Installation & Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 20
• npm >= 9 (recommended)

Optional (but often required): build tools for native dependencies (for example bcrypt, better-sqlite3). On macOS, Xcode Command Line Tools are usually sufficient.

Install ZinTrust

You can install ZinTrust globally (recommended for getting started) or per-project.

Option A: Global install

npm install -g @zintrust/core

This provides the CLI entrypoints:

• zin (primary)
• z and zt (shorthands)
• zintrust (full name)

Verify:

zin --version

Option B: Project-local install

If you prefer reproducible tooling per repo:

npm install --save-dev @zintrust/core

Then run the CLI via:

npx zin --version

Create your first project

Interactive (recommended):

zin new my-app
cd my-app

Scripted (CI / automation):

zin new my-app \
	--template api \
	--database postgresql \
	--port 7777 \
	--governance \
	--no-interactive

zin new can also control:

• git init: --no-git
• dependency install: --no-install or --install
• package manager: --package-manager npm|yarn|pnpm

Install adapters and drivers (plugin-style)

Many integrations are installed on-demand using the domain:driver form:

zin add db:sqlite
zin add queue:redis
zin add broadcast:redis
zin add cache:redis
zin add mail:nodemailer

Some drivers are native modules; if installs fail, ensure your machine has build tooling available.

Start the app

From a generated project:

zin start

If you are running the framework repo directly, npm run dev starts the dev server.