Install zigup with Homebrew, scoop

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• zigup

Project history

The zigup repository was created in May 2020 and describes its purpose as downloading and managing Zig compilers. GitHub release data shows continuing date-stamped releases from at least 2021 through 2025, including v2025_05_24.

The README now includes an important maintenance note: the author no longer uses zigup personally, recommends anyzig instead, but says zigup will continue to be supported for people who prefer it. That is a useful ecosystem transition, not an abandonment story: zigup remains the explicit switcher, while anyzig aims to choose the right compiler from project metadata.

Adoption history

zigup's adoption follows directly from Zig's release and compatibility model. Because build.zig APIs, standard-library APIs, and language details change before 1.0, users often need to fetch master, a stable release, or an older compiler quickly.

The tool is especially attractive to Zig contributors, library authors, and package maintainers who test across several Zig versions. Its Homebrew and Scoop packaging also made it easy to install as a general-purpose Zig version switcher.

How it is used

Common commands from the README include zigup <version> to fetch and set a compiler as default, zigup fetch <version> to download without switching, zigup default to print or set the default compiler, zigup list to show installed versions, zigup clean to remove old compilers, and zigup run <version> <args> to run a specific compiler.

Internally, zigup stores compilers in a global install directory and exposes the selected zig through a PATH entry: a symlink on POSIX systems and a forwarding executable on Windows. That keeps the workflow simple for shell users and package recipes that expect a command named zig.

Why package nerds care

zigup is significant because Zig version management is not cosmetic. In Zig, the compiler is also the build system and package manager, so selecting a version selects the behavior of build.zig, build.zig.zon, std, zig cc, and test execution.

The README's move toward anyzig also tells a broader package story: manual global switching works, but project-declared compiler versions are a better long-term fit for reproducible builds.

Timeline

• 2020-05-30: marler8997/zigup is created on GitHub.
• 2021-02-20: GitHub release data shows an early date-stamped zigup release.
• 2022-2025: zigup continues publishing date-stamped releases for current Zig users.
• 2025-05-24: v2025_05_24 is published, the latest release observed in the GitHub release list checked for this enrichment.
• 2026: The README recommends anyzig for automatic project-based compiler selection while keeping zigup supported.

Related projects

• anyzig is the author's recommended successor-style tool that invokes the correct Zig version based on project metadata.
• Zig's official download index is the source of release builds that version managers revolve around.
• brew:zig, brew:zig@0.14, and brew:zig@0.15 are package-manager alternatives for installing specific compiler lines without a separate switcher.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/marler8997/zigup
• https://api.github.com/repos/marler8997/zigup/releases?per_page=100
• https://github.com/marler8997/anyzig
• https://github.com/marler8997/zigup
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marler8997/zigup/master/README.md
• https://ziglang.org/download/