Zinit Bootstrap and Initialization

Summary

Zinit bootstraps by sourcing zinit.zsh from its install directory; this single source call sets up all commands, aliases, and the compdef intercept mechanism needed before any plugins are loaded.

Details

The canonical bootstrap snippet clones Zinit on first run and sources it on every run:

ZINIT_HOME="${XDG_DATA_HOME:-${HOME}/.local/share}/zinit/zinit.git"
[ ! -d $ZINIT_HOME ] && mkdir -p "$(dirname $ZINIT_HOME)"
[ ! -d $ZINIT_HOME/.git ] && git clone https://github.com/zdharma-continuum/zinit.git "$ZINIT_HOME"
source "${ZINIT_HOME}/zinit.zsh"

What sourcing zinit.zsh does:

1. Defines the zinit function and its aliases (zi, zini, etc., unless ZINIT[NO_ALIASES]=1).
2. Intercepts compdef calls so that plugins loaded before compinit can still register completions (replayed later with zinit cdreplay).
3. Reads the $ZINIT associative array for any path overrides set before the source call.
4. Does not load any plugins itself — that is left entirely to the user’s .zshrc.

If zinit.zsh is sourced after compinit, you must manually register Zinit’s own completion:

autoload -Uz _zinit
(( ${+_comps} )) && _comps[zinit]=_zinit

After installation, run zinit self-update once to compile Zinit’s source files for faster subsequent loads.

Examples

# Minimal bootstrap (auto-installs on first run)
ZINIT_HOME="${XDG_DATA_HOME:-${HOME}/.local/share}/zinit/zinit.git"
[ ! -d $ZINIT_HOME ] && mkdir -p "$(dirname $ZINIT_HOME)"
[ ! -d $ZINIT_HOME/.git ] && git clone https://github.com/zdharma-continuum/zinit.git "$ZINIT_HOME"
source "${ZINIT_HOME}/zinit.zsh"

# Optional: register Zinit completion if sourced after compinit
autoload -Uz _zinit
(( ${+_comps} )) && _comps[zinit]=_zinit

# Compile Zinit after first install
zinit self-update

Caveats / Common Mistakes

• The old variable-per-path style ($ZPLG_HOME, etc.) has been removed; use the $ZINIT associative array instead.
• ZINIT[NO_ALIASES]=1 must be set before sourcing zinit.zsh to prevent alias creation.