zi load

Summary

Load a plugin with full reporting and investigation enabled. Use this when you want Zinit to track what aliases, functions, bindkeys, completions, and PATH/FPATH changes the plugin makes.

Syntax / Usage

zi load {plg-spec}

{plg-spec} is user/repo for GitHub plugins or an absolute local path.

Details

load clones the plugin repository under $ZINIT[PLUGINS_DIR] (default: ~/.local/share/zinit/plugins) on first use, then sources the plugin’s main file. It instruments the shell environment before and after sourcing so Zinit can record every side effect the plugin produces (aliases, functions, bindkeys, Zle widgets, zstyles, completions, variables, PATH and FPATH entries). That data is stored per-plugin and can be retrieved with zi report or used to fully undo the plugin’s changes with zi unload. Ice modifiers set via zi ice immediately before this call apply to this load only and are persisted in the plugin’s ._zinit/ subdirectory.

Examples

# Load with investigation (full reporting)
zi load zdharma-continuum/history-search-multi-word

# Load a local plugin
zi load /home/user/my-plugin

# With Turbo mode (load 2 seconds after prompt)
zi ice wait"2" lucid
zi load zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions

# Using for-syntax to load multiple plugins
zinit for \
  zdharma-continuum/history-search-multi-word \
  zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions

Caveats / Common Mistakes

Prefer zi light for plugins you trust and don’t need to investigate — load has a small overhead from instrumentation. Using load in Turbo mode (wait'') is fine; the reporting still works.