Overview Zstandard supports multiple build systems for easy integration into your project. make is the primary and reference build system, while others are periodically updated to maintain compatibility.
When your build system allows it, prefer employing make as it is the reference implementation and most up-to-date.
Make Basic Usage From the repository root:
This generates:
zstd CLI in the root directorylibzstd library in lib/
Standard Targets Library
Installation
Testing
# Build library (both static and dynamic) make lib # Build with release optimizations make lib-release # Force multithreaded build make lib-mt # Force single-threaded build make lib-nomt
# Install libraries, headers, and man pages make install # Install with custom prefix make install PREFIX=/usr/local # Multiarch installation (Debian/Ubuntu) make install PREFIX=/usr LIBDIR=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu
# Run basic tests make check # Run comprehensive tests make test
Compilation Variables The Makefile follows GNU Standard Makefile conventions :
Directory Variables
Compilation Flags
Command Variables
# Customize installation directories make install PREFIX=/usr/local \ BINDIR=/usr/local/bin \ LIBDIR=/usr/local/lib \ INCLUDEDIR=/usr/local/include
Modular Build Options Control which modules are compiled:
# Build without compression support make ZSTD_LIB_COMPRESSION= 0 # Build without decompression support make ZSTD_LIB_DECOMPRESSION= 0 # Build without dictionary builder make ZSTD_LIB_DICTBUILDER= 0 # Build without deprecated APIs make ZSTD_LIB_DEPRECATED= 0
Minimize Binary Size For size-constrained environments:
# Enable all minimization options make ZSTD_LIB_MINIFY= 1 # Disable inlining make ZSTD_NO_INLINE= 1 # Strip error strings make ZSTD_STRIP_ERROR_STRINGS= 1 # Use size-optimized compilation make CFLAGS="-Os -flto -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections" \ LDFLAGS="-Wl,--gc-sections"
CMake Basic Configuration From Root
From build/cmake
# Configure from repository root (recommended) cmake -S . -B build-cmake cmake --build build-cmake
# Historical workflow (still supported) cd build/cmake mkdir builddir cd builddir cmake .. make
Installation cmake --build build-cmake cmake --install build-cmake # Or with Make cd build-cmake make install
CMake Options View available options:
cd build-cmake cmake -LH ..
Configure with options:
Build Options
Module Options
Advanced Options
cmake -S . -B build-cmake \ -DZSTD_BUILD_STATIC=ON \ -DZSTD_BUILD_SHARED=OFF \ -DZSTD_BUILD_TESTS=ON
CMake FetchContent Integrate Zstandard using CMake’s FetchContent:
include (FetchContent) set (ZSTD_BUILD_STATIC ON ) set (ZSTD_BUILD_SHARED OFF ) FetchContent_Declare( zstd URL "https://github.com/facebook/zstd/releases/download/v1.5.5/zstd-1.5.5.tar.gz" DOWNLOAD_EXTRACT_TIMESTAMP TRUE SOURCE_SUBDIR build/cmake ) FetchContent_MakeAvailable(zstd) target_link_libraries ( ${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE libzstd_static ) # On Windows and macOS this is needed target_include_directories ( ${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE ${zstd_SOURCE_DIR} /lib )
Apple Universal Binaries Build for both Apple Silicon and Intel:
cmake -S . -B build-cmake \ -G Ninja \ -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES= "x86_64;x86_64h;arm64" \ -DZSTD_FRAMEWORK=ON cd build-cmake ninja sudo ninja install
Meson Setup and Build From the build/meson directory:
cd build/meson # Setup build meson setup -Dbin_programs=true -Dbin_contrib=true builddir # Build cd builddir ninja # Install ninja install # Staged install DESTDIR = ./staging ninja install
Configuration Configure build options:
Common options:
Library Type
Programs
Build Type
# Build static library only meson setup -Ddefault_library=static builddir # Build shared library only meson setup -Ddefault_library=shared builddir
Meson outputs one libzstd, either shared or static, depending on the default_library option.
Bazel Integration Integrate Zstandard into your Bazel project using the Bazel Central Repository :
Add to your MODULE.bazel file:
bazel_dep( name = "zstd" , version = "1.5.5" )
Or in legacy WORKSPACE file:
load( "@bazel_tools//tools/build_defs/repo:http.bzl" , "http_archive" ) http_archive( name = "zstd" , urls = [ "https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.5.tar.gz" ], strip_prefix = "zstd-1.5.5" , )
Usage in BUILD Files cc_binary( name = "my_app" , srcs = [ "main.cc" ], deps = [ "@zstd" ], )
Buck Building with Buck From the repository root:
The output binary will be in buck-out/gen/programs/.
Buck Configuration Zstandard includes BUCK files for library components in lib/BUCK:
# Main library target cxx_library( name = 'zstd' , header_namespace = '' , exported_headers = [ 'zstd.h' ], visibility = [ 'PUBLIC' ], deps = [ ':common' , ':compress' , ':decompress' , ':deprecated' , ], )
Using in Your Buck Project Reference the zstd library in your BUCK file:
cxx_binary( name = 'my_app' , srcs = [ 'main.c' ], deps = [ '//path/to/zstd/lib:zstd' , ], )
Package Managers git clone https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg.git cd vcpkg ./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh ./vcpkg integrate install ./vcpkg install zstd
conan install --requires= "zstd/[*]" --build=missing
Comparison Build System Best For Maturity Make Reference implementation, most up-to-date Primary CMake Cross-platform projects, IDE integration High Meson Fast builds, modern syntax Medium Bazel Large monorepos, reproducible builds Medium Buck Facebook ecosystem, mobile builds Medium
Next Steps
C/C++ Integration Learn how to use Zstandard API in your C/C++ code
Platform Support Platform-specific build instructions