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⚡ Zert

The plugin manager your .zshrc has been waiting for.

Declarative. Reproducible. Pure Zsh.

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Zert is a pure-Zsh plugin manager built around a simple idea: your plugins should be declared directly in your .zshrc, pinned to exact commits, and reproducible on any machine just like npm does for Node projects.

No config files to maintain. No subcommands to memorize No external tools. Just Zsh, git, and curl.

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✨ Features

• Inline, declarative syntax — declare plugins directly in .zshrc. No separate config file.
• Lockfile-based reproducibility — zert.lock pins every plugin to an exact git commit SHA. Commit it. Share it. Reproduce it anywhere.
• Parallel installs — clones multiple plugins simultaneously using git treeless clones for minimal bandwidth.
• Zero external UI dependencies — beautiful UI built entirely from ANSI escape codes.
• Self-managing — Opt in with zert zert in your .zshrc. Zert tracks and updates itself like any other plugin.
• Oh-My-Zsh / Prezto compatibility — load OMZ libs and Prezto modules without installing either framework.

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🚀 Install

Paste this at the top of your .zshrc:

export ZERT_PLUGINS_DIR="${ZERT_PLUGINS_DIR:-${ZERT_DIR:-${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/zert}/plugins}"; \
[[ -f "$ZERT_PLUGINS_DIR/zert/zert.zsh" ]] || \
(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oxcl/zert/main/bootstrap.sh | zsh); \
source "$ZERT_PLUGINS_DIR/zert/zert.zsh"

zert zert  # manage zert itself (optional, enables self-updates)

That's it. The first time your shell starts, Zert bootstraps itself. On every subsequent start, it loads instantly from the cached clone.

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📦 Usage

Declaring Plugins

Add zert lines to your .zshrc after the bootstrap line:

# Self-management (opt-in)
zert zert                          # track zert itself in the lockfile
zert zert --branch dev             # track a specific branch of zert

# GitHub shorthand
zert zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions
zert zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting

# Full URL (GitHub or GitLab)
zert https://gitlab.com/someone/their-plugin.git

# Specific branch
zert zsh-users/zsh-completions --branch main

# Pin to an exact commit (takes precedence over lockfile)
zert zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions --pin a1b2c3d4e5f6

# Local plugin 
zert $ZDOTDIR/local-plugins/my-work-plugin

# Oh-My-Zsh compatibility — load OMZ libs without the full framework
zert use ohmyzsh
zert ohmyzsh lib/clipboard
zert ohmyzsh plugins/git

# Prezto compatibility
zert use prezto
zert prezto modules/utility

Flags

Flag	What it does
--no-alias	Skip loading the plugin's alias definitions
--no-completion	Skip adding completion files to fpath
--only-completion	Only add to fpath — don't source the plugin
--pin <sha>	Pin to an exact commit SHA
--branch <name>	Clone a specific branch

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🔧 Subcommands

zert list          # Show all declared plugins + their status
zert update        # Pull latest commits for all unpinned plugins
zert prune         # Delete plugins no longer declared in your config

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🔒 The Lockfile

After every install or update, Zert writes zert.lock to your $ZDOTDIR (usually $HOME):

# AUTO-GENERATED FILE. DO NOT EDIT MANUALLY.
# Commit this file to version control for reproducible installs.
version::1
zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions::git::https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions::a1b2c3d4e5f6...::pin=false
zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting::git::https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting::f7g8h9i0j1k2...::
ohmyzsh::ohmyzsh::ohmyzsh::3l4m5n6o7p8q...::

Commit zert.lock to your dotfiles. On a new machine, Zert reads the lockfile and clones every plugin at the exact same commit — bit-for-bit identical to your other machines.

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⚙️ Configuration

Zert is configured entirely through environment variables. Set them before the bootstrap line:

export ZERT_DIR="$HOME/.zert"               # Change where Zert lives
export ZERT_PLUGINS_DIR="$ZERT_DIR/plugins" # Change where plugins are cloned
export ZERT_LOCKFILE="$HOME/.zert.lock"     # Change the lockfile path

🏗️ How It Works

.zshrc startup
│
├─ 1. Bootstrap line — source zert.zsh
│
├─ 2. Process zert declarations (in order)
│   ├─ Missing plugins → parallel git clone + zcompile
│   └─ Write/update zert.lock
│
└─ 3. Load plugins (sequential, strict order)
    ├─ Source each plugin's main file
    └─ Stop + report on first failure

Install is parallel. Load is sequential. This gives you the speed of parallel cloning without any of the ordering surprises.

⭐ Support

If Zert is useful to you, consider giving the repo a star on GitHub or making a donation.

🔄 Comparison

The Zsh plugin manager ecosystem is large — Antidote, Zinit, Sheldon, Zgenom, Zim, and others all take different approaches to the same problem. Most are fast enough that performance differences are negligible. The meaningful distinctions come down to config style, reproducibility, and dependency model. Zert is the only pure-Zsh manager with both inline declarations and a lockfile for reproducible installs. For a full breakdown, see the comparison.

📄 License

GNU General Public License v3.0 — see LICENSE for details.

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Built with unreasonable attention to detail.

github.com/oxcl/zert