Install Zig

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

Use install or i to download a specific version of Zig. To install the latest nightly, use master; for the latest stable tagged release, use stable.

# Example
zvm i master
zvm i stable
zvm i 0.13            # shorthand — resolves to 0.13.0
zvm i .15             # shorthand — resolves to the highest 0.15.x

See the Version Syntax section below for the full set of accepted version strings. The same rules apply to zvm use, zvm run, and zvm rm.

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 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

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

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

Version Syntax

As of v0.8.19, the commands that take a Zig version — install, use, run, and rm — accept several forms:

Input	Resolves to
0.14.1	0.14.1 (exact tagged release)
0.13	0.13.0 (shorthand — highest 0.13.x)
0.15	0.15.2 (shorthand — highest 0.15.x)
.12	0.12.1 (leading dot implies 0.)
master	Zig’s nightly build (passes through unchanged)
stable	The highest non-dev, non-master tagged release
latest	Reserved; currently passes through unchanged

When shorthand is expanded, ZVM prints a line like Resolved "0.13" to 0.13.0 to stdout. Parse that line if you need the concrete version in scripting.

Resolution scope matters. install resolves against the remote version map (the Zig download index by default, or your configured version map). use, rm, and run resolve against versions that are locally installed — you cannot use 0.13 unless some 0.13.x has already been installed.

Shorthand and aliases also propagate to the --zls installer, so zvm i --zls .13 now installs the matching ZLS build instead of failing with an empty-version error.

Cross-target installs

You can override the OS and architecture ZVM downloads for. This is useful on hosts like FreeBSD where a given Zig version may have no native prebuilt binary, but a Linux or macOS build will run under emulation or compatibility layers.

Use the flags:

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

Or set environment variables so every install in the session inherits the override:

export ZVM_TARGET_OS=linux
export ZVM_TARGET_ARCH=x86_64
zvm i 0.14.0

Both Go-style names (darwin, amd64, arm64) and Zig-style names (macos, x86_64, aarch64) are accepted, and values are case-insensitive.