Desktop apps in kilobytes, not megabytes.
Native performance. Native size.
Desktop apps, minus the bloat.
Website • Docs • Plugins • Installation
Early Alpha — APIs will change. Not production-ready.
| Framework | Hello World Size |
|---|---|
| Electron | ~150 MB |
| Tauri | ~3-5 MB |
| Ziew | 220 KB |
That's 680x smaller than Electron.
- Tiny binaries — 220KB hello world, real apps under 2MB
- Native webviews — Uses system WebView (WebKit, Edge WebView2)
- No bundled browser — Unlike Electron's 150MB Chromium
- Plugin system — SQLite, notifications, hotkeys, gamepad, AI, and more
- Local AI — Optional llama.cpp + Piper TTS
- Cross-compilation —
ziew ship --target=windowsbuilds for any platform - Simple toolchain — Zig is ~40MB, not hundreds
Use built-in JavaScript APIs — no backend code needed.
// File system
const files = await ziew.fs.readDir('./docs');
const data = await ziew.fs.readFile('./config.json');
// Native dialogs
const path = await ziew.dialog.open({ filters: ['*.txt'] });
// System notifications (with notify plugin)
await ziew.notify.send('Done!', 'Your export is ready.');
// Local AI (with ai plugin)
for await (const token of ziew.ai.stream(prompt)) {
output.textContent += token;
}Enable native capabilities via ziew.zon config. Only enabled plugins add to binary size.
# Add plugins to your project
ziew plugin add sqlite notify hotkeys
# Build (reads from ziew.zon)
ziew build| Plugin | Description |
|---|---|
| sqlite | Embedded SQLite database |
| notify | System notifications |
| keychain | Secure credential storage |
| hotkeys | Global keyboard shortcuts |
| gamepad | Game controller input |
| serial | Serial port communication |
| ai | Local LLM (llama.cpp) |
| piper | Text-to-speech |
| lua | LuaJIT scripting |
| steamworks | Steam integration |
See ziew.sh/plugins for full documentation.
| Platform | Webview | Status | Dependencies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | WebKit2GTK | ✅ Ready | apt install libgtk-3-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev |
| macOS | WebKit | ✅ Ready | None (built-in) |
| Windows | Edge WebView2 | ✅ Ready | None (built-in on Win 10/11) |
# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://ziew.sh/install | sh
# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://ziew.sh/install.ps1 | iexLinux prerequisites:
sudo apt install libgtk-3-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev
# For plugins (optional)
sudo apt install libsqlite3-dev # sqlite
sudo apt install libnotify-dev # notify
sudo apt install libsecret-1-dev # keychain
sudo apt install libx11-dev # hotkeysBuild:
git clone https://github.com/ziews/ziew.git
cd ziew
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSmall
./zig-out/bin/helloziew init myapp
cd myapp
ziew dev# 2D game with Phaser
ziew init mygame --template=phaser
# 2D game with Kaplay
ziew init mygame --template=kaplay
# 3D app with Three.js
ziew init myapp --template=three
# With CSS framework
ziew init myapp --style=picoOne command to build for all platforms:
$ ziew ship
Building for all platforms...
✓ myapp-windows-x64.exe 320 KB
✓ myapp-macos-x64 380 KB
✓ myapp-macos-arm64 360 KB
✓ myapp-linux-x64 340 KB
Total: 1.4 MB (all platforms combined)- Website: ziew.sh
- Docs: ziew.sh/docs
- Plugins: ziew.sh/plugins
- GitHub: github.com/ziews/ziew
MIT