zero

Reference

Building From Source

Build, use, and validate the local compiler.

Building From Source

Use this path when you want to try Zero from a checkout or work on the compiler.

npm install
make -C native/zero-c
bin/zero --version

make builds the local compiler into .zero/bin/zero. The repository wrapper bin/zero uses that local build.

Quick Command Loop

bin/zero check examples/hello.0
bin/zero build --emit exe --target linux-musl-x64 examples/add.0 --out .zero/out/add
./.zero/out/add

Inspect Code

Inspect package/module structure:

bin/zero graph --json examples/systems-package

Inspect artifact size metadata:

bin/zero size --json examples/point.0

List known targets:

bin/zero targets

Explain diagnostics and inspect repair plans without editing files:

bin/zero explain TAR002
bin/zero fix --plan --json conformance/native/fail/mem-copy-immutable-dst.0

Native Targets

The compiler currently supports direct executable output for the documented native target names:

  • darwin-arm64
  • darwin-x64
  • linux-arm64
  • linux-musl-arm64
  • linux-musl-x64
  • linux-x64
  • win32-arm64.exe
  • win32-x64.exe
bin/zero build --emit exe --target linux-musl-x64 examples/add.0 --out .zero/out/add-linux-musl
bin/zero build --emit exe --target win32-x64.exe examples/hello.0 --out .zero/out/hello-win32

Unsupported target or feature requests report diagnostics instead of silently choosing another backend.

Web And Wasm

Build a small WebAssembly artifact:

bin/zero build --emit wasm --target wasm32-web examples/direct-wasm-add.0 --out .zero/out/direct-wasm-add

Inspect a web route manifest:

bin/zero routes --json examples/web/hello

The web route support is an early local-runtime surface. Use it to inspect route metadata and browser-worker/WASI facts, not as a hosted deployment promise.

Current Language Subset

The compiler supports the command-line language subset used by the examples:

  • multi-file manifest packages
  • functions and typed parameters
  • typed let and let mut
  • fixed array literals and assignment
  • defer
  • match
  • check, return, if, else, and while
  • calls and member calls
  • strings, numbers, booleans, and binary operators
  • shape and extern shape
  • shape literals and direct field access
  • enum
  • payload and no-payload choice tags
  • owned<T>, Span<T>, ref<T>, and mutref<T> checks for the documented subset
  • early std.mem, std.codec, std.parse, std.fs, and platform helper surfaces

Validate A Checkout

npm run docs:test
npm run conformance
npm run native:test
npm run command-contracts

Run local benchmark smoke coverage:

npm run bench

The TypeScript code in this repository is support tooling for docs, tests, benchmarks, and editor integration. It is not a separate TypeScript compiler implementation.