zls.json Config

You can configure ZLS by creating a zls.json configuration file. This config will apply to all editors that use ZLS.

Here is an example of how a zls.json could look like:

{
  "zig_exe_path": "/path/to/zig_executable",
  "semantic_tokens": "partial",
  "enable_build_on_save": true
}

The file must be valid JSON which cannot contain comments or trailing commas.

Where should the zls.json be created?

Running zls env will show you where ZLS will look for the zls.json file:

{
  "version": "0.14.0-dev.50+3354fdcb",
  "global_cache_dir": "/home/anon/.cache/zls",
  "global_config_dir": "/etc/xdg",
  "local_config_dir": "/home/anon/.config",
  "config_file": null,
  "log_file": "/home/anon/.cache/zls/zls.log"
}

ZLS will look for a zls.json in the local_config_dir directory and then fallback to global_config_dir.

After creating the configuration file at $local_config_dir/zls.json, zls env should output the following:

{
  "version": "0.14.0-dev.50+3354fdcb",
  "global_cache_dir": "/home/anon/.cache/zls",
  "global_config_dir": "/etc/xdg",
  "local_config_dir": "/home/anon/.config",
  "config_file": "/home/anon/.config/zls.json",
  "log_file": "/home/anon/.cache/zls/zls.log"
}

JSON Schema

ZLS provides a JSON Schema for validating the config file and enabling IntelliSense features in editors. Further information about JSON Schemas can be found at https://json-schema.org.

You can add a mapping to zls.json that can be used by some editors:

{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zigtools/zls/refs/heads/master/schema.json",
  "zig_exe_path": "/path/to/zig_executable",
  "semantic_tokens": "partial",
  "enable_build_on_save": true
}

Please refer to your Editor’s Documentation to find out if and how they support JSON Schemas.

Be aware that configuration options change over time. The example above assumes that you are using ZLS nightly/master. When using a tagged release of ZLS, use the JSON Schema file corresponding to that version, like so:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zigtools/zls/refs/tags/<ZLS_VERSION_HERE>/schema.json