claude-code/plans/cosmic-frolicking-compass.md

Plan: Fix Zed Slow Launch and Performance on Hyprland

Problem Analysis

Original Request: Compile Zed with OpenGL support instead of Vulkan for Intel HD Graphics 4000

Actual Issue Discovered: Zed is using X11/XWayland instead of native Wayland on Hyprland, causing:

• 15+ second launch times
• Sluggish runtime performance
• The hardware (Intel HD Graphics 4000) is properly supported and works fine on Gnome

System Information:

• Binary: /usr/lib/zed/zed-editor (Arch package v0.213.4-1)
• Command: zeditor
• Hyprland version: 0.52.1
• Mesa version: 25.2.7-arch1.1
• Environment: Both WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-1 and DISPLAY=:1 are set

Evidence from logs (~/.local/share/zed/logs/Zed.log):

2025-12-12T22:12:02-08:00 INFO  [gpui::platform::linux::x11::window] Using Visual { id: 112, colormap: 0, depth: 32 }
2025-12-12T22:12:02-08:00 INFO  [gpui::platform::linux::x11::window] x11: no compositor present, falling back to server-side window decorations
2025-12-12T22:12:02-08:00 ERROR [gpui::platform::linux::x11::client] XIMClientError: Can't read xim message: Invalid Data ErrorCode: 0

Root Cause

Mystery Identified: Despite both environment variables being correctly set (WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-1 and DISPLAY=:1), Zed is still choosing X11.

Based on the code in crates/gpui/src/platform.rs (lines 139-164), Zed should prioritize Wayland when WAYLAND_DISPLAY is set. The fact that it's using X11 despite this suggests:

Most Likely: The Arch package (v0.213.4-1) was compiled without the wayland Cargo feature enabled, causing the binary to only support X11 even when Wayland is available.

This is supported by:

• The platform selection code has #[cfg(feature = "wayland")] guards
• If Wayland feature is disabled at compile time, guess_compositor() will always return "X11"
• A similar issue was documented in Arch forums (thread)

Recommended Solution

Compile Zed from source with Wayland support enabled. The Arch package appears to lack Wayland support at compile time.

Step 1: Build Zed with Wayland Support

From the repository root (/home/will/repo/zed):

# Clean any previous builds (optional)
cargo clean

# Build with Wayland feature explicitly enabled
cargo build --release --features gpui/wayland

# Or build the full zed binary with default features (which includes wayland)
cargo build --release -p zed

Build time estimate: 20-40 minutes on first build (depending on CPU)

Step 2: Install the Binary

# Create installation directory if needed
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin

# Copy the binary
cp target/release/zed ~/.local/bin/zed-wayland

# Or replace the system zeditor
sudo cp target/release/zed /usr/local/bin/zeditor

Step 3: Verify Wayland Support

# Launch and check logs
~/.local/bin/zed-wayland
grep -E "wayland|x11" ~/.local/share/zed/logs/Zed.log | tail -5

Expected output should show Wayland initialization, NOT X11 messages.

Alternative: Install from AUR or Use Different Package

If you don't want to compile from source, consider:

1. Install zed-git from AUR (may have Wayland support):

   paru -S zed-git  # or yay -S zed-git
   

2. File a bug report with Arch to request Wayland support in the official package

3. Wait for official Arch package update to include Wayland support

Why NOT OpenGL/GLES?

The original request was to compile with OpenGL instead of Vulkan. This is unnecessary because:

• Your Intel HD Graphics 4000 supports Vulkan (working fine on Gnome)
• The slowness is from X11/XWayland overhead, NOT the graphics backend
• Mesa drivers are properly installed (Vulkan, OpenGL 4.2, OpenGL ES 3.0 all working)
• Switching to GLES won't fix the X11 vs Wayland issue

GLES compilation would only be needed if:

• Vulkan completely fails (vkcube doesn't work)
• Zed shows "NoSupportedDeviceFound" error
• You get GPU-related crashes

Expected Outcome

After compiling with Wayland support and running the new binary:

• Launch time: Should match Gnome performance (~2 seconds)
• Runtime performance: Smooth, no sluggishness
• Logs: Will show Wayland client initialization instead of X11

Build Requirements

The system already has all necessary dependencies:

• Rust toolchain (rustup)
• Wayland development libraries (installed)
• Build tools (gcc, clang, cmake, etc.)
• Vulkan and Mesa drivers (working)

From crates/gpui/Cargo.toml (lines 40-59), the wayland feature depends on:

• wayland-client, wayland-cursor, wayland-protocols (all available on Arch)
• blade-graphics (already in use for Vulkan)
• Font libraries (cosmic-text, font-kit) - already installed

Critical Files for Reference

• crates/gpui/Cargo.toml:20 - Default features include "wayland" and "x11"
• crates/gpui/Cargo.toml:40-59 - Wayland feature dependencies
• crates/gpui/src/platform.rs:101-164 - Platform selection logic
• crates/gpui/src/platform/linux/wayland/client.rs - Wayland client implementation
• crates/gpui/src/platform/linux/x11/client.rs - X11 client implementation

Implementation Steps

1. Build from source with Wayland support (20-40 min)
2. Install the binary to ~/.local/bin or /usr/local/bin
3. Test launch and verify Wayland is being used via logs
4. Confirm performance matches Gnome experience