zig-skills

Zig Skills for AI Coding Assistants

AI coding assistant skills providing verified, version-specific Zig API documentation and best practices. Prevents LLMs from generating code with deprecated or removed APIs.

Available Skills

Skill	Description	Target Version
zig	Zig language API guide with 57 reference files	Zig 0.16.0

Why?

Most LLM training data contains outdated Zig patterns (0.11-0.14 era) that cause compilation errors on modern Zig. Common mistakes include:

• Using std.net instead of std.Io.net (0.16 — networking requires Io instance)
• Calling std.time.timestamp() instead of std.c.clock_gettime (0.16 — removed)
• Using std.Thread.Mutex/Condition/sleep instead of POSIX pthreads (0.16 — removed)
• Using std.crypto.random instead of arc4random_buf (0.16 — removed)
• Calling lib.addIncludePath(...) instead of lib.root_module.addIncludePath(...) (0.16 — moved)
• Using root_source_file instead of root_module in build.zig (0.15)
• Old I/O API (std.io.getStdOut().writer()) instead of new buffered writer pattern (0.15)
• std.ArrayList without passing allocator to every method (now unmanaged by default)
• PascalCase @typeInfo fields (.Struct) instead of lowercase (.@"struct")
• Using removed features: async/await, usingnamespace, BoundedArray

This skill catches all of these and dozens more breaking changes.

What's Included

Main Skill (SKILL.md)

• Design principles (type-first development, make illegal states unrepresentable)
• All breaking changes from 0.14/0.15/0.16 with WRONG/CORRECT examples
• 0.16 migration: networking (std.Io.net), time, threading, crypto, debug, build system
• I/O API rewrite ("Writergate") patterns
• Build system migration guide (including Compile.* → Module.* for 0.16)
• Container initialization rules (.empty/.init)
• Quick fixes error table (25 common errors with solutions)
• Version managers: zigup, anyzig
• Verification workflow
• Common pitfalls checklist

Reference Files (57 files in references/)

• Complete std library API references (ArrayList, HashMap, JSON, HTTP, crypto, etc.)
• Language basics, builtins, comptime metaprogramming
• Production patterns from Bun, Ghostty, TigerBeetle
• MCP server patterns for protocol translators
• Code review checklist organized by confidence level
• Style guide, C interop, build system deep-dive

Supported IDEs

Directory	IDE	Format
skills/zig/	Canonical source	SKILL.md + references/
.agent/skills/zig/	Agent	SKILL.md + references/
.cursor/skills/zig/	Cursor	SKILL.md + references/
.opencode/skills/zig/	OpenCode	SKILL.md + references/
.codex/skills/zig/	Codex	SKILL.md + references/
.gemini/skills/zig/	Gemini CLI	SKILL.md + references/
.continue/skills/zig/	Continue	SKILL.md + references/
.kilocode/skills/zig/	Kilocode	SKILL.md + references/
.factory/skills/zig/	Factory AI	SKILL.md + references/
.adal/skills/zig/	AdaL CLI (Sylph AI)	SKILL.md + references/
.codebuddy/skills/zig/	CodeBuddy	SKILL.md + references/
.openclaw/skills/zig/	OpenClaw	SKILL.md + references/
.pi/skills/zig/	Pi Agent	SKILL.md + references/
.kiro/steering/	Kiro	zig-skill.md (steering file)

Installation

Claude Code (recommended)

# Install globally via npx skills
npx -y skills add https://github.com/nzrsky/zig-skills --skill zig --yes --global --agent claude-code

Or manually:

git clone https://github.com/nzrsky/zig-skills.git /tmp/zig-skills
cp -r /tmp/zig-skills/skills/zig ~/.claude/skills/zig
rm -rf /tmp/zig-skills

Cursor

git clone https://github.com/nzrsky/zig-skills.git /tmp/zig-skills
cp -r /tmp/zig-skills/.cursor/skills your-project/.cursor/skills
rm -rf /tmp/zig-skills

Codex / OpenCode / Gemini CLI / Other Agents

Copy the matching IDE directory into your project root:

git clone https://github.com/nzrsky/zig-skills.git /tmp/zig-skills
# Replace .codex with your IDE's directory name
cp -r /tmp/zig-skills/.codex your-project/.codex
rm -rf /tmp/zig-skills

Kiro

git clone https://github.com/nzrsky/zig-skills.git /tmp/zig-skills
mkdir -p your-project/.kiro/steering
cp /tmp/zig-skills/.kiro/steering/zig-skill.md your-project/.kiro/steering/
rm -rf /tmp/zig-skills

Manual

Add to your project's CLAUDE.md:

When writing Zig code, load and follow the patterns in `skills/zig/SKILL.md`.

Keeping IDE Directories in Sync

After editing files in skills/zig/, run:

bash scripts/sync-ide-folders.sh

To verify all directories match:

bash scripts/sync-ide-folders.sh --verify

License

MIT