What is claude-code-cli-acp?

claude-code-cli-acp is a Rust program that connects the Claude Code CLI, Anthropic's command line AI coding assistant, to code editors that support the Agent Client Protocol, known as ACP. The README specifically mentions Zed as a supported editor, though other ACP compatible clients could work too. The core problem it solves is bridging two different interfaces. Claude Code CLI is normally used interactively in a terminal. This adapter runs that CLI inside a pseudo terminal, reads the transcript files Claude Code writes in JSONL format, and turns that into a JSON-RPC server over standard input and output that editors can talk to using the ACP standard. It also offers a direct interactive pass-through mode and a print mode meant to replace the claude -p command by reusing the same interactive CLI path underneath. To install it, you first need Claude Code CLI itself installed and authenticated through npm, plus Node 18 or newer for the npm wrapper, or Rust 1.95 or newer if building from source. The tool itself can then be installed through npm, through Cargo from crates.io or directly from the GitHub repository, or built locally from the source path. Once installed, an ACP compatible editor is configured to launch the adapter as a local process, it communicates over JSON-RPC and should not run behind a shell that prints extra banners or prompts. Beyond the core bridge, the project includes a doctor command that checks installation health and can compare local Claude CLI behavior against a compatibility matrix to catch drift as Claude Code changes. It also treats Claude's transcript files as sensitive, since they are stored as plain text under a hidden folder in the user's home directory, and takes care not to log that text by default. The project is licensed under Apache-2.0, and credits several related projects, including Zed's own codex-acp adapter and the wider ACP and Rust SDK ecosystem, as inspiration.