac.
- [Windsurf](https://kilobat.app/agents/windsurf.html): Cascade can find why a dependency won't download, check DNS and trace a route from your Mac, with Kilobat's MCP server.
- [Cline](https://kilobat.app/agents/cline.html): Cline can check the Mac's network and keep it awake while it works.
- [Any MCP client](https://kilobat.app/agents/mcp-client.html): Kilobat's MCP server is a local stdio command, kilobat mcp.