Install Pi-hole MCP Server in Zed

What you need first

• Zed, installed.
• Docker, which gives the docker command the server starts with.
• Your own values for YOUR_PIHOLE_URL,YOUR_PIHOLE_PASSWORD.

Steps

1. Open Zed's settings file, ~/.config/zed/settings.json (on Windows %APPDATA%\Zed\settings.json), or .zed/settings.json for one project.
2. Add this block. If the file already has context_servers, add only the entry inside it.

{
  "context_servers": {
    "pihole-mcp": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "PIHOLE_URL", "-e", "PIHOLE_PASSWORD", "ghcr.io/hexamatic/pihole-mcp:0.9.0"],
      "env": { "PIHOLE_URL": "YOUR_PIHOLE_URL", "PIHOLE_PASSWORD": "YOUR_PIHOLE_PASSWORD" }
    }
  }
}

3. Replace YOUR_PIHOLE_URL,YOUR_PIHOLE_PASSWORD with your own values.
4. Save the file. Zed starts the server, and Settings › AI › MCP Servers lists it.

Check it worked

Ask Zed: List the tools of pihole-mcp.

If it does not start

Cannot connect to the Docker daemon

Docker is not running. Start it, then restart Zed.

The server starts, but its tools fail

A YOUR_… placeholder is still in the config, or its value is wrong.

Nothing changes after a restart

The file is not valid JSON any more. Look for a missing comma where the block was added.