.TH ZC 1 "2026-01-15" "Zen C 0.1.0" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
zc \- Zen C compiler and toolchain
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B zc
.I command
[\fIoptions\fR]
.I file.zc
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B zc
is the compiler for Zen C, a modern systems programming language that compiles to
human-readable GNU C/C11. It provides type inference, pattern matching, generics,
traits, async/await, and manual memory management with RAII capabilities while
maintaining 100% C ABI compatibility.
.SH COMMANDS
.TP
.B run
Compile and execute the program immediately.
.TP
.B build
Compile to an executable file (default mode).
.TP
.B check
Check for syntax and semantic errors only; do not compile.
.TP
.B repl
Start the interactive Read-Eval-Print Loop.
.TP
.B transpile
Transpile to C code only without compiling to an executable.
.TP
.B lsp
Start the Language Server Protocol daemon for editor integration.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.BR \-o " " \fIfile\fR
Specify output executable name.
.TP
.B \-\-emit\-c
Keep the generated C file (out.c) after compilation.
.TP
.B \-\-freestanding
Enable freestanding mode (no standard library).
.TP
.BR \-\-cc " " \fIcompiler\fR
Select C compiler backend (gcc, clang, tcc, zig). Default: gcc
.TP
.BR \-O \fIlevel\fR
Set optimization level (0-3, s, fast).
.TP
.B \-g
Include debug information in the output.
.TP
.BR \-v ", " \-\-verbose
Enable verbose output.
.TP
.BR \-q ", " \-\-quiet
Suppress non-error output.
.TP
.B \-c
Compile only; produce object file (.o) without linking.
.SH ENVIRONMENT
.TP
.B ZC_ROOT
Specifies the location of the Zen C standard library. If unset, searches in
./std/, /usr/local/share/zenc/, and /usr/share/zenc/.
.SH EXAMPLES
.TP
Compile and run a program:
.nf
.B zc run hello.zc
.fi
.TP
Build an optimized executable:
.nf
.B zc build app.zc \-o myapp \-O3
.fi
.TP
Transpile to C code:
.nf
.B zc transpile source.zc \-o output.c
.fi
.TP
Use Clang as backend:
.nf
.B zc build app.zc \-\-cc clang
.fi
.SH EXIT STATUS
Returns 0 on success, 1 on compilation error, or non-zero on execution failure (run mode).
.SH FILES
.TP
.I out.c
Temporary C file generated during compilation (removed unless \-\-emit\-c is specified).
.TP
.I /usr/share/zenc/
Default standard library location.
.TP
.I ~/.config/zc/
User configuration directory (future use).
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR zc (5),
.BR zenc (7),
.BR gcc (1),
.BR clang (1)
.SH BUGS
Report bugs at: https://github.com/z-libs/Zen-C/issues
.SH AUTHORS
The Zen C development team.