Pure Zig 0.16 · Zero deps · No libc

cat, but 4–26x faster and JSON-native.

ziggycat is a drop-in cat replacement in pure Zig. Byte-identical output on -n -b -s -E -T -TE -nbsET, plus a --json mode built for AI coding agents. One 502KB binary for Windows, macOS, Linux.

Install in 3 commands View source

Terminal demo of ziggycat -n — FIG. 01 — ziggycat -n src/main.ziggrid variant

502KB

single binary, no runtime

4–26x

faster than GNU cat 9.x

dependencies, no libc

141

broken-pipe exit, SIGPIPE semantics

01 — Why

Why ziggycat exists

The most-piped command in every agent toolchain, optimized for agents that read files in loops.

✓ Byte-identical, provably

Line modes verified byte-for-byte against coreutils cat 9.x. Scripts cannot tell the difference.

✓ Agent-first JSON

One flag: path, size, numbered lines, escape-safe text, error records that don't kill the batch.

✓ Fast without tricks

No mmap, no threads, no unsafe. Raw syscalls, 1MB buffers, zero-copy line splitting. Flat memory at any input size.

✓ Exit codes pipelines respect

0 success, 1 file error (continues), 141 broken pipe, silent.

02 — Flags

Eight flags. Combined shorts work.

ziggycat -nbsET file.txt is valid. -n/-b are last-wins. A lone - reads stdin anywhere in the list.

Short	Long	Effect
`-n`	`--number`	Number every output line, including blanks
`-b`	`--number-nonblank`	Number non-empty lines only
`-s`	`--squeeze-blank`	Collapse runs of empty lines into one
`-E`	`--show-ends`	Append `$` to each line ending
`-T`	`--show-tabs`	Render tabs as `^I`
—	`--json`	Structured output for agents
`-h`	`--help`	Usage
`-V`	`--version`	Version

03 — JSON

Structured reads, not text dumps.

ziggycat --json example.txt

OUTPUT

{"files":[{"path":"example.txt","size":2048,"lines":[{"n":1,"text":"first line"}]}]}

stdin: path is "-", size is null.
Controls escape as \uXXXX; quotes and backslashes escape.
Unreadable files emit {"path":"...","error":"..."}, batch continues.
Empty files: "lines":[].

04 — Benchmarks

Faster than GNU cat 9.x.

94MB file (2M lines), ReleaseFast, sink /dev/null, median of 7 runs.

Operation	ziggycat	cat	Speedup
Plain copy	7ms	28ms	4x
`-n` number all	7ms	137ms	20x
`-b` number non-blank	5ms	130ms	26x
`-s` squeeze	6ms	112ms	19x
`-E` show ends	7ms	109ms	16x
`-T` show tabs	6ms	105ms	18x
`-TE` tabs + ends	6ms	110ms	18x
`-nbsET` all flags	6ms	130ms	22x
`--json`	6ms	—	no counterpart

05 — Install

Clone, build, alias.

Requires Zig 0.16.0. Binary lands at zig-out/bin/ziggycat (~502KB).

STEP 01

Clone

git clone https://github.com/AkashPriyadarshii/ziggycat.git
cd ziggycat

STEP 02

Build

Bench builds use ReleaseFast.

zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSmall

STEP 03

Alias

alias cat=ziggycat

Windows note: in Git Bash, ziggycat means gzip's decompressor. ziggycat keeps its own name. Install at ~/.local/bin/ziggycat.exe.

06 — Trilogy

Read, find, orient.

File reading, search, and orientation as token-budgeted CLI tools.

Readziggycata file, structured — you are here Findrustygrepa needle, token-cheap Orientrepomapwhere am I, what's here