ZigZag: The missing tool for working with LLM driven workflows

ZigZag, a new open-source tool built on Zig version 0.15.2, scans a codebase and condenses it into a single token-efficient Markdown file for use with any LLM, without requiring API keys or a GPU. The tool, available at github.com/LegationPro/zigzag, features LLM report generation, binary file detection, watch mode, and an HTML dashboard.

Introduction / Motivation We've all done it. You open five different files, copy chunks of code into ChatGPT, and ask "Can you figure out what's wrong with this?" . The problem isn't the AI - it's that it doesn't have the context of your codebase. ZigZag fixes that automatically. Run zigzag run --llm-report in your terminal and it recursively scans your project, skips the noise node modules , .git , binaries, lockfiles , and condenses everything into a single token-efficient Markdown file you can hand to any LLM. Why ZigZag when tools like Claude Code and CodeX exist? Because ZigZag isn't an AI assistant; it's the middleman that sits between. It takes a sprawling codebase and turns it into a single or chunked token-efficient Markdown file. Where that file goes is up to you: ChatGPT's free tier, Gemini, DeepSeek, a local model, or the Claude Code subscription you already pay for. No API keys. No GPU. No monthly bill. Just a binary that reads your project and hands you the context. Features LLM report --llm-report — condensed, token-efficient output with per-file condensation + chunking via --chunk-size . Binary file detection — Ignores reading binary files automatically. Auto-skipped directories — node modules , .git , .turbo , .nx , .parcel-cache , etc. Watch mode — OS-level fs events inotify/kqueue/ReadDirectoryChangesW , 50ms debounce HTML dashboard --html — charts, virtual-scroll source viewer, syntax highlighting, live-reload JSON output --json — machine-readable report JSON config zig.conf.json for project-level defaults Timezone-aware timestamps Phase progress + rich summary — scan/aggregate/write indicators, machine info, timings bench subcommand — per-phase timing table Installation / Getting Started ZigZag is built on Zig version 0.15.2 , but plans to upgrade to 0.16.0 are in the works. Building from source git clone https://github.com/LegationPro/zigzag.git cd zigzag zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast The executable will be available at: zig-out/bin/zigzag Basic Usage The recommended workflow is config-first: zigzag init create zig.conf.json with sane defaults zigzag run scan using the config zigzag run --llm-report ...and emit a token-efficient LLM report Prefer flags? Skip the subcommand and pass everything inline: zigzag --help zigzag --paths ./src,./docs --ignores ".git,node modules, .test.zig" --timezone "-5" Common combinations: zigzag run --watch --html --open live dashboard in your browser zigzag run --llm-report --chunk-size 500k split large codebases into chunks zigzag bench per-phase timing table Without a subcommand, ZigZag ignores zig.conf.json and uses CLI flags only. With run , the config is the base and flags override it. Why Zig? Zig may not be a stable programming language, but it's already being adopted in large codebases such as: Ghostty – a GPU-accelerated terminal TigerBeetle https://tigerbeetle.com/ – a high-performance financial transactional database Zig also excels at: Manual memory control — explicit allocators, no hidden allocations, no GC pauses First-class C interop — import C headers directly with @cImport ; no bindings, no FFI layer Comptime — compile-time code execution replaces macros, generics, and templates with plain Zig A build system that's just Zig — build.zig is a program, not a DSL Cross-compilation out of the box — target any platform from any platform, no toolchain wrangling Thank You for Reading Thank you for taking the time to read this article I hope it gave you a clear idea of how ZigZag can simplify working with your codebase and enhance your AI-assisted development workflow. If you’d like to try it out, contribute, or share feedback, check out the repository: GitHub - Zagforge-Org/zigzag https://github.com/Zagforge-Org/zigzag Happy coding 🚀