zinc

<p align="center">
  <img src="assets/zinc_trademark_new.png" alt="ZINC" width="240">
</p>

# ZINC

Run GGUF language models on your own GPU. ZINC gives you a command line
and an OpenAI-compatible API in one native binary. Vulkan and Metal builds
also include browser chat.

[![Tests](https://github.com/zolotukhin/zinc/actions/workflows/test.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/zolotukhin/zinc/actions/workflows/test.yml)
[![Zig 0.17.1](https://img.shields.io/badge/Zig-0.17.1-F7A41D?logo=zig&logoColor=white)](.zig-version)
[![MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue)](LICENSE)

[Get started](https://zolotukhin.ai/zinc/docs/getting-started/) ·
[Documentation](https://zolotukhin.ai/zinc/docs/) ·
[Benchmarks](https://zolotukhin.ai/zinc/benchmarks/) ·
[Discord](https://discord.gg/QRUgWH2aGV)

## Get running

For published archives, runtime requirements and verified installation/rollback,
see [binary releases](https://zolotukhin.ai/zinc/docs/binary-releases/) and
[GitHub Releases](https://github.com/zolotukhin/zinc/releases).
[Linux 0.1.0](https://github.com/zolotukhin/zinc/releases/tag/v0.1.0)
is available for Vulkan and ROCm. The exact published binaries pass all three
GPU profiles and public installation checks; see the
[release record](docs/releases/0.1.0-plan.md).
The commands below build from source.

Install the [prerequisites for your GPU](https://zolotukhin.ai/zinc/docs/getting-started/#install-dependencies)
first. The default build uses **Vulkan on Linux** and **Metal on macOS**.
The build wrapper downloads and verifies **Zig 0.17.1** when needed; you do not
need to replace your system compiler. Python 3 is needed for that initial
compiler download.

```bash
git clone https://github.com/zolotukhin/zinc.git
cd zinc
./scripts/zig.sh build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast
```

On AMD with Vulkan, set `export RADV_PERFTEST=coop_matrix` in the same terminal
before the GPU check or inference. Then check your GPU, download a model, and
open the chat:

```bash
./zig-out/bin/zinc --check
./zig-out/bin/zinc model pull qwen35-9b-q4k-m
./zig-out/bin/zinc chat --model-id qwen35-9b-q4k-m
```

The example uses Qwen 3.5 9B. Check the
[memory requirements](https://zolotukhin.ai/zinc/docs/hardware-requirements/)
before downloading, or run `./zig-out/bin/zinc model list` to browse the catalog.
You can also load an existing file with `-m /path/to/model.gguf`.

## Choose your GPU path

| Hardware                            | Backend             | Setup                                                                         |
| ----------------------------------- | ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| AMD Radeon RDNA3 / RDNA4            | Vulkan              | [Linux Vulkan setup](https://zolotukhin.ai/zinc/docs/getting-started/)        |
| AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 (`gfx1201`) | ROCm/HIP            | [Validated ROCm setup](https://zolotukhin.ai/zinc/docs/rocm/)                 |
| Apple Silicon