Installation
Requirements
- Zig 0.14.0 (no other dependencies)
- Any POSIX system (Linux, macOS)
- No libc required. No runtime. No garbage collector.
Build from source
git clone https://github.com/your-org/tailx.git
cd tailx
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe
The binary lands in zig-out/bin/tailx. Copy it wherever you like:
cp zig-out/bin/tailx ~/.local/bin/
Build variants
| Mode | Command | Binary size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debug | zig build | ~3 MB | Safety checks, slow |
| ReleaseSafe | zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe | 3.1 MB | Safety checks, fast |
| ReleaseSmall | zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSmall | 144 KB | Stripped, production |
| ReleaseFast | zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast | ~2.8 MB | Max speed, no safety |
For production use, ReleaseSafe is recommended. For resource-constrained environments (containers, embedded), ReleaseSmall produces a 144 KB binary that fits in L2 cache.
Run tests
zig build test
This runs all 219 tests across every module: core types, parsers, statistical structures, anomaly detectors, correlation engine, filters, and renderers. All tests pass in under 2 seconds.
Verify installation
tailx --version
# tailx v1.0
tailx --help
# Shows usage, modes, filters, options
No dependencies
tailx uses the Zig standard library exclusively. There are zero external dependencies – no PCRE, no libc (where avoidable), no vendored C code. The entire binary is self-contained.