Zsh Zim¶

ID: zim
Links: Home page · Documentation · Repository
Upstream stars: ⭐ 4,698
Last commit: 2026-08-17
Version requirement: >= 1
Platforms: 🐧 Linux · 🍎 macOS
Operations: installed · upgrade_all
purl types: pkg:zim/
CLI name: zsh
Forced environment: NO_COLOR=1
SHELL_SESSIONS_DISABLE=1
Issues and PRs: 📦 manager: zsh-based
Source: zim.py

Zim is a configuration framework and module manager for Zsh.

Modules are declared in the user’s .zimrc, then cloned under $ZIM_HOME. Packages are identified by the module name Zim reports, which is the id mpm keys them on.

What `mpm` adds to `zim`¶

mpm reaches across every manager at once, not zim alone: mpm installed and mpm outdated cover zim alongside every other manager you run in one table, mpm upgrade --all updates them together, and mpm sbom exports the whole machine as one bill of materials.

Every mpm command also gains --dry-run and --plan previews, cross-scheme version comparison and purl identifiers. See manager augmentations for how each one is built.

Operations¶

Operation	Supported	Notes
`installed`	✅
`outdated`	❌	The `zimfw check` comparison reports through a progress display, not a parseable list; `upgrade --all` still works.
`orphans`
`search`
`install`	❌	A module is installed only by declaring it in the user’s `.zimrc`, which `mpm` does not own.
`upgrade`
`upgrade_all`	✅
`remove`	❌	A module is removed only by dropping its line from the user’s `.zimrc`, which `mpm` does not own.
`sync`
`cleanup`
`doctor`

Configuration¶

Ignore zim on the mpm CLI by passing the --no-zim option.
Ignore it for every run in your configuration:
```
[mpm]
zim = false
```
Raise the timeout of all zim calls:
```
[mpm.overrides.zim]
timeout = 900
```

Run mpm config-template zim to print all overridable settings for your configuration file:

[mpm.overrides.zim]
cli_names = [
    "zsh",
]
cli_search_path = []
dry_run = false
ignore_auto_updates = true
plan = false
post_args = []
pre_args = []
pre_cmds = []
requirement = ">=1.0.0"
stop_on_error = false
unmaintained = false
version_cli_options = [
    "--version",
]
version_regexes = [
    "(?P<version>\\d+(?:\\.\\d+)+)",
]

[mpm.overrides.zim.extra_env]
NO_COLOR = "1"
SHELL_SESSIONS_DISABLE = "1"

The arguments and environment variables listed in the box atop this page are forced on every zim call, so runs stay quiet, non-interactive and reproducible: the defaults you would set in CI anyway.

Recipes¶

A few jobs you would otherwise script around zim, one mpm command each:

Snapshot and clone a machine: mpm --zim dump zim.toml, then mpm restore zim.toml on the next one.
Export a compliance SBOM: mpm --zim sbom (CycloneDX by default, --spdx for SPDX).

Privilege escalation¶

mpm runs this manager as the current user and never prepends sudo by default. Flip the policy for its privileged operations with --sudo or the per-manager sudo override.

None of its operations is privileged.

See privilege escalation for the full policy.

Cooldown¶

State of Zsh Zim’s release-age gating, from the cooldown support table:

Status: ❌ None (clones a Git branch or tag, no release feed)

A cooldown only pays off where a compromised release can be withdrawn while the clock runs, and can only be emulated where the registry dates its releases. From the retraction table:

Registry: Upstream Git clones
Retraction: None: a plugin is cloned straight from its upstream repository, so withdrawing a bad revision is its author force-pushing, retagging or deleting it themselves. No index sits in between
Publish date: ❌ a commit or tag date is set by the author and freely rewritable

With --cooldown set, mpm skips this manager’s install and upgrade operations rather than run them unguarded (fail-closed); --cooldown best-effort opts back in.

Reference traces¶

A collection of raw native outputs captured from the manager’s own CLI and recorded in the manager source. If you know Zsh Zim well and a transcript below looks wrong, or a newer release changed its output format, report it.

$ zsh -c 'source ~/.zim/init.zsh && zimfw list'
environment
git
input
termtitle
utility
duration-info (frozen)
zsh-completions

Version check¶

The version is probed by running:

$ zsh --version
1.18.0

and extracted with:

r"(?P<version>\d+(?:\.\d+)+)"

Upstream project¶

Metrics	`zimfw/zimfw`
Activity
Popularity
Metadata

Changelog¶

8.0.0 (2026-09-20)
- Add the Zim Zsh module manager with installed and upgrade support. It declares no install or remove: Zim materializes only the module set the user’s own .zimrc names.