name: zinit-zsh description: Zinit zsh plugin manager configuration and binary installs. This skill should be used when adding zsh plugins, installing CLI tools via gh-r releases, configuring completions, managing turbo/wait loading, using ice modifiers (sbin, atclone, atpull, as, from), troubleshooting plugin load order, working with OMZ snippets, or modifying .zshrc and ~/.config/zsh/ files in this stow-managed dotfiles repo. version: 1.0.0 last_updated: 2026-01-23 zinit_version: "zdharma-continuum"

Zinit ZSH Plugin Manager

Manage zsh plugins, CLI binary installs, and completions using zinit in this dotfiles repo.

Repo Structure

This repo uses GNU Stow. Files symlink to $HOME:

• .zshrc - main zinit config, plugin definitions, binary installs
• .config/zsh/ - modular zsh configs loaded via zinit snippet
  • plugins.zsh - additional plugin loads
  • aliases.zsh - shell aliases
  • exports.zsh - PATH and env vars
  • completions.zsh - completion setup
  • completions/ - custom completion files (_just, _inv, etc.)
  • history.zsh, keys.zsh, styles.zsh - other configs

Quick Reference

Binary Install Pattern (gh-r)

zinit as"null" wait lucid from"gh-r" for \
    sbin"binary-name"  owner/repo

With Completion Generation

zinit for \
    from'gh-r' \
    sbin'tool' \
    atclone'./tool completion zsh > _tool' atpull'%atclone' as'completion' \
  @owner/repo

OMZ Plugin/Snippet

zinit wait lucid for \
    OMZP::plugin-name \
    OMZL::lib-file.zsh

Build from Source

zinit for \
    as'null' \
    configure'--prefix=$PWD' \
    make'install' \
    sbin \
  @owner/repo

Key Ice Modifiers

Detailed References

For comprehensive patterns and troubleshooting, see:

• references/ice-modifiers.md - all ice options with examples
• references/patterns.md - common install patterns
• references/troubleshooting.md - load order, debugging