Zig Visual Tools

Visualize Zig build steps, artifacts, and tests directly in VS Code.

Features

Build Targets

View all available zig build steps in a sidebar tree. Click the play button to run any step in a terminal.

Build Artifacts

After building, browse all compiled artifacts — executables, static/shared libraries — organized by type. Each artifact shows:

• Source Files: All .zig, .c, .cpp, .h files used to build it (parsed from build.zig)
• Dependencies: Other artifacts it links against
• Details: Build mode, target, file size

Inline actions on each artifact:

Test Explorer

Automatically discovers test "name" declarations across all .zig files in your workspace. Run individual tests or all at once with native VS Code test UI.

Build Dependency Graph

Use the graph icon in the Build Artifacts panel header to generate a text-based dependency visualization showing the full artifact tree with source files and dependency chains.

Requirements

• Zig ≥ 0.11 (tested with 0.16)
• GDB (default debugger) — requires C/C++ extension
• LLDB (optional) — requires CodeLLDB extension

Extension Settings

Usage

1. Open a Zig project containing build.zig
2. Click the Zig icon in the Activity Bar
3. Build Targets panel lists all steps from zig build --help
4. Run zig build once, then Build Artifacts populates with compiled outputs
5. Expand any artifact to see its source files and dependencies
6. Click source files to open them in the editor
7. Use ▶ / 🐛 / 🔄 buttons on executables to run, debug, or rebuild

Known Issues

• Source file mapping relies on parsing build.zig text; complex or unconventional build configurations may not be fully captured
• zig build uninstall is not supported on Zig 0.16 (upstream TODO)

Release Notes

0.1.0

Initial release:

• Build Targets tree view from zig build --help
• Build Artifacts tree view from zig build --summary all
• Source file mapping parsed from build.zig (supports Zig 0.16 module syntax)
• Artifact dependency graph visualization
• Test Explorer with file watching
• Run / Debug / Rebuild actions on artifacts
• Configurable debugger backend (GDB / LLDB)