Packages

Packages

A package is a directory with a zinc.pkg.yaml manifest.

Zinc installs the package root, reads the manifest, and exposes two things:

1. typed package-owned surfaces
2. raw package-owned material reachable through zinc://

Manifest

name: openai-responses
about: OpenAI Responses model package.
uri: git+https://github.com/darkhorseprojects/darkhorseprojects-packages.git@openai-responses-v0.4.4//openai-responses

neighbors:
  unix-bash: "0.2.4"

surfaces:
  responses:
    about: Produce model text and requested named outputs.
    python: surfaces/responses.py

The package version comes from the URI tag. Do not include version in the manifest.

neighbors

neighbors is package-owned manifest data. Zinc does not parse it, resolve it, install it, update it, or use it for execution ordering.

Read it as raw YAML:

zn read zinc://packages/openai-responses/manifest/neighbors

Packages may interpret simple maps, grouped any sets, platform preferences, or no neighbor data at all.

surfaces

surfaces names package-owned entry points.

surfaces:
  bash:
    about: Run one Bash command through package policy.
    python: surfaces/run.py

Zinc invokes a surface by name:

unix-bash.bash
openai-responses.responses
powershell.powershell

See Package Surfaces for the request/response contract.

Navigable package material

Anything else in the manifest can be read through Zinc:

zn read zinc://packages/openai-responses/manifest/neighbors
zn read zinc://packages/openai-responses/manifest/surfaces/responses

Package files are also reachable:

zn read zinc://packages/openai-responses/files/surfaces/responses.py

Zinc records the installed package root and URI. It does not copy every package file into the database.