zig-programming skill

---
name: zig-programming
description: >
  Provides comprehensive Zig programming language expertise including syntax, standard library,
  build system, memory management, error handling, and C interoperability. Use this skill when
  working with Zig code, learning Zig concepts, debugging compilation errors, or building
  Zig applications across multiple versions (0.2.0 through master).
---

# Zig Programming Language Skill

This skill provides expertise in Zig, a general-purpose programming language focused on robustness, optimality, and maintainability. The skill includes version-specific documentation (0.2.0 through master), automatic version detection, code templates, and comprehensive reference materials organized for progressive disclosure.

## Table of Contents

- [Bundled Resources](#bundled-resources)
  - [References](#references-progressive-loading-guide) - Progressive disclosure documentation
  - [Recipes](#recipes-cookbook) - 223 tested recipes organized by topic
  - [Templates](#templates) - Starting points for common tasks
  - [Examples](#examples) - Practical code samples
  - [Scripts](#scripts) - Automation tools
- [Workflows](#workflows)
- [Version Awareness](#version-awareness)
- [Best Practices](#best-practices)

## Bundled Resources

### References - Progressive Loading Guide

**Important:** References are version-specific. Use `scripts/get_references.py` to get the correct reference path for the detected Zig version, or load from `references/latest/` (symlink to current stable: 0.15.2).

Load documentation progressively based on task complexity. Use this decision tree:

**New to Zig?** Start with fundamentals in order:
1. `references/latest/core-language.md` → Basic syntax, types, operators
2. `references/latest/control-flow.md` → If, while, for, switch
3. `references/latest/functions-errors.md` → Functions and error handling
4. `references/latest/quick-reference.md` → Syntax quick lookup

**Solving specific problems?** Jump directly to:
- **Error handling** → `latest/functions-errors.md` + `latest/patterns-error-testing.md`
- **Memory/allocators** → `latest/memory-management.md` + `latest/patterns-memory-comptime.md`
- **Data structures** → `latest/arrays-slices.md`, `latest/structs-methods.md`, `latest/enums-unions.md`, `latest/pointers-references.md`
- **Struct/array/enum patterns** → `latest/patterns-data-structures.md`
- **Stdlib lookup** → grep `latest/stdlib-builtins.md` (large file, 68KB)
- **C interop** → `latest/c-interop.md` + `latest/patterns-integration.md`
- **Build system** → `latest/build-system.md` + `latest/patterns-integration.md`

**Advanced topics** (after mastering fundamentals):
- `references/latest/comptime.md` - Compile-time execution and generics
- `references/latest/patterns-memory-comptime.md` - Advanced memory and comptime patterns
- `references/latest/testing-quality.md` - Testing framework and best practices

**Version migration** → `references/version-differences.md` (shared across versions, comprehensive migration guides)

**Using version-specific references:**
```bash
# Get reference path for detected version
python scripts/get_references.py
# Output: references/v0.15.2

# With specific version
python scripts/get_references.py --version 0.13.0
# Output: references/v0.15.2 (with fallback warning)

# JSON output for programmatic use
python scripts/get_references.py --json
```

### Recipes - Cookbook

The skill includes **223 tested recipes** from the Zig BBQ Cookbook, organized by topic. All recipes include complete, compilable code verified against Zig 0.15.2.

**Finding recipes by topic:**
- `recipes/fundamentals.md` - Philosophy, basics (19 recipes)
- `recipes/data-structures.md` - Arrays, hashmaps, sets (20 recipes)
- `recipes/strings-text.md` - String processing (14 recipes)
- `recipes/memory-allocators.md` - Allocator patterns (6 recipes)
- `recipes/comptime-metaprogramming.md` - Compile-time (24 recipes)
- `recipes/structs-objects.md` - Structs, unions (22 recipes)
- `recipes/functions.md` - Function patterns (11 recipes)
- `recipes/files-io.md` - File operations (19 recipes)
- `recipes/networking.md` - HTTP, sockets (18 recipes)
- `recipes/concurrency.md` - Threading, atomics (8 recipes)
- `recipes/build-system.md` - Build.zig, modules (18 recipes)
- `recipes/testing-debugging.md` - Testing (14 recipes)
- `recipes/c-interop.md` - C FFI (7 recipes)
- `recipes/data-encoding.md` - JSON, CSV, XML (9 recipes)
- `recipes/iterators.md` - Iterator patterns (8 recipes)
- `recipes/webassembly.md` - WASM targets (6 recipes)

**Querying recipes programmatically:**
```bash
# List all topics with counts
python scripts/query_recipes.py --list-topics

# Find recipes by topic
python scripts/query_recipes.py --topic memory-allocators

# Find recipes by tag
python scripts/query_recipes.py --tag hashmap

# Search by keyword
python scripts/query_recipes.py --search "error handling"

# Get specific recipe details
python scripts/query_recipes.py --recipe 1.1

# Filter by difficulty
python scripts/query_recipes.py --difficulty beginner

# JSON output for programmatic use
python scripts/query_recipes.py --topic data-structures --json
```

**Recipe format:** Each recipe includes Problem, Solution, Discussion sections plus full tested code.

**When to use recipes vs references:**
- **Recipes**: "How do I..." questions, practical tasks, working code examples
- **References**: "What is..." questions, API lookup, comprehensive documentation

### Templates

Copy and customize these starting points:
- `assets/templates/basic-program.zig` - Basic program with allocator
- `assets/templates/build.zig` - Build configuration
- `assets/templates/test.zig` - Test file structure
- `assets/templates/cli-application.zig` - CLI app with arg parsing
- `assets/templates/library-module.zig` - Library/module structure
- `assets/templates/c-interop-module.zig` - C interop module

### Examples

Complete, runnable code demonstrating patterns:
- `examples/string_manipulation.zig` - String processing
- `examples/memory_management.zig` - Allocator patterns
- `examples/error_handling.zig` - Error handling
- `examples/c_interop.zig` - C FFI
- `examples/comptime_example.zig` - Compile-time programming
- `examples/build_example/` - Multi-file project

### Scripts

Use these Python automation tools for version management, recipe queries, and code generation:

**Version Detection & Reference Loading:**
- `scripts/get_references.py` - Detect user's Zig version and return correct reference path (use this first)
- `scripts/detect_version.py` - Standalone version detection with confidence levels

**Recipe Queries:**
- `scripts/query_recipes.py` - Search and filter recipes by topic, tag, difficulty, or keyword

**Code Generation:**
- `scripts/code_generator.py` - Generate Zig code from JSON specifications

**When to execute vs reference:**
- **Execute** `get_references.py` at the start of any Zig task to determine the correct reference path
- **Execute** `query_recipes.py` when searching for practical code examples or solutions
- **Reference** other scripts only when the user explicitly requests code generation or version management tasks
- Most scripts are for skill maintenance, not routine usage

See `scripts/README.md` for complete script documentation.

## Workflows

### Writing New Code

1. **Start from template** - Copy appropriate template from `assets/templates/`
2. **Check version** - Default to Zig 0.15.2 unless specified
3. **Handle errors explicitly** - Use `try`, `catch`, or `errdefer`
4. **Pass allocators** - Never use global state, pass allocators as parameters
5. **Add tests immediately** - Write `test` blocks alongside implementation
6. **Document public APIs** - Use `///` doc comments for exported functions

### Debugging Compilation Errors

**Zig-specific gotchas:**
- **Comptime type resolution** → Use `@TypeOf()` inspection or add explicit casts
- **Allocator lifetime issues** → Verify `defer` cleanup order and `errdefer` on error paths
- **Optional unwrapping** → Use `.?` only when certain; prefer `orelse` or `if` unwrap for safety

**Debug tools:** `std.debug.print()` for inspection, `-Doptimize=Debug` for stack traces, `zig test` to isolate issues

### Explaining Concepts

To teach Zig concepts effectively:
1. **Load relevant reference** - Start with the appropriate reference file for the topic
2. **Show runnable code** - Use complete examples from `examples/` directory
3. **Highlight uniqueness** - Emphasize Zig's distinguishing features (explicit allocators, comptime, no hidden control flow)
4. **Reference stdlib** - Point to specific standard library functions when applicable

## Version Awareness

**Default to Zig 0.15.2** unless user specifies otherwise or detection determines a different version.

### Version Detection Workflow

At the start of any Zig task, determine the user's version using this workflow:

**1. Check for explicit specification:**
- User stated version in current conversation ("I'm using Zig 0.13")
- CLAUDE.md project file contains Zig version specification
- `build.zig.zon` has `minimum_zig_version` field

**2. Automated detection (recommended):**
```bash
# Run get_references.py to detect version and get correct reference path
python scripts/get_references.py --json
```
This script:
- Runs `scripts/detect_version.py` to analyze the project
- Attempts `zig version` command (most reliable)
- Scans `build.zig` and `.zig` files for version markers
- Returns reference path and version info with confidence level
- Handles fallbacks automatically (e.g., 0.14.1 → use 0.15.2 refs)

**3. Manual detection (if automated fails):**
- Scan `build.zig` for API patterns:
  - `b.path(...)` → 0.11+
  - `std.Build` → 0.11+
  - `b.addExecutable(.{...})` → 0.11+
  - `b.addExecutable("name", "file")` → pre-0.11
- Check `.zig` files for syntax markers:
  - `for (items, 0..) |item, i|` → 0.13+
  - `async`/`await` keywords → 0.9-0.10 (removed in 0.11)
- Load `references/version-differences.md` for full detection markers

**4. Ask user if ambiguous:**
- "I detected you might be using Zig 0.13+ based on your build.zig. Can you confirm your version?"
- Offer common versions: 0.15.2 (stable), 0.14.1, 0.13.0, master (development)

**5. Default to 0.15.2:**
- Use current stable if no detection succeeds
- Inform user: "Assuming Zig 0.15.2. Let me know if you're using a different version."

### Loading Version-Specific References

**After detecting version:**
1. Use `scripts/get_references.py` to determine correct reference path
2. Load references from that version directory (e.g., `references/v0.15.2/`)
3. Always load `references/version-differences.md` (shared file) for migration guidance

**Example workflow:**
```bash
# Detect version and get reference path
REF_PATH=$(python scripts/get_references.py)
# REF_PATH is now "references/v0.15.2" or "references/latest"

# Load version-specific documentation
cat $REF_PATH/core-language.md
cat $REF_PATH/build-system.md

# Version differences is shared across all versions
cat references/version-differences.md
```

**Handling fallbacks:**
- If exact version not available (e.g., 0.14.1), script returns closest match (0.15.2) with warning
- Warnings indicate major differences (e.g., "for loop syntax differs from 0.13+")
- Always check fallback warnings to understand version compatibility

### Critical Breaking Changes

Be aware of these major version differences when writing code:

- **0.11+**: Async/await removed, new build.zig API (`std.Build`, `b.path()`)
- **0.13+**: Modern for loop syntax (`for (items, 0..) |item, i|`)
- **0.12-**: Different for loop syntax (manual index variables)
- **Pre-0.11**: Legacy build API (`std.build.Builder`), different error sets

**See `references/version-differences.md` for:**
- Detailed migration guides (0.10→0.11, 0.12→0.13, 0.13→0.15)
- Error message translations
- Before/after code examples
- Breaking changes catalog

### Handling Different Versions

**When user specifies or detection determines a different version:**
1. Run `scripts/get_references.py --version <VERSION>` to get correct reference path
2. Load `references/version-differences.md` for migration details
3. Use version-specific references from the returned path
4. Adapt code patterns to the user's version
5. Flag deprecated features if using older version
6. Recommend modern alternatives when possible

**Best practice for cross-version code:**
- Prefer feature detection over version checks: `@hasDecl(std, "Build")` instead of `if (version >= 0.11)`
- See `references/latest/patterns-integration.md` for `@hasDecl`/`@hasField` examples
- Document target version in code comments: `// Target Zig Version: 0.15.2`
- For cross-version templates, see `assets/templates/cross-version/`

## Best Practices

Core Zig idioms:

1. **Explicit error handling** - Use `try`, `catch`, or error unions; never ignore errors
2. **Defer cleanup** - Use `defer` for cleanup, `errdefer` for error-path cleanup
3. **Pass allocators** - Never use global state; pass allocators explicitly as parameters
4. **Leverage comptime** - Use compile-time execution for generic programming
5. **Write tests inline** - Use `test "description" {}` blocks alongside implementation
6. **Document public APIs** - Add `///` doc comments for exported functions
7. **Handle optionals explicitly** - Use `orelse`, `.?`, or `if` unwrapping
8. **No hidden control flow** - Zig has no hidden allocations, exceptions, or async