Zig Setup and Install

Getting Zig running on your machine takes less than five minutes. Zig ships as a single folder with no dependencies — no virtual environments, no package managers to set up first, and no system libraries to install. You download it, point your terminal to it, and write code.

What You Need Before Starting

You need a terminal and a text editor. Any terminal works — Command Prompt or PowerShell on Windows, Terminal on macOS, and any shell on Linux. For a text editor, Visual Studio Code with the Zig extension gives the best experience for beginners, though Vim, Neovim, and any editor that supports LSP (Language Server Protocol) also work well.

Downloading Zig

Visit ziglang.org/download and choose the version for your operating system. The page lists two types of releases:

Release Types Explained

  ziglang.org/download
         |
    +----+----+
    |         |
  Stable    Nightly
  (0.13.0)  (master)
    |         |
    v         v
  Fewer     Latest
  bugs      features
  Safer     May break
  for       between
  learners  updates

Pick the stable release. It is tested thoroughly and its behavior does not change unexpectedly. Nightly builds suit experienced developers who need the newest features and accept occasional breaking changes.

Installing on Windows

Download the .zip file for Windows. Extract it to a folder like C:\zig. Then add that folder to your system PATH so Windows can find the zig command from any directory.

Adding Zig to PATH on Windows

Open the Start menu and search for "Environment Variables." Click "Edit the system environment variables," then click "Environment Variables." In the "System variables" section, find the variable named Path and click "Edit." Add a new entry pointing to your Zig folder, for example C:\zig. Click OK on all dialogs. Open a new Command Prompt and type zig version to confirm the install works.

Installing on macOS

Download the .tar.xz file for macOS. Open your terminal and run these commands:

cd ~/Downloads
tar -xf zig-macos-*.tar.xz
sudo mv zig-macos-* /usr/local/zig

Add the following line to your shell profile file (~/.zshrc for Zsh or ~/.bashrc for Bash):

export PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/zig"

Reload the profile with source ~/.zshrc, then verify with zig version.

Using Homebrew on macOS

If you use Homebrew, one command installs Zig:

brew install zig

Homebrew handles the PATH setup automatically.

Installing on Linux

Download the .tar.xz for your Linux architecture. Most modern machines use x86_64. Raspberry Pi and similar ARM boards use aarch64.

cd ~/Downloads
tar -xf zig-linux-x86_64-*.tar.xz
sudo mv zig-linux-x86_64-* /usr/local/zig
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/zig"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
zig version

Many Linux package managers also carry Zig. On Ubuntu or Debian, check apt. On Arch Linux, Zig is available in the official repositories via pacman -S zig.

Verifying the Install

Open a terminal and type:

zig version

You should see a version number like 0.13.0. If you see a "command not found" error, the PATH is not set correctly. Double-check the steps for your operating system.

Setting Up Visual Studio Code

VS Code is the most beginner-friendly editor for Zig. Install it from code.visualstudio.com. Then open VS Code, go to the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X), and search for "Zig Language." Install the extension by ziglang. This extension gives you syntax highlighting, error highlighting as you type, and code completion.

How the Editor Extension Works

  You type Zig code in VS Code
           |
           v
  ZLS (Zig Language Server) runs in background
           |
       +---+---+
       |       |
  Checks    Suggests
  errors    completions
       |       |
       v       v
  Red squiggles  Dropdown hints
  appear under   appear as you
  mistakes       type

The Zig Language Server (ZLS) is a separate tool that the VS Code extension downloads automatically. It reads your code and reports problems before you run the program. This saves a great deal of time while learning.

Creating Your First Project Folder

Create a folder on your computer for your Zig projects. Open a terminal, navigate to that folder, and run:

zig init

This command creates a minimal project structure:

  my-project/
  ├── build.zig        ← Build instructions
  ├── build.zig.zon    ← Package metadata
  └── src/
      └── main.zig     ← Your code goes here

The build.zig file tells Zig how to compile your project. The src/main.zig file is where you write code. You do not need to understand the build file yet — it works correctly as generated.

Running a Zig File Quickly

You do not always need a full project. For quick experiments, save a file called test.zig and run it directly:

zig run test.zig

Zig compiles the file and runs it immediately. You see the output in the terminal. This is the fastest way to try out small pieces of code while learning.

Keeping Zig Updated

Zig releases new versions regularly. Check ziglang.org/download for updates. To update, download the new version, replace the old folder, and verify with zig version. The process is the same as the initial install. No uninstaller is needed — you simply replace the files.