Zsh zplug¶

ID: zplug
Links: Documentation · Repository
Upstream stars: ⭐ 6,056
Last commit: 2026-03-04
Version requirement: >= 2
Platforms: 🐧 Linux · 🍎 macOS
Operations: installed · upgrade · upgrade_all
purl types: pkg:zplug/
CLI name: zsh
Forced environment: NO_COLOR=1
SHELL_SESSIONS_DISABLE=1
Issues and PRs: 📦 manager: zsh-based
Source: zplug.py

zplug is a plugin manager for Zsh.

Plugins are declared in the user’s .zshrc with zplug "user/repo" calls, then materialized under $ZPLUG_HOME/repos. Packages are identified by the user/repo slug zplug reports, which is the id mpm keys them on.

What `mpm` adds to `zplug`¶

mpm reaches across every manager at once, not zplug alone: mpm installed and mpm outdated cover zplug alongside every other manager you run in one table, mpm upgrade --all updates them together, and mpm sbom exports the whole machine as one bill of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

Your `zplug` commands, in `mpm`¶

You already know zplug: each operation maps one-to-one onto mpm, in an interface shared by every manager.

To…	With `zplug`	With `mpm`
List what’s installed	`zsh -c 'source ~/.zplug/init.zsh && zplug list'`	`mpm --zplug installed`
Upgrade one package	`zplug update b4b4r07/zsh-gomi`	`mpm --zplug upgrade b4b4r07/zsh-gomi`
Upgrade everything	`zplug update`	`mpm --zplug upgrade --all`

Prefix any command above with --dry-run to simulate the underlying manager calls without touching the system: the safe way to watch what mpm would do before trusting it.

Operations¶

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`outdated`	❌	The `zplug status` check reports through a progress display, not a parseable list; `upgrade --all` still works.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

Configuration¶

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

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

[mpm.overrides.zplug]
cli_names = [
    "zsh",
]
cli_search_path = []
dry_run = false
ignore_auto_updates = true
plan = false
post_args = []
pre_args = []
pre_cmds = []
requirement = ">=2.0.0"
stop_on_error = false
unmaintained = false
version_cli_options = [
    "--version",
]
version_regexes = [
    "(?P<version>\\d+(?:\\.\\d+)+)",
]

[mpm.overrides.zplug.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 zplug 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 zplug, one mpm command each:

Snapshot and clone a machine: mpm --zplug dump zplug.toml, then mpm restore zplug.toml on the next one.
Export a compliance SBOM: mpm --zplug 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 zplug’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 zplug well and a transcript below looks wrong, or a newer release changed its output format, report it.

$ zsh -c 'source ~/.zplug/init.zsh && zplug list'
zplug/zplug => nil
b4b4r07/zsh-gomi => as:command, use:bin/gomi
peco/peco => as:command, from:gh-r, frozen:1

Version check¶

The version is probed by running:

$ zsh --version
2.4.2

and extracted with:

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

Upstream project¶

Metrics	`zplug/zplug`
Activity
Popularity
Metadata

Changelog¶

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