Getting started

Z is currently developed from its source repository. There is not yet a versioned compiler distribution or package manager.

Requirements

• Bun 1.3.14, or the version named by the repository
• Clang available on PATH
• On macOS, Xcode Command Line Tools for Objective-C, AppKit, and Swift probes

Clone the repository, then confirm the toolchain:

git clone https://github.com/popaprozac/z.git
cd z
bun --version
clang --version
bun run test

Your first program

Create hello.zs:

import console from "std/console";

function main(): i32 {
  const answer = 20 + 22;
  console.log(`answer=${answer}`);
  return 0;
}

Run it through the Stage-0 CLI:

bun run z run hello.zs

main is required for an executable entry point and returns the native process exit code. Export-only .zs files are valid modules and do not require main.

Z uses .zs for source and .zd for foreign declaration contracts. It does not claim .z, which Unix tooling commonly recognizes as a compressed archive.

Useful commands

Command	Purpose
bun run z check file.zs	Parse, type-check, and validate ownership
bun run z emit file.zs	Print the generated C-family translation unit
bun run z run file.zs	Compile and execute a native binary
bun run z run file.zs --release	Build and run with optimization
bun run z test path	Run reachable inline Z tests
bun run bootstrap	Build the local native z compiler

Once the bootstrapped z binary is on PATH, project commands become simply z check ., z run ., and z build ..

Editor support

The repository includes a VS Code/Cursor extension with syntax highlighting, hover, completion, diagnostics, and a schema for z.json. Z is pre-alpha, so the extension is installed from the repository rather than a public marketplace.

For current bootstrap details, testing tiers, and editor installation, use the repository documentation.