Inherit EditorConfig from Parent Directories

Zed now supports EditorConfig inheritance from parent directories. If you have organization-wide or machine-wide editor settings, place them in a parent directory and all nested projects will inherit them.

How It Works

When Zed finds a .editorconfig file in your project, it also traverses parent directories up to the filesystem root looking for additional config files. Settings are applied in order:

1. Furthest parent config (applied first)
2. Closer parent configs (override)
3. Project config (final override)

Example Setup

/Users/you/
  .editorconfig         # Personal defaults
  /company/
    .editorconfig       # Company standards
    /project-a/
      .editorconfig     # Project-specific
    /project-b/
      .editorconfig     # Project-specific

In this setup:

• project-a inherits from /company/.editorconfig and /Users/you/.editorconfig
• Project configs override company configs
• Company configs override personal configs

Stopping Inheritance

Use root = true in any .editorconfig to stop looking in parent directories:

# /company/.editorconfig
root = true
 
[*]
indent_style = space
indent_size = 2

Now projects under /company/ won’t inherit from /Users/you/.editorconfig.

Common Use Cases

Organization standards: Put company coding style in a parent directory shared by all projects.

Machine-wide defaults: Set your personal preferences once at ~/.editorconfig for all projects.

Monorepo configurations: Have workspace-level settings with package-level overrides.

Team consistency: Ensure everyone inherits the same base settings, with project-specific tweaks.

How External Configs Are Loaded

• Local projects: File watchers detect changes immediately
• Remote/SSH projects: Configs are sent to remote clients
• Collab/sharing: External configs are shared with guests

Perfect for teams that want consistent editor settings across multiple projects without duplicating config files!

Related PR: #46332