Richard Feldman
b3cf2082db
Two bugs caused MCP server child processes (e.g. `npm`/`node` for `mcp-remote`) to accumulate as zombie processes that were never cleaned up: **Bug 1: `stop_server()` only called `stop()` for `Running` servers** If a server completed initialization but was still in `Starting` state when `stop_server()` was called (a race between the init task completing and `maintain_servers` restarting), the client/transport/process were never released. The `Arc<ContextServer>` was moved into a `Stopped` state with its inner client still holding the transport and child process handle. Fix: call `stop()` unconditionally in `stop_server()`. It is a safe no-op when the client has not been initialized (`None`). **Bug 2: `kill_on_drop` only killed the direct child, not the process tree** `StdioTransport` used a raw `smol::process::Child` with `kill_on_drop(true)`, which sends SIGKILL only to the direct child process (the shell/`npm` wrapper). The actual MCP server (e.g. `node mcp-remote`) runs as a grandchild and survives the kill, getting reparented to launchd. Fix: use `util::process::Child`, which already exists in the codebase for exactly this purpose. It calls `setsid()` via `pre_exec` to make the child a process group leader, and uses `killpg()` to terminate the entire process tree on kill. This requires passing a `std::process::Command` (via `build_std_command`) instead of a `smol::process::Command` (via `build_smol_command`), because that is what `util::process::Child::spawn` accepts — it needs to call `pre_exec` on the `std::process::Command` before internally converting it to `smol::process::Command` for async I/O. Release Notes: - Fixed zombie MCP server processes accumulating over time
Zed
Welcome to Zed, a high-performance, multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter.
Installation
On macOS, Linux, and Windows you can download Zed directly or install Zed via your local package manager (macOS/Linux/Windows).
Other platforms are not yet available:
- Web (tracking issue)
Developing Zed
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for ways you can contribute to Zed.
Also... we're hiring! Check out our jobs page for open roles.
Licensing
License information for third party dependencies must be correctly provided for CI to pass.
We use cargo-about to automatically comply with open source licenses. If CI is failing, check the following:
- Is it showing a
no license specifiederror for a crate you've created? If so, addpublish = falseunder[package]in your crate's Cargo.toml. - Is the error
failed to satisfy license requirementsfor a dependency? If so, first determine what license the project has and whether this system is sufficient to comply with this license's requirements. If you're unsure, ask a lawyer. Once you've verified that this system is acceptable add the license's SPDX identifier to theacceptedarray inscript/licenses/zed-licenses.toml. - Is
cargo-aboutunable to find the license for a dependency? If so, add a clarification field at the end ofscript/licenses/zed-licenses.toml, as specified in the cargo-about book.
Sponsorship
Zed is developed by Zed Industries, Inc., a for-profit company.
If you’d like to financially support the project, you can do so via GitHub Sponsors. Sponsorships go directly to Zed Industries and are used as general company revenue. There are no perks or entitlements associated with sponsorship.