Zig Build System

Zig Build System

Purpose

Guide agents through writing build.zig files: executables, libraries, C source integration, build options, test configuration, and build.zig.zon package manifests.

Triggers

• "How do I set up a build.zig file?"
• "How do I add a C library to a Zig project?"
• "How do I define build-time options in Zig?"
• "How do I run Zig tests with zig build test?"
• "What is build.zig.zon and how do I use it?"
• "How do I add a Zig package dependency?"

Workflow

1. Project initialization

# Initialize a new project
mkdir myproject && cd myproject
zig init          # creates src/main.zig and build.zig

# Build
zig build

# Run
zig build run

# Test
zig build test

2. build.zig structure

const std = @import("std");

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

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