Zig

You have a Zig MCP Server that provides dedicated Zig language assistance, including modern build system support, code optimization, and best practices guidance. It helps you scaffold, analyze, and improve Zig projects while integrating with modern Zig tooling and dependencies.

How to use

You interact with the Zig MCP Server through an MCP client to get code optimization, compute unit estimates, code generation, and recommendations. You can request optimization suggestions for Zig code, have the server generate Zig snippets from natural language prompts, estimate resource usage, and receive best-practice guidance. Each tool is designed to help you write efficient, correct Zig code and to understand performance implications of changes over time.

How to install

Prerequisites: Node.js and a code editor of your choice. You will also need npm for package management.

Option A — Install via Smithery (recommended for automatic setup):

npx -y @smithery/cli install zig-mcp-server --client claude

Option B — Manual installation (from source):

git clone [repository-url]
cd zig-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

# Create a GitHub token for better API rate limits
# https://github.com/settings/tokens
# Required scope: public_repo
GITHUB_TOKEN=your_token_here

Add the MCP server configuration to your MCP settings as shown here. This enables your client to start and restart the Zig MCP Server automatically as needed.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zig": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/zig-mcp-server/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "your_token_here",
        "NODE_OPTIONS": "--experimental-vm-modules"
      },
      "restart": true
    }
  }
}

Notes on configuration and startup behavior

The Zig MCP Server relies on a local stdio-based startup where the runtime is Node.js and the server script is built into a JavaScript bundle. Ensure that your environment variables are available to the process that launches the server, especially for API rate limits and Node.js module loading.

Usage examples

You can request the following capabilities for Zig code through the MCP client: code optimization, compute units estimation, code generation, and recommendations. These tools help you optimize performance, understand resource usage, generate robust code from natural language prompts, and receive actionable improvement suggestions.

Available tools

optimize_code

Analyze Zig code with modern patterns and build mode analysis to suggest compression, inlining, and other optimization strategies across Debug, ReleaseSafe, ReleaseFast, and ReleaseSmall profiles.

estimate_compute_units

Estimate memory usage, time complexity, and allocation patterns to predict resource requirements for Zig code.

generate_code

Create Zig code from natural language prompts, including error handling, testing, performance optimization, and documentation.

get_recommendations

Provide code improvement recommendations focusing on style, design patterns, safety, and performance.