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 0.15.x |

Why?

Most LLM training data contains outdated Zig patterns (0.11-0.13 era) that cause compilation errors on modern Zig. Common mistakes include:

• Using root_source_file instead of root_module in build.zig
• Old I/O API (std.io.getStdOut().writer()) instead of new buffered writer pattern
• 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 with WRONG/CORRECT examples
• I/O API rewrite ("Writergate") patterns
• Build system migration guide
• Container initialization rules (.empty/.init)
• Quick fixes error table (14 common errors with solutions)
• 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