Documentation

Homebrew

brew tap nathanjmorton/zigc
brew install zigc

Upgrade via Homebrew:

brew upgrade zigc

Note: If you installed via Homebrew, use brew upgrade zigc instead of zigc upgrade to avoid version conflicts. The two install methods use different paths (/opt/homebrew/bin vs ~/.zigc/bin) so they won't shadow each other, but stick with one upgrade method.

Shell script

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nathanjmorton/zigc/main/install.sh | bash

The installer detects your platform (macOS/Linux, arm64/x86_64), downloads the correct binary from GitHub releases, and places it at ~/.zigc/bin/zigc. It also adds ZIGC_INSTALL and updates your PATH in your shell config.

To install a specific version:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nathanjmorton/zigc/main/install.sh | bash -s v0.1.0

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/nathanjmorton/zigc
cd zigc
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast
export PATH="$PWD/zig-out/bin:$PATH"

Requires Zig 0.16.0.

Upgrade

zigc upgrade

Checks GitHub for the latest release, compares to the current version, and downloads the correct binary for your platform. Replaces the binary in-place wherever it lives on your PATH — works with both the shell script install and build-from-source.

If you installed via Homebrew, zigc upgrade will detect it and tell you to use brew upgrade zigc instead.

Workflow

Create a project

zigc init my-app
cd my-app

Scaffolds build.zig, build.zig.zon, src/main.c, and .gitignore. Use --cpp for C++.

Build and run

zigc build
zigc run

Add a dependency

zigc registry update           # fetch package registry (first time)
zigc add lz4                    # resolve from registry
zigc add git+https://github.com/allyourcodebase/lz4.git#1.10.0-6   # or by URL

Registry-based adds write the URL + hash directly — no network fetch needed at add time. Both methods auto-generate the b.dependency() and mod.linkLibrary() boilerplate in build.zig.

Inspect and verify

zigc check --build
zigc verify --symbols

Cross-compile to WASM

zigc build --wasi
wasmtime zig-out/bin/my-app.wasm

Clean

zigc clean

Command reference

zigc init <name> [--cpp]Scaffold a new C/C++ project

zigc add <name|url> [--lib n]Add a dependency by registry name or URL

zigc remove <name>Remove a dependency from manifest and build.zig

zigc listShow all declared dependencies and pinned URLs

zigc registry updateFetch the latest package registry

zigc registry generate [--limit N]Scrape allyourcodebase → registry.json

zigc check [--build]Verify manifest fields, paths, and dep consistency

zigc verify [--symbols]Inspect object files and binary symbol table

zigc build [flags]Compile the project (zig build)

zigc run [flags]Compile and run (zig build run)

zigc cleanRemove .zig-cache/ and zig-out/

zigc upgradeUpdate zigc to the latest release

zigc helpPrint usage

Flag passthrough

zigc build and zigc run translate C-style flags to Zig build options:

-O3, -O2, -O1, -Ofast→ -Doptimize=ReleaseFast

-Os→ -Doptimize=ReleaseSmall

-Og→ -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe

--wasi→ -Dtarget=wasm32-wasi

--wasm→ -Dtarget=wasm32-freestanding

-Wall, -Werror, -DFOO→ Accumulated into -Dcflags=...