zpm

The Zig package manager.
_{Zig Package Manager — Über alles. Zero allocations, all platforms.}

Unapologetic · Opinionated · Familiar · Efficient

Officially supports Zig 0.16+ and Sig 0.1.2

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Quick Start

# Install zpm (or build from source — see Contributing)
zpm --version

# Scaffold a new project
zpm init --template cli-app --name my-app
cd my-app

# Install packages
zpm i @zpm/core @zpm/json

# Build and run
zpm run

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Commands

Command	Alias	Description
zpm init		Scaffold a new project from a template
zpm install <pkg...>	i	Install packages and resolve dependencies
zpm uninstall <pkg...>	rm	Remove packages and orphaned transitive deps
zpm list	ls	List installed zpm packages
zpm search <query>		Search the registry for packages
zpm publish	pub	Publish a package to the registry
zpm validate	val	Validate zpm.pkg.zon before publishing
zpm update [pkg...]	up	Update packages to latest versions
zpm doctor		Check environment health
zpm run [args...]		Build and run via zig build run
zpm build [args...]		Build via zig build

Global Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--verbose	-v	Detailed output
--quiet	-q	Suppress non-error output
--offline		No network requests
--registry <url>		Override registry URL
--transport quic		Use QUIC transport for registry ops
--help	-h	Show help
--version	-V	Show version

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Templates

zpm init --template <name> --name <project>

Template	Description
empty	Minimal Zig project (default)
cli-app	Cross-platform CLI with argument parsing
web-server	Zig HTTP server project
gui-app	Platform-abstracted window + GL rendering
library	Reusable Zig module with src/root.zig and tests
package	Library + zpm.pkg.zon manifest for publishing
window	Native window creation with OpenGL context
gl-app	OpenGL application with render loop
trading	Trading application scaffold

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Architecture

Four layers, strictly ordered — lower layers never import from higher layers.

Layer 2: Render      Drawing primitives, text, icons (color, primitives, text, icon)
Layer 1: Transport   QUIC stack — RFC 9000/9001/9002/9221 (conn, streams, packet, ...)
Layer 1: Platform    OS bindings, system services (win32, gl, window, http, crypto, ...)
Layer 0: Core        Pure data types, math, logic — no platform deps (core, math, json)

Implementation Language

zpm is implemented entirely in Sig (.sig files). Sig is source-compatible with Zig — same syntax, same semantics — compiled by the Sig compiler.

zpm fully supports both Zig and Sig projects:

• build.sig — recommended build file for Sig projects
• build.zig — supported for Zig projects
• build.sig.zon — recommended package manifest
• build.zig.zon — supported for Zig projects

All zpm commands (install, build, run, etc.) work identically regardless of which extension your project uses.

Principles

• No hidden allocations — all storage is stack or comptime-sized
• No implicit work — every cost is visible
• No standard library I/O at runtime — pure platform-native extern calls
• Explicit over convenient
• Zero-cost abstractions only

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QUIC Transport

zpm includes a full QUIC implementation (RFC 9000, 9001, 9002, 9221) for high-performance registry access. Enable with --transport quic.

Three application lanes map to QUIC primitives:

Lane	QUIC Primitive	Semantics	Use Cases
Control	Bidirectional stream 0	Reliable, ordered	Resolve, publish, search, auth
Bulk	Bidirectional streams 4+	Reliable, parallel	Tarball download
Hot	DATAGRAM frames	Unreliable, latest-wins	Invalidation, version announcements

const conn = @import("conn");
const appmap = @import("appmap");

var connection = conn.Connection.initClient(server_addr);
var app = appmap.AppMap.init(&connection.stream_mgr, &connection.dgram_handler);
app.sendResolveRequest(scope, name, version);

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Official @zpm/ Packages

34 packages derived from the existing zpm module library.

Layer 0 — Core

Package	Description
@zpm/core	Core data types, storage, and logic
@zpm/math	Sin/cos approximations, lerp, interpolation, pure math
@zpm/json	Minimal JSON parser

Layer 1 — Platform

Package	Description
@zpm/win32	Hand-written Win32 type/constant/extern bindings
@zpm/gl	OpenGL 1.x constants and function externs
@zpm/window	Borderless window creation and management
@zpm/timer	High-precision timer
@zpm/seqlock	Sequence lock for lock-free concurrent reads
@zpm/http	HTTP client
@zpm/crypto	HMAC-SHA256 cryptographic operations
@zpm/file-io	File I/O operations
@zpm/threading	Thread pool and worker management
@zpm/logging	Logging subsystem
@zpm/input	Keyboard and mouse input handling
@zpm/png	PNG encoder with deflate compression
@zpm/screenshot	GL framebuffer capture
@zpm/mcp	Embedded MCP server
@zpm/platform	Coarse-grained re-export of all platform subsystems

Layer 1 — Transport

Package	Description
@zpm/udp	UDP socket I/O (non-blocking send/receive)
@zpm/packet	QUIC packet parsing and serialization (RFC 9000)
@zpm/transport-crypto	TLS 1.3 integration and packet protection (RFC 9001)
@zpm/recovery	Loss detection and congestion control (RFC 9002, NewReno)
@zpm/streams	Stream management with flow control
@zpm/datagram	DATAGRAM frame handling (RFC 9221)
@zpm/telemetry	Per-connection counters and diagnostics
@zpm/scheduler	Packet assembly and pacing
@zpm/conn	QUIC connection state machine
@zpm/appmap	Application protocol mapping (registry ops to QUIC lanes)
@zpm/transport	Coarse-grained re-export of all transport sub-modules

Layer 2 — Render

Package	Description
@zpm/color	Color types and constants
@zpm/primitives	GL immediate-mode drawing: rect, line, candle, glow
@zpm/text	Bitmap font rasterization
@zpm/icon	ICO file loading to GL texture
@zpm/render	Coarse-grained re-export of all render subsystems

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Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for build instructions, code style, and PR process.

# Build from source
cd zpm/cli
zig build

# Run all tests
zig build test --summary all

# Run root-level tests (transport, core, platform)
cd zpm
zig build test --summary all

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Every byte accounted for. Every cycle earned.

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