feat(desktop): open SSH worktrees in local Zed

[DeclanRiedel]

Fixes #4361

What Changed

• Show the Open control for SSH-backed threads in the desktop app, limited to Zed.
• Launch the local zed or zeditor CLI through desktop IPC with an encoded SSH workspace URI.
• Preserve SSH aliases, usernames, custom ports, IPv6 literals, and home-relative paths.
• Route Ctrl+O through the same remote launch path and show a toast when launch fails.
• Keep launch errors free of SSH connection details.
• Add focused coverage for URI construction, IPv6, command preference, zeditor fallback, detached launching, missing CLI behavior, and picker visibility.

Why

The existing Open action runs in the environment that owns the worktree. For an SSH-backed thread, that environment is remote and cannot launch the user's local graphical editor.

Zed supports opening a remote project from its local CLI through an SSH URL. Launching Zed from the desktop process extends the existing Open and Ctrl+O workflow without changing server-side editor launching.

UI Changes

Before

After

Interaction

Screencast.From.2026-07-23.12-26-34.mp4

Validation

• vp test run apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopZedLauncher.test.ts apps/web/src/components/chat/ChatHeader.test.ts
• vp run --filter @t3tools/desktop typecheck
• vp run --filter @t3tools/web typecheck
• vp run --filter @t3tools/contracts typecheck
• Targeted formatting and lint checks for changed files
• Manually verified against an SSH-backed worktree with local Zed

Checklist

• This PR is small and focused
• I explained what changed and why
• I included before/after screenshots for any UI changes
• I included a video for animation/interaction changes

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Note

Low Risk
Adds a bounded desktop-only path that spawns a local Zed CLI with SSH targets from IPC; no auth or server changes, and user-facing launch errors stay generic.

Overview
Adds Open in Zed for SSH-backed projects in the desktop app when the thread has an active project cwd and desktopBridge is available.

A new DesktopZedLauncher resolves zed / zeditor on PATH, builds an encoded ssh:// URI from the SSH connection target and workspace path, and spawns a detached zed -r … process. Launch failures surface generic messages (no SSH details in the launch error path).

The feature is wired through openRemoteZed on the desktop IPC bridge (DesktopOpenRemoteZedInput in contracts). ChatHeader extends shouldShowOpenInPicker so the picker appears on SSH environments (not only the primary local env) and limits editor choices to Zed when an SSH profile is active. OpenInPicker routes those opens to desktopBridge.openRemoteZed instead of the usual shell openInEditor mutation, with error toasts on failure.

^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit 50b3f5c. Bugbot is set up for automated code reviews on this repo. Configure here.}

Note

Add 'Open in Zed' support for SSH worktrees via local Zed CLI

• Adds a DesktopZedLauncher service that searches PATH for zed or zeditor, builds an ssh:// URI from the active SSH environment, and spawns the CLI in detached mode to open the remote workspace.
• Exposes the launcher via a new openRemoteZed IPC channel, bridged to the renderer as window.desktopBridge.openRemoteZed(input).
• Updates ChatHeader to detect SSH environments in desktop context and restrict the 'Open in' picker to Zed, routing clicks through the desktop bridge instead of the local editor flow.
• OpenInPicker handles the remoteZedTarget prop by calling the bridge and showing an error toast on failure.
• Risk: if neither zed nor zeditor is on PATH, the operation fails with DesktopZedCommandNotFoundError and surfaces an error toast to the user.

^{Macroscope summarized 50b3f5c.}

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[macroscopeapp]

Effect service review: one convention violation in the new DesktopZedLaunchError. See inline comment.

^{Posted via Macroscope — Effect Service Conventions}

[cursor]

Cursor Bugbot has reviewed your changes using high effort and found 1 potential issue.

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[macroscopeapp]

Approvability

Verdict: Needs human review

This PR introduces a new user-facing feature (opening SSH worktrees in local Zed) with new service components, IPC channels, and UI workflow changes. New features with external process integrations warrant human review.

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