zv (zig version) manager

zv is a blazing-fast, cross-platform, simple-to-use compiler toolchain manager for Zig, written in Rust. zv aims to be a fast and dependable manager for Zig and ZLS, both system-wide and project-specific, with either inline syntax zig +<version> or by using a .zigversion file in your project root. A version can be a semver, master, or latest for the latest stable. These values are fetched from the cached Ziglang download index available at Zig official index.

With zv binaries, you can now build with the master branch without changing your default system Zig version:

zig +master build

Caching is built-in, so you never have to wait any longer than strictly necessary.

You can also specify a version number, e.g., zig +0.15.1. With zv, you also have the option of pinning per-project Zig versions using a .zigversion file, which takes the same format as + would for inline Zig commands. You can have a project with these contents:

# file .zigversion
0.15.1

which will always use version 0.15.1 when you run any zig command inside it. How cool is that?

It also doubles as a project template starter, providing multiple variants of a Zig project, from a barebones template with a very trimmed-down build.zig and main.zig file, or the standard Zig project template. Find out more with zv init --help.

zv prefers community mirrors for downloads, as that's the official recommendation, with minisign and shasum verification done before any toolchain is installed.

Installation

Quick install script (Recommended):

Linux/macOS:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/weezy20/zv/releases/latest/download/zv-installer.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://github.com/weezy20/zv/releases/latest/download/zv-installer.ps1 | iex

If you encounter an execution policy error, you can temporarily allow script execution by running:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "irm https://github.com/weezy20/zv/releases/latest/download/zv-installer.ps1 | iex"

The following methods use different package managers hence, after running zv setup we uninstall the package manager version of zv to avoid confusion. Since zv can self update for popular OS/Arch combinations, you don't need to rely on package managers for updates.

HomeBrew:

brew install weezy20/tap/zv
# Run zv setup to self-install
zv setup
# Remove brew installation
brew uninstall zv

NPM:

npm install -g @weezy20/zv
# Run zv setup to self-install
zv setup
# Remove npm installation
npm uninstall -g @weezy20/zv

Cargo (crates.io or build from source)

Step 1: Install the binary from crates.io or build from source

Using cargo install:

# From crates.io
cargo install zv

# OR from GitHub
cargo install --git https://github.com/weezy20/zv --locked

Or build from source (clone the repo first):

# Build release binary (creates target/release/zv)
cargo build --release

Step 2: Preview setup changes (optional but recommended)

Using cargo installed binary:

$HOME/.cargo/bin/zv setup --dry-run
# OR shorthand:
$HOME/.cargo/bin/zv setup -d

Or from source:

cargo run --release -- setup --dry-run
# OR shorthand:
cargo run --release -- setup -d

Step 3: Run setup to install zv to ZV_DIR/bin and configure your shell

Using cargo installed binary:

$HOME/.cargo/bin/zv setup

Or from source:

cargo run --release -- setup
# or if you already have ZV_DIR/bin in path
cargo run --release -- sync

This self-installs zv to ZV_DIR/bin (default: $HOME/.zv/bin on Unix, %USERPROFILE%\.zv\bin on Windows) and adds it to your PATH.

Step 4: Remove the cargo binary (optional cleanup - only if you used cargo install)

cargo uninstall zv

From now on, use the zv installed in ZV_DIR/bin.

---

Note: The quick install scripts (shell/PowerShell), Homebrew, and npm all install zv directly to ZV_DIR/bin (default: $HOME/.zv/bin on Unix, %USERPROFILE%\.zv\bin on Windows) and configure your PATH automatically. You're ready to go! If you installed via cargo, see the instructions above for running zv setup or zv sync.

Updating zv

Simple update (Recommended):

zv update # Installs latest stable release on supported targets*.

This command checks for new releases on GitHub and updates zv in place. It works whether you're running from ZV_DIR/bin/zv or from an external location (like cargo install).

Options:

zv update --force  # Force reinstall even if already on the latest version
zv upgrade         # Alias for update
zv update --rc     # Update to latest pre-release (release candidate) version

Alternative update methods:

If you have the repo cloned or are using a cargo-installed binary:

# Build new version and update the binary in ZV_DIR/bin
cargo run --release -- sync

# Or if you installed from crates.io, install it and sync
cargo install zv --force
zv sync
# or if you already have ZV_DIR/bin in path
~/.cargo/bin/zv sync # $CARGO_HOME/bin/zv sync

Usage

All zv data lives in ZV_DIR, including Zig versions, downloads, cache files, and the zv binary itself.

Default locations:

• Unix/Linux/macOS: $HOME/.zv
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.zv

You can customize this by setting the ZV_DIR environment variable.

Use zv for project creation:

zv init [project_name]                 # Create a new Zig project with a name
zv init                                # Create a new Zig project in the current working directory
zv init --zig | -z                     # Create a new Zig project using the standard template provided by `zig init`
# Create a zig project with build.zig.zon:
zv init -p | --zon | --package  <?name>      # Create a zig project in current directory with build.zig.zon or with name if provided
# Note: this requires an active zig version >= 0.12.0 where build.zig.zon support was introduced

Note: zv init will use the build.zig that's present in templates/build.zig which is checked to work against minimum zig version specified in templates/.zigversion. If you want to use a different zig version, set it as active zig and use zv init -z or zig init directly.

Use zv as your Zig compiler toolchain manager:

# Version selection - basic usage
# pass in -f or --force-ziglang to download using `ziglang.org` instead of community mirrors (default & recommended)
zv use <version | master | stable | latest> # Select a Zig version to use. Can be a semver, master (branch)
zv use 0.13.0                               # Use a specific semantic version
zv use 0.14 -f                              # Use a version (auto-completes to 0.14.0) & downloads from `ziglang.org` due to -f
zv use master                               # Use master branch build (queries network to find the latest master build)
zv use stable                               # Use latest stable release (refers to cached index)
zv use latest                               # Use latest stable release (queries network to fetch the latest stable)
zv install <version,*> [-f ]                # Install one or more Zig versions without switching to it. Use -f to download from ziglang.org instead of community mirrors.
zv i 0.15.1,0.14.0,master                   # Install multiple versions at once using a comma-separated list

# Per-project Zig config
zig +<version> [...zig args]            # Run Zig using a specific <version> (fetches and downloads version if not present locally)
zig +master [...zig args]               # Run Zig using master build. (If already cached, no download, but a network request is made to verify version)
zig [...zig args]                       # Uses current configured Zig or prefers version from `.zigversion` file in the repository adjacent to `build.zig`.

# Management commands
zv list  | ls                          # List installed Zig versions
zv clean | rm                          # Remove Zig versions interactively. Additionally cleans up downloads cache, temporary download artifacts.
zv clean | rm <version | all>          # Clean up all zv-managed installations using `all` or just a single one (e.g., zv clean 0.14).
zv clean 0.14,0.14.0                   # Clean up multiple Zig installations using a comma-separated list.
zv clean --except <version,*>          # Clean up every version except the version mentioned as argument to --except <version> where <version> maybe a comma separated list of ZigVersions. E.g. (zv clean --except 0.14.1,[email protected]+f50c64797,[email protected])
zv rm master                           # Clean up the `master` branch toolchain.
zv rm master --outdated                # Clean up any older master versions in the master folder that don't match latest `master`
zv setup                               # Set up shell environment for zv with interactive prompts (use --no-interactive for automation)
zv sync                                # Resync community mirrors list from [ziglang.org/download/community-mirrors.txt]; also force resync of index to fetch latest nightly builds. Replaces `ZV_DIR/bin/zv` if outdated against current invocation.
zv upgrade | update                    # Update zv to the latest release only if present in GH Releases: https://github.com/weezy20/zv/releases
zv help                                # Detailed instructions for zv. Use `--help` for long help or `-h` for short help with a subcommand.

minisign verification is done using jedisct1/rust-minisign-verify — a small minisign library in pure Rust.

It also supports NO_COLOR for non-TTY environments.

I hope you enjoy using it! ♥

---

Customizing ZV behaviour:

🔧 Environment Variables for customizing zv

Variable	Description	Default / Notes
ZV_LOG	Sets the log level (same as RUST_LOG). If set, logging follows the specified level.	Inherits RUST_LOG behavior
ZV_DIR	Defines the home directory for zv.	Default $HOME/.zv for linux/macos or unix. For windows it usually will be %USERPROFILE%/.zv
ZV_INDEX_TTL_DAYS	Number of days between automatic index syncs.	21 days — Using master or latest in inline mode use a shorter cache duration of just 1 day unlike use which will always fetch master & latest from network, so practically, you never have to worry about setting this variable yourself.
ZV_MIRRORS_TTL_DAYS	Number of days before refreshing the mirrors list. Broken mirrors degrade automatically. Use zv sync to force refresh.	21 days — mirrors and index can be resynced immediately with zv sync. master relies on latest builds & so does latest and some community mirrors may not have it available; zv will retry other mirrors in that case.
ZV_MAX_RETRIES	Maximum number of retry attempts for downloads when a download fails.	3 retries — If a download fails, zv will retry up to this many times before giving up.
NO_COLOR	If set, disables color output in all zv commands.	No color output; useful for non-TTY environments or scripts.
ZV_FETCH_TIMEOUT_SECS	Request timeout to use for network operations requiring fetching index/mirrors list from ziglang.org.	Default 15 seconds for most operations.

---

Tips:

• If you prefer some mirrors to others, you can put it as rank = 1 on your preferred mirrors (Default is rank 1 for all mirros) or lower the rank of mirrors that you don't want. rank is a range from 1..255, lower is better and more preferred when doing random selection. The mirrors file is generated at <ZV_DIR>/mirrors.toml

• Currently zv use master will only install the master as present in zig-index. This means that older master installations still remain under the masters folder and can be selected via zv use master@<older master version> which can be obtained via zv ls. Note, installing older master versions like this doesn't work because for master we exclusively consult the information in the zig-index. However, there's no reason this can't be supported in the future with a separate dev@<version> syntax.