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MCP in Zed

Add Onto to Zed's Assistant. Zed uses context_servers (not mcpServers) and nests command as an object — different from the standard MCP schema.

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Zed's schema is different. Top-level key is context_servers, and the command field is an object with { path, args, env } — not a string. Copy carefully.

Install steps

Get an API key

Grab a key from app.buildonto.dev/read/keys. Free tier: 1,000 requests / month.

Open Zed settings

Cmd+, (macOS) or Ctrl+, (Linux/Windows) opens settings.json. Or via the menu: Zed → Settings.

Add the Onto context server
jsonsettings.json
{
  "context_servers": {
    "onto": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@ontosdk/mcp@latest"],
        "env": {
          "ONTO_API_KEY": "onto_sk_live_your_key_here"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
Restart Zed

Save the settings file and fully restart Zed so the Assistant picks up the new context server.

Settings file paths

OSsettings.json path
macOS~/.config/zed/settings.json
Linux~/.config/zed/settings.json
Windows%APPDATA%\Zed\settings.json

Verify

Open the Assistant panel and check the context-server status indicator — onto should be listed as connected with six tools available.

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Try it: "Use the onto context server to read https://stripe.com and extract just the headline."