Zig Version Manager (zvm) is a tool for managing your Zig installs. With std under heavy development and a large feature roadmap, Zig is bound to continue changing. Breaking existing builds, updating valid syntax, and introducing new features like a package manager. While this is great for developers, it also can lead to headaches when you need multiple versions of a language installed to compile your projects, or a language gets updated frequently.

Donate

• Paypal

Join our Community

• Twitch
• Twitter|X

Installing ZVM

ZVM lives entirely in $HOME/.zvm on all platforms it supports. Inside of the directory, ZVM will download new ZIG versions and symlink whichever version you specify with zvm use to $HOME/.zvm/bin. You should add this folder to your path. After ZVM 0.2.3, ZVM's installer will now add ZVM to $HOME/.zvm/self. You should also add this directory as the environment variable ZVM_INSTALL. The installer scripts should handle this for you automatically on *nix and Windows systems.

If you don't want to use ZVM_INSTALL (like you already have ZVM in a place you like), then ZVM will update the exact executable you've called upgrade from.

All installation scripts hosted on www.zvm.app are identical to, and are automatically synced with their respective copies on GitHub.

www.zvm.app/install.sh === ./install.sh

Linux, BSD, MacOS, *nix

curl https://www.zvm.app/install.sh | bash

Windows

PowerShell

irm "https://www.zvm.app/install.ps1" | iex

Command Prompt

powershell -c "irm https://www.zvm.app/install.ps1 | iex"

If You Have a Valid Version of Go Installed

go install -ldflags "-s -w" github.com/tristanisham/zvm@latest

Manually

Please grab the latest release.

Alternatively, you can build the app by cloning the repository and running

go build .
./zvm

If you want to disable that ZVM can automatically update itself, you can run

go build -tags noAutoUpgrades .

instead for building the app.

Putting ZVM on your Path

ZVM requires a few directories to be on your $PATH.

Linux, BSD, MacOS, *nix

The installer script handles this for you automatically. If you need to set it up manually, append the following to your shell's startup file (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.profile):

export ZVM_INSTALL="$HOME/.zvm/self"
export PATH="$HOME/.zvm/bin:$ZVM_INSTALL:$PATH"

Then restart your shell or source the file for the changes to take effect.

Windows

If you don't know how to update your environment variables permanently on Windows, you can follow this guide. Once you're in the appropriate menu, add or append to the following environment variables:

Add

• ZVM_INSTALL: %USERPROFILE%\.zvm\self

Append

• PATH: %USERPROFILE%\.zvm\bin
• PATH: %ZVM_INSTALL%

Configure ZVM path

It is possible to overwrite the default behavior of ZVM to adhere to XDG specification on Linux. There's an environment variable ZVM_PATH. Setting it to $XDG_DATA_HOME/zvm will do the trick.

Community Package

AUR

zvm on the Arch AUR is a community-maintained package, and may be out of date.

Why should I use ZVM?

While Zig is still pre-1.0 if you're going to stay up-to-date with the master branch, you're going to be downloading Zig quite often. You could do it manually, having to scroll around to find your appropriate version, decompress it, and install it on your $PATH. Or, you could install ZVM and run zvm i master every time you want to update. zvm is a static binary under a permissive license. It supports more platforms than any other Zig version manager. ZVM has no system dependencies. Whether you're on Windows, MacOS, Linux, a flavor of BSD, or Plan 9 zvm will let you install, switch between, and run multiple versions of Zig.

Using ZVM with AI coding agents

ZVM ships one portable agent skill with plugin manifests for Claude Code and Codex. It teaches coding agents to reach for zvm instead of a distro package or a hand-unpacked tarball, and to drive it correctly when they do.

Claude Code

/plugin marketplace add tristanisham/zvm
/plugin install zvm

The same commands are also available from a shell:

claude plugin marketplace add tristanisham/zvm
claude plugin install zvm@zvm

Codex and other agents

The repository includes a Codex plugin manifest at .codex-plugin/plugin.json. The underlying skills/zig-versions/ directory uses the portable Agent Skills layout, so other skill-compatible agents can load that directory directly.

The shared skill covers ZVM's real command surface, how to find the version a repository actually wants (//! zvm-lock: in build.zig, .minimum_zig_version in build.zig.zon), and why agents should prefer zvm run over zvm use so they never repoint your global Zig without being asked. The command reference is generated from ZVM's own CLI definition, so it cannot drift from the binary.

Contributing and Notice

zvm is stable software. Pre-v1.0.0 any breaking changes will be clearly labeled, and any commands potentially on the chopping block will print notice. The program is under constant development, and the author is very willing to work with contributors. If you have any issues, ideas, or contributions you'd like to suggest create a GitHub issue.

How to use ZVM

Install

zvm install <version> 
# Or
zvm i <version>

Use install or i to download a specific version of Zig. You can pass an exact version, a shorthand, or an alias.

zvm i 0.13.0      # Install an exact version
zvm i master      # Install the current master nightly
zvm i stable      # Install the latest stable release
zvm i .14         # Shorthand — installs 0.14.x (latest patch)

Version Shorthand

You can use abbreviated version numbers and ZVM will resolve them to the latest matching release:

zvm i 0.13     # Installs 0.13.0
zvm i .13      # Same as above — a leading dot implies "0."
zvm i 0.15     # Installs 0.15.2 (latest 0.15.x patch)
zvm i .15      # Same — resolves to 0.15.2

Whenever ZVM expands a shorthand, it prints the result so you know exactly what's being fetched:

$ zvm i .14
Resolved ".14" to 0.14.1
...

Shorthand works across every command that takes a version:

zvm i 0.14      # install
zvm use .13     # switch active version
zvm run 0.12 version
zvm rm .11      # uninstall

For use and rm, shorthand is resolved against your locally installed versions. For install and run, it resolves against the remote version map.

Version Aliases

ZVM understands a few named aliases in addition to concrete versions:

zvm i stable        # Install the latest stable release
zvm use stable      # Switch to the latest installed stable release
zvm i master        # Install the current master nightly

stable is especially useful in automation — you don't have to know the exact version number to grab the newest release.

You can also create your own named aliases with the alias command.

Force Install

As of v0.7.6 ZVM will now skip downloading a version if it is already installed. You can always force an install with the --force or -f flag.

zvm i --force master

You can also enable the old behavior by setting the new alwaysForceInstall field to true in ~/.zvm/settings.json.

Install Without Switching

By default, installing Zig also makes that version active. Pass --skip-use or -k to install it without changing the active Zig version:

zvm i --skip-use 0.15.2

This also applies when installing ZLS with --zls.

Install a Specific Development Build

Zig development builds can be installed by their full build identifier, such as 0.16.0-dev.1334+06d08daba. ZVM downloads these builds directly from ziglang.org/builds because they are not listed in the release version map.

Development builds do not have a version-map SHA-256 checksum. ZVM warns about this and asks for confirmation before continuing:

zvm i 0.16.0-dev.1334+06d08daba

For an explicit non-interactive install, pass --skip-shasum (or -s). This also skips SHA-256 verification for regular Zig and ZLS installations, so use it only when you accept that risk:

zvm i --skip-shasum 0.16.0-dev.1334+06d08daba

Customize HTTP Timeout

You can pass a custom HTTP timeout (in seconds) for zvm i using the --http.timeout flag or by setting the ZVM_HTTP_TIMEOUT environment variable.

zvm i --http.timeout 30

Install ZLS with ZVM

You can now install ZLS with your Zig download! To install ZLS with ZVM, simply pass the --zls flag with zvm i. For example:

zvm i --zls master

By default, ZVM stops if the Zig installation fails and does not attempt the requested ZLS installation. To attempt ZLS even after a Zig installation error, set alwaysInstallZLS to true in ~/.zvm/settings.json:

{
  "alwaysInstallZLS": true
}

The command still returns the Zig installation error. If ZLS also fails, ZVM returns both errors.

Install for a Different Target Platform

If you're on a platform where pre-built Zig binaries aren't available for a specific version (e.g., FreeBSD for Zig 0.14.x), you can override the target OS and/or architecture to download a compatible build.

Use the --target-os and --target-arch flags:

zvm i --target-os linux --target-arch x86_64 0.14.0

Or set the ZVM_TARGET_OS and ZVM_TARGET_ARCH environment variables:

export ZVM_TARGET_OS=linux
export ZVM_TARGET_ARCH=x86_64
zvm i 0.14.0

Both Go-style names (e.g., darwin, amd64) and Zig-style names (e.g., macos, x86_64) are accepted.

Select ZLS compatibility mode

By default, ZVM will install a ZLS build, which can be used with the given Zig version, but may not be able to build ZLS from source. If you want to use a ZLS build, which can be built using the selected Zig version, pass the --full flag with zvm i --zls. For example:

zvm i --zls --full master

Important

This does not apply to tagged releases, e.g.: 0.13.0

Switch between installed Zig versions

zvm use <version>

Use use to switch between versions of Zig. The version argument accepts shorthand and aliases.

zvm use master     # Switch to master
zvm use stable     # Switch to the latest installed stable release
zvm use 0.13       # Resolves to 0.13.x (latest installed patch)
zvm use .14        # Same — leading dot implies "0."

Alias your Zig versions

Use alias (or kv) to give an installed Zig version a custom name. The version must already be installed, and shorthand is supported.

zvm alias work 0.13.0    # Point "work" at 0.13.0
zvm alias play .14       # Resolve to the latest installed 0.14.x
zvm use work             # Switch versions by alias
zvm run play version     # Run a command with the aliased version

Aliases work with install, use, run, and rm. Setting an existing name updates it.

zvm alias                # List all aliases
zvm alias work           # Print one alias
zvm alias -d work        # Delete one alias
zvm alias --clear        # Delete all aliases

List installed Zig versions

# Example
zvm ls

Use ls to list all installed version of Zig.

List all versions of Zig available

zvm ls --all

The --all flag will list the available versions of Zig for download. Not the versions locally installed.

List set version maps

zvm ls --vmu

The --vmu flag will list set version maps for Zig and ZLS downloads.

Uninstall a Zig version

zvm rm 0.10.0      # Remove an exact version
zvm rm .13         # Shorthand — removes the installed 0.13.x
zvm rm stable      # Alias — removes the installed stable release

Use uninstall or rm to remove an installed version from your system. The version argument accepts shorthand and aliases, resolved against what you have installed locally.

Upgrade your ZVM installation

As of zvm v0.2.3 you can now upgrade your ZVM installation from, well, zvm. Just run:

zvm upgrade

The latest version of ZVM should install on your machine, regardless of where your binary lives (though if you have your binary in a privileged folder, you may have to run this command with sudo).

Install via Package Manager

ZVM (> v0.8.14) can also be built without its auto upgrader (zvm upgrade). This is to make installing ZVM via a package manager easier for those who prefer this method.

When you run a build of ZVM with the autoupgrader disabled, you will see a builder-specified message when you run zvm upgrade.

go build -ldflags=-w -s -X 'main.BuildUpgradeMessage=Command to upgrade ZVM goes here.'

Remember, ZVM is an open source project. Anyone can customize and distribute it.

Clean up build artifacts

# Example
zvm clean

Use clean to remove build artifacts (Good if you're on Windows).

Run installed version of Zig without switching your default

If you want to run a version of Zig without setting it as your default, the new run command is your friend. The version argument accepts shorthand and aliases.

zig version
# 0.13.0

zvm run 0.11.0 version
# 0.11.0

zvm run .12 version     # Shorthand works too
# 0.12.1

zvm run stable version  # Run against the latest stable
# 0.16.0

zig version
# 0.13.0

This can be helpful if you want to test your project on a newer version of Zig without having to switch between bins, or on alternative flavor of Zig.

How to use with alternative VMUs

Make sure you switch your VMU before using run.

zvm vmu zig mach
zvm run mach-latest version
# 0.14.0-dev.1911+3bf89f55c

If you would like to run the currently set Zig, please keep using the standard zig command.

Set Version Map Source

ZVM lets you choose your vendor for Zig and ZLS. This is great if your company hosts its own internal fork of Zig, you prefer a different flavor of the language, like Mach.

zvm vmu zig "https://machengine.org/zig/index.json" # Change the source ZVM pulls Zig release information from.

zvm vmu zls https://validurl.local/vmu.json
                                       # ZVM only supports schemas that match the offical version map schema. 
                                       # Run `vmu default` to reset your version map.

zvm vmu zig default # Resets back to default Zig releases.
zvm vmu zig mach # Sets ZVM to pull from Mach nominated Zig.

zvm vmu zls default # Resets back to default ZLS releases.

Use a Custom Mirror Distribution Server

ZVM now lets you set your own Mirror Distribution Server. If you cannot or choose not to use the official Zig mirror list, you can host your own, or use another grouping of mirrors.

zvm mirrorlist <url>
# Reset to the official mirror
zvm mirrorlist default

Print program help

Print global help information by running:

zvm --help

Print help information about a specific command or subcommand.

zvm list --help

NAME:
   zvm list - list installed Zig versions. Flag `--all` to see remote options

USAGE:
   zvm list [command options] [arguments...]

OPTIONS:
   --all, -a   list remote Zig versions available for download, based on your version map (default: false)
   --vmu       list set version maps (default: false)
   --help, -h  show help

Print program version

zvm --version

Prints the version of ZVM you have installed.

Report a bug

zvm bug

Opens a prefilled issue on ZVM's GitHub repository in your browser. The report template comes with your environment already filled in: your ZVM version, settings, installed and selected Zig versions, and host details. Fill in what you did, what happened, and what you expected, then submit it yourself — zvm never files the issue for you.

On a machine with no browser (a remote shell or a container), print the URL instead and open it elsewhere:

zvm bug --print

$BROWSER takes precedence over the platform's default handler if it's set.

Shell Completion

ZVM can emit a completion script for bash, zsh, fish, or pwsh (PowerShell). The script is generated from ZVM's live command tree, so it always reflects the commands and flags of the zvm binary you ran it with.

zvm completion bash
zvm completion zsh
zvm completion fish
zvm completion pwsh

Bash

Source the script for the current session:

source <(zvm completion bash)

To load it on every new shell, write it to bash-completion's load path:

zvm completion bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/zvm           # system-wide
# or for a single user:
zvm completion bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/zvm

Zsh

Place the script somewhere on your $fpath as _zvm. Pick a user-writable directory so you don't need sudo:

# Plain zsh — create a user completions dir and add it to $fpath in ~/.zshrc:
mkdir -p ~/.zsh/completions
zvm completion zsh > ~/.zsh/completions/_zvm

# Then in ~/.zshrc (before `compinit`):
fpath=(~/.zsh/completions $fpath)

If you use Oh My Zsh, drop it into the custom completions directory instead — Oh My Zsh adds it to $fpath automatically:

mkdir -p ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/completions
zvm completion zsh > ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/completions/_zvm

Then ensure compinit is running in your ~/.zshrc (Oh My Zsh already does this for you):

autoload -Uz compinit && compinit

Fish

zvm completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/zvm.fish

Fish picks this up automatically on the next shell.

PowerShell

zvm completion pwsh > $HOME/.zvm/zvm.ps1

Then dot-source the file from your PowerShell profile ($PROFILE):

. "$HOME/.zvm/zvm.ps1"

Option flags

Color Toggle

Enable or disable colored ZVM output. No value toggles colors.

Enable

• on
• yes/y
• enabled
• true

Disabled

• off
• no/n
• disabled
• false

--color # Toggle ANSI color printing on or off for ZVM's output, i.e. --color=true

Environment Variables

• ZVM_DEBUG enables DEBUG logging for your executable. This is meant for contributors and developers.
• ZVM_SET_CU Toggle the automatic upgrade checker. If you want to reenable the checker, just unset ZVM_SET_CU.
• ZVM_PATH replaces the default install location for ZVM Set the environment variable to the parent directory of where you've placed the .zvm directory.
• ZVM_TARGET_OS Override the target operating system for downloads (e.g., linux, macos, windows, freebsd). Useful on platforms where Zig doesn't provide pre-built binaries for a specific version.
• ZVM_TARGET_ARCH Override the target architecture for downloads (e.g., x86_64, aarch64, arm, riscv64).
• ZVM_SKIP_TLS_VERIFY Do you have problems using TLS in your environment? Toggle off verifying TLS by setting this environment variable.
  • By default when this is enabled ZVM will print a warning. Set this variable to no-warn to silence this warning.
• BROWSER is the command zvm bug uses to open a report URL. Without it, ZVM falls back to the platform's default handler.

Settings

ZVM has additional setting stored in ~/.zvm/settings.json. You can manually update version maps, toggle color support, and disable the automatic upgrade checker here. The alwaysInstallZLS setting controls whether a requested ZLS installation is attempted after Zig installation fails and defaults to false. Some settings are also exposed as flags or environment variables. This file is stateful, and ZVM will create it if it does not exist and utilizes it for its operation.

Uninstalling ZVM

ZVM stores its binaries, installed Zig versions, and settings under $HOME/.zvm on Unix-like systems and $HOME\.zvm on Windows. Remove the installer-managed environment configuration before deleting that directory.

Linux, BSD, macOS, and other Unix-like systems

install.sh adds a block beginning with # ZVM to one of the following shell startup files:

• Fish: ~/.config/fish/config.fish
• Zsh: ~/.zshenv, ~/.zprofile, or ~/.zshrc
• Other shells: ~/.bashrc or ~/.profile

Remove that entire block, including the ZVM_INSTALL assignment and the lines that add $HOME/.zvm/bin and $ZVM_INSTALL to PATH. Then remove ZVM:

rm -rf "$HOME/.zvm"

Close and reopen your terminal to clear ZVM_INSTALL and the ZVM entries from the current environment.

Windows PowerShell

Run the following in PowerShell to remove the user-level ZVM_INSTALL variable, remove ZVM's two entries from the user and current-session Path, and delete ZVM:

$ZvmPaths = @(
    "$HOME\.zvm\self"
    "$HOME\.zvm\bin"
)

[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(
    "ZVM_INSTALL",
    $null,
    [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User
)

$UserPath = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable(
    "Path",
    [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User
) -split ";" | Where-Object {
    $_ -and $_.TrimEnd("\") -notin $ZvmPaths
}

[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(
    "Path",
    $UserPath -join ";",
    [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User
)

Remove-Item Env:ZVM_INSTALL -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$env:Path = (($env:Path -split ";") | Where-Object {
    $_ -and $_.TrimEnd("\") -notin $ZvmPaths
}) -join ";"

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$HOME\.zvm"

Restart open terminals and editors so they inherit the updated user environment.

Please Consider Giving the Repo a Star ⭐

{
  "name": "zvm",
  "description": "Zig Version Manager plugin for Claude Code",
  "owner": {
    "name": "Tristan Isham"
  },
  "plugins": [
    {
      "name": "zvm",
      "description": "Install, pin, and switch Zig toolchains with zvm (Zig Version Manager).",
      "version": "0.9.1",
      "source": "./",
      "author": {
        "name": "Tristan Isham"
      },
      "homepage": "https://www.zvm.app",
      "license": "MIT",
      "keywords": [
        "zig",
        "zvm",
        "version-manager",
        "toolchain",
        "zls"
      ]
    }
  ]
}