Install

Prebuilt binaries

Every tagged release publishes a static binary for six targets, alongside a SHA256SUMS file:

Platform	Target
Linux	x86_64-linux-musl, aarch64-linux-musl
macOS	x86_64-macos, aarch64-macos
Windows	x86_64-windows, aarch64-windows

Download from the releases page, extract, and put the binary on your PATH. Linux builds link musl statically, so there is no glibc version to match.

Verify the download

sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS in the download directory checks every archive at once. On Windows, Get-FileHash zpack-*.zip -Algorithm SHA256.

From source

1. Install Zig 0.16.0

   zpack uses the std.Io interfaces introduced in 0.16, so it will not build on 0.15 or earlier. Get it from ziglang.org or a package manager.

   Windows

   Repository	Command
   winget	winget install zig.zig
   Chocolatey	choco install zig
   Scoop	scoop install zig

   macOS

   Repository	Command
   Homebrew	brew install zig
   MacPorts	port install zig

   Linux

   Distribution	Command
   Arch Linux	pacman -S zig
   Alpine	apk add zig
   Any	snap install zig --beta

   Distro packages lag behind. If yours ships an older Zig, take a release tarball from ziglang.org instead.

2. Clone and build

   git clone https://github.com/masonschafercodes/zpack
   cd zpack
   zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast

   The executable lands in zig-out/bin/zpack.

   ReleaseFast vs ReleaseSafe

   Release binaries are built ReleaseSafe, not ReleaseFast: zpack parses archives it did not write, and the safety checks are worth more than the last few percent of throughput. Build ReleaseFast only for packing trees you produced yourself.

3. Add it to your PATH ^optional

   Windows

   $env:PATH += ";$PWD\zig-out\bin"

   To persist it, add the directory under System Properties → Environment Variables.

   macOS

   Append to ~/.zshrc:

   export PATH="$PATH:/path/to/zpack/zig-out/bin"

   Linux

   Append to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

   export PATH="$PATH:/path/to/zpack/zig-out/bin"

Other build targets

Command	Does
zig build	Debug build with symbols
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast	Optimized, no safety checks
zig build -Dstrip	Omit debug symbols
zig build -Dtarget=aarch64-macos	Cross-compile; no extra toolchain needed
zig build test	Run the test suite and build every example
zig build run -- list game.zpak	Run without installing
zig build examples	Build the four examples without running them

As a library

To depend on zpack from another Zig project rather than installing the CLI, see the library overview.