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Installing Zero

Pick whichever fits how you already install things. None of these is the blessed one.

Method Command Self-update
Install script (Linux, macOS) curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Gitlawb/zero/main/scripts/install.sh | bash zero upgrade
Install script (Windows) irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Gitlawb/zero/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex zero upgrade
npm npm install -g @gitlawb/zero zero upgrade (runs npm)
Release archive download from Releases zero upgrade
mise mise use -g ubi:Gitlawb/zero mise upgrade
go install go install github.com/Gitlawb/zero/cmd/zero@latest rerun the command
Source go build -o zero ./cmd/zero rebuild

zero upgrade follows whatever owns the binary, with one exception it cannot detect. It delegates to npm for an npm install, refuses outright for a Homebrew keg and names brew upgrade zero, and replaces the binary in place for everything else — including a mise-managed one, which is the exception.

mise is the one case it cannot detect: a mise-managed binary is an ordinary standalone install on disk, so zero upgrade will replace it and leave mise describing a version that is no longer there. Use mise upgrade instead.

Release archives are the substrate for most of the above: the install scripts and the npm fallback both download a platform archive from a published GitHub Release and verify its checksum.

npm

npm install -g @gitlawb/zero
zero

The package supports Linux and macOS on x64 and arm64, and Windows on x64 (Windows on ARM runs the x64 build under emulation). It installs a small zero wrapper plus, as an optional dependency, a platform payload with the native binary and the bundled browser/terminal control helpers. There are no install scripts and nothing is downloaded from outside the npm registry, so the install is silent and works identically under npm, Bun, pnpm, and yarn — no trust or approval steps. See NPM_PACKAGING.md for the package architecture.

Requirements:

  • Node.js 18+
  • network access to npm

If the install skipped optional dependencies (npm install --omit=optional, or a package manager configured to do so), the wrapper falls back to downloading the binary from the matching GitHub Release, with checksum verification. The fetch is retried on each run until a binary is in place (a transient network failure heals itself; an install directory the current user cannot write to keeps failing — rerun the install or the command below with sufficient permissions). To trigger the fetch manually:

node "$(npm root -g)/@gitlawb/zero/scripts/postinstall.mjs"

Linux And macOS Script

Install the latest release:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Gitlawb/zero/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

From a checkout:

scripts/install.sh

Install a specific version:

ZERO_VERSION=0.1.0 scripts/install.sh
scripts/install.sh --version 0.1.0

Install somewhere else:

ZERO_INSTALL_DIR="$HOME/bin" scripts/install.sh
scripts/install.sh --install-dir "$HOME/bin"

Defaults:

  • Repository: Gitlawb/zero
  • Version: latest GitHub release
  • Install path: ~/.local/bin/zero

Requirements: Bash, curl or wget, tar, and shasum or sha256sum.

Windows PowerShell Script

Install the latest release:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Gitlawb/zero/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

From a checkout:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/install.ps1

Install a specific version:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/install.ps1 -Version 0.1.0

Install somewhere else:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/install.ps1 -InstallDir "$env:USERPROFILE\bin"

Defaults:

  • Repository: Gitlawb/zero
  • Version: latest GitHub release
  • Install path: %LOCALAPPDATA%\zero\bin\zero.exe

mise

mise installs Zero straight from the GitHub Release archives through its ubi backend, so there is nothing extra to publish and no registry in the middle:

mise use -g ubi:Gitlawb/zero

Pin a version the same way you would any other tool:

mise use -g ubi:Gitlawb/zero@0.7.1

Updates come from mise upgrade. zero upgrade also works, because a mise-managed binary is an ordinary standalone install, but then mise's records describe a version that is no longer on disk. Prefer mise upgrade.

go install

go install github.com/Gitlawb/zero/cmd/zero@latest

This builds from source, so it needs Go 1.26.6+ and it does not go through the release archives. Two consequences worth knowing before you pick it:

  • On Linux you also need the sandbox helper, which is a separate binary and is not installed by this command. See Sandbox Helpers For Source Builds. Without it, native sandboxing is unavailable.
  • zero upgrade treats the result as a standalone install and will replace the binary with a release build rather than rebuilding from source. If you chose go install deliberately, rerun it instead.

macOS and Windows need no extra helper.

From Source

git clone https://github.com/Gitlawb/zero.git
cd zero
go run ./cmd/zero

Build a local binary:

go build -o zero ./cmd/zero

Source builds require Go 1.26.6+.

Sandbox Helpers For Source Builds

Release archives include the platform sandbox helpers. If you build directly from source, build the helpers you need:

Linux:

go build -o zero ./cmd/zero
go build -o zero-linux-sandbox ./cmd/zero-linux-sandbox
go build -o zero-seccomp ./cmd/zero-seccomp

Put zero and zero-linux-sandbox in the same directory on PATH, for example ~/.local/bin. zero-seccomp is kept as a compatibility wrapper; the sandbox helper applies the Unix-socket filter itself when that sandbox option is enabled. Linux native sandboxing also requires Bubblewrap to be installed.

macOS uses the system sandbox and does not need an extra helper binary.

Termux (Android)

Zero can run natively on Android via Termux. Build with GOOS=android to avoid the faccessat2 syscall that is blocked by Samsung's seccomp filter on Android:

# Install Go in Termux
pkg install golang

# Build Zero for Android
git clone https://github.com/Gitlawb/zero.git
cd zero
CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=android GOARCH=arm64 go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o zero ./cmd/zero

# Move into PATH
mv zero ~/.local/bin/

Why GOOS=android? Go 1.26+ detects runtime.GOOS == "android" and skips the faccessat2 syscall inside os/exec.findExecutable, falling back to permission-bit checks. Without this flag, Android's seccomp sends SIGSYS and kills the process whenever Zero looks up a binary on PATH (git, sh, etc.).

DNS. Android does not expose /etc/resolv.conf. Go's pure-Go DNS resolver needs one. Use proot to bind-mount Termux's resolver config:

pkg install proot
proot -b "$PREFIX/etc/resolv.conf:/etc/resolv.conf" zero

Create a wrapper at ~/.local/bin/zero to avoid typing proot every time:

#!/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/bash
exec proot -b "$PREFIX/etc/resolv.conf:/etc/resolv.conf" ~/.local/bin/zero.bin "$@"

Scroll. On native Termux (not under PRoot), mouse scrolling works out of the box. The TUI uses Bubble Tea's AllMotion mouse mode by default. If you run Zero inside PRoot (e.g. through proot-distro), the scroll fix activates CellMotion to avoid PRoot's ptrace interference with the 1003 escape sequence.

Providers. Zero works with any OpenAI-compatible provider on Termux. For example, to use OpenCode Zen's free tier:

zero providers add opencode \
  --name opencode \
  --model deepseek-v4-flash-free \
  --base-url https://opencode.ai/zen/v1 \
  --set-active

Windows source builds can use the main zero.exe as the command runner and setup helper through Zero's built-in self-dispatch path. If you want a release-style layout anyway, build the standalone helper executables next to zero.exe:

go build -o zero.exe ./cmd/zero
go build -o zero-windows-command-runner.exe ./cmd/zero-windows-command-runner
go build -o zero-windows-sandbox-setup.exe ./cmd/zero-windows-sandbox-setup

Release Archive Format

Release archives are named:

  • zero-v<version>-linux-<arch>.tar.gz
  • zero-v<version>-macos-<arch>.tar.gz
  • zero-v<version>-windows-<arch>.zip

Supported targets:

  • linux-x64
  • linux-arm64
  • macos-x64
  • macos-arm64
  • windows-x64 (Windows on ARM runs this build under emulation)

Each archive must have a matching .sha256 file. The install scripts download both files, verify the checksum, and then copy the binary into the install directory.

Updating

Check for a newer release, then download, verify, and install it in place:

zero update --check
zero upgrade

See the update guide for update modes, flags, and platform details.

zero upgrade behaves differently depending on how Zero was installed, because overwriting a binary a package manager owns leaves that manager describing a version that is no longer there:

  • npm: runs npm install -g @gitlawb/zero@latest for you.
  • Homebrew: refuses, and tells you to run brew upgrade zero. Replacing the keg binary directly would be reverted by the next brew upgrade or brew reinstall.
  • everything else: downloads the verified release archive and replaces the binary in place.

Homebrew is detected by the binary living inside a Cellar keg that carries Homebrew's own INSTALL_RECEIPT.json. The keg shape alone is not enough: a directory tree you built yourself can have exactly that shape, and refusing to update an install Homebrew never touched would be a real cost for a made-up reason. The receipt is the thing only Homebrew writes.

An ordinary install under /usr/local/bin is left alone even on an Intel Mac where that is also the Homebrew prefix.