Installation

Package Manager

Step 1: Add Dependency

Add to your build.zig.zon:

.{
    .name = .your_project,
    .version = "0.1.0",
    .dependencies = .{
        .zon = .{
            .url = "https://github.com/muhammad-fiaz/zon.zig/archive/refs/tags/0.0.3.tar.gz",
            .hash = "...",
        },
    },
    .paths = .{ "build.zig", "build.zig.zon", "src" },
}

Step 2: Fetch Hash

Run this command to get the hash:

zig fetch --save https://github.com/muhammad-fiaz/zon.zig/archive/refs/tags/0.0.3.tar.gz

or

for nightly installation, use this command:

zig fetch --save git+https://github.com/muhammad-fiaz/zon.zig.git

This automatically updates your build.zig.zon with the correct hash.

Step 3: Update build.zig

const std = @import("std");

pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
    const target = b.standardTargetOptions(.{});
    const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{});

    // Add zon.zig dependency
    const zon_dep = b.dependency("zon", .{
        .target = target,
        .optimize = optimize,
    });

    // Create executable
    const exe = b.addExecutable(.{
        .name = "myapp",
        .root_module = b.createModule(.{
            .root_source_file = b.path("src/main.zig"),
            .target = target,
            .optimize = optimize,
        }),
    });

    // Import zon module
    exe.root_module.addImport("zon", zon_dep.module("zon"));

    b.installArtifact(exe);

    const run_cmd = b.addRunArtifact(exe);
    run_cmd.step.dependOn(b.getInstallStep());
    const run_step = b.step("run", "Run the application");
    run_step.dependOn(&run_cmd.step);
}

Step 4: Use in Code

const std = @import("std");
const zon = @import("zon");

pub fn main() !void {
    var gpa = std.heap.GeneralPurposeAllocator(.{}){};
    defer _ = gpa.deinit();
    const allocator = gpa.allocator();

    zon.disableUpdateCheck();

    var doc = zon.create(allocator);
    defer doc.deinit();

    try doc.setString("hello", "world");

    const output = try doc.toString();
    defer allocator.free(output);
    std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{output});
}

Step 5: Build and Run

zig build run

Output:

.{
    .hello = "world",
}

Manual Installation

Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/muhammad-fiaz/zon.zig.git

Add as Local Dependency

In your build.zig.zon:

.dependencies = .{
    .zon = .{
        .path = "../zon.zig",
    },
},

Prebuilt Libraries

Download prebuilt static libraries from GitHub Releases.

Platform	Architecture	File
Windows	x86_64	zon-x86_64-windows.lib
Windows	x86	zon-x86-windows.lib
Linux	x86_64	libzon-x86_64-linux.a
Linux	aarch64	libzon-aarch64-linux.a
macOS	x86_64	libzon-x86_64-macos.a
macOS	aarch64	libzon-aarch64-macos.a

Using Prebuilt Library

exe.addLibraryPath(b.path("libs"));
exe.linkSystemLibrary("zon");

Verify Installation

Create test.zig:

const std = @import("std");
const zon = @import("zon");

pub fn main() !void {
    std.debug.print("zon.zig version: {s}\n", .{zon.version});
}

Run:

zig build run

Output:

zon.zig version: 0.0.3

Requirements

• Zig 0.15.0 or later
• No external dependencies
• Cross-platform: Windows, Linux, macOS

Troubleshooting

Hash Mismatch

If you get a hash mismatch error:

zig fetch --save https://github.com/muhammad-fiaz/zon.zig/archive/refs/tags/0.0.3.tar.gz

Module Not Found

Ensure you've added the import in your build.zig:

exe.root_module.addImport("zon", zon_dep.module("zon"));

Compiler Version

Check your Zig version:

zig version

Requires 0.15.0 or later.