zig-conventions

Step 6 of the pipeline (WORKFLOW.md). Frames naming and layout of Zig code.

Freshness stamp: first read on 2026-10-02 from the compiler source tree at commit 738d2be9 (a 0.16.0 development tree); re-checked on 2026-10-20 against the published 0.17.0 language reference (Style Guide and Source Encoding sections), which corrected two points. The language changes between versions; before applying this block, check the style guide of the version the project builds with (skills/source-freshness). Status 🟡; only those two sections were read, so memory management, error handling, comptime and the build system carry no rule here (see skills/zig-pitfalls).

When

As soon as Zig code is written or modified, during code (6).

Steps

Read references/01-style.md (names, layout, doc comments). It is the only section.

Output / checkpoint

Code formatted by the language's own formatter, which implements the layout recommendations, and names that follow §1. Checked by review (8).

Guardrails

No comments in the code produced; doc comments only where §1.8 asks, on declarations others use. Where a convention is already established in the project or the platform (a constant copied from a system header), follow it.

Origin

Rewritten from the MIT-licensed compiler repository's language reference, with pinned commit in references/origin.md.