Zig Language Server, or `zls`, is a language server for Zig. The Zig wiki states that "The Zig community is decentralized" and "There is no concept of 'official' or 'unofficial'", so instead of calling `zls` unofficial, and I'm going to call it a cool option, one of [many](https://github.com/search?q=zig+language+server).
Up to date builds from master branch are also available in the [latest successful CI run](https://github.com/zigtools/zls/actions), contained in the `builds` artifact.
See [Downloading and Building ZLS](https://github.com/zigtools/zls/wiki/Downloading-and-Building-ZLS) on the Wiki, or the page about [using ZLS with Visual Studio Code](https://github.com/zigtools/zls/wiki/Installing-for-Visual-Studio-Code) for a guide to help get `zls` running in your editor.
### Installing binaries
#### MacOS
You can install the latest release into `$HOME/zls` using e.g.:
*For detailed building instructions, see the Wiki page about [Cloning With Git](https://github.com/zigtools/zls/wiki/Downloading-and-Building-ZLS#cloning-with-git).*
#### Build Options
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| `-Ddata_version` | `string` (like 0.7.1 or 0.9.0) | master | The data file version. This selects the files in the `src/data` folder that correspond to the Zig version being served.|
There is a `generate-data.py` in the `src/data` folder, run this file to update data files.
It writes to stdout and you can redirect output to a zig file like `master.zig`. By default it generates data file for `master`, but can be configured to generate for a different version by modifying the `zig_version` variable. Files generated by this tool **contains** formatting information.
There is also a `generate-data.js` in the `src/data` folder, you'll need to run this inside a Chrome DevTools console and copy the output. Files generated by this tool **does not contain** formatting information.
- In the local configuration folder of your OS (as provided by [known-folders](https://github.com/ziglibs/known-folders/blob/master/RESOURCES.md#folder-list))
- In the global configuration folder of your OS (as provided by [known-folders](https://github.com/ziglibs/known-folders/blob/master/RESOURCES.md#folder-list))
| `zig_lib_path` | `?[]const u8` | `null` | zig library path, e.g. `/path/to/zig/lib/zig`, used to analyze std library imports. |
| `zig_exe_path` | `?[]const u8` | `null` | zig executable path, e.g. `/path/to/zig/zig`, used to run the custom build runner. If `null`, zig is looked up in `PATH`. Will be used to infer the zig standard library path if none is provided. |
| `build_runner_path` | `?[]const u8` | `null` | Path to the build_runner.zig file provided by zls. `null` is equivalent to `${executable_directory}/build_runner.zig` |
| `global_cache_path` | `?[]const u8` | `null` | Path to a directroy that will be used as zig's cache. `null` is equivalent to `${KnownFloders.Cache}/zls` |
| `skip_std_references` | `bool` | `false` | When true, skips searching for references in std. Improves lookup speed for functions in user's code. Renaming and go-to-definition will continue to work as is.
The following options can be set on a per-project basis by placing `zls.user.json` in the project root directory next to `build.zig`.
| Option | Type | Default value | What it Does |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `relative_builtin_path` | `?[]const u8` | `null` | If present, this path is used to resolve `@import("builtin")` |
| `build_options` | `?[]BuildOption` | `null` | If present, this contains a list of user options to pass to the build. This is useful when options are used to conditionally add packages in `build.zig`. |
#### `BuildOption`
`BuildOption` is defined as follows:
```zig
const BuildOption = struct {
name: []const u8,
value: ?[]const u8 = null,
};
```
When `value` is present, the option will be passed the same as in `zig build -Dname=value`. When `value` is `null`, the option will be passed as a flag instead as in `zig build -Dflag`.
`zls` supports most language features, including simple type function support, using namespace, payload capture type resolution, custom packages, `cImport` and others.
Currently there is no support for compile time evaluation.
