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Zerobrew can be configured using environment variables to customize installation paths and behavior. These variables can be set in your shell configuration or passed directly when running commands.

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Core Variables

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ZEROBREW_ROOT
string
The root directory where zerobrew stores all its data, including the package store, cellar, cache, database, and locks.This directory contains:
  • store/ - Content-addressed package storage
  • cellar/ - Installed package metadata
  • cache/ - Downloaded package archives
  • db/ - SQLite database (zb.sqlite3)
  • locks/ - File locks for concurrent operations
Platform defaults:
  • macOS: /opt/zerobrew
  • Linux: $XDG_DATA_HOME/zerobrew (typically ~/.local/share/zerobrew)
Example:
export ZEROBREW_ROOT="$HOME/zerobrew"
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ZEROBREW_PREFIX
string
The prefix directory where package binaries and libraries are symlinked. This is the directory you should add to your PATH.Platform-specific behavior:
  • macOS: Defaults to ZEROBREW_ROOT directly (e.g., /opt/zerobrew) to maintain compatibility with Mach-O binary path length constraints (13 characters, same as Homebrew’s /opt/homebrew)
  • Linux: Defaults to $ZEROBREW_ROOT/prefix to separate data from the installation prefix
This directory typically contains:
  • bin/ - Executable binaries
  • lib/ - Shared libraries
  • include/ - Header files
  • share/ - Shared data files
  • etc/ - Configuration files
  • opt/ - Individual package directories
Example:
export ZEROBREW_PREFIX="/usr/local"
export PATH="$ZEROBREW_PREFIX/bin:$PATH"
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ZEROBREW_AUTO_INIT
boolean
default:"false"
Automatically initialize zerobrew without prompting when running commands for the first time.When set to true, zerobrew will automatically:
  • Create the root and prefix directories
  • Set up the internal directory structure
  • Initialize the package database
This is useful for:
  • CI/CD environments where interactive prompts are not possible
  • Automated scripts and provisioning tools
  • Docker containers and other non-interactive environments
Example:
export ZEROBREW_AUTO_INIT=true
zb install wget  # Will auto-initialize if needed

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Additional Environment Variables

Zerobrew also respects and sets several other environment variables for compatibility and functionality:

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Package Config

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PKG_CONFIG_PATH
string
Automatically set by zerobrew’s shell initialization to include $ZEROBREW_PREFIX/lib/pkgconfig for pkg-config to find installed libraries.Example:
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$ZEROBREW_PREFIX/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH"

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SSL Certificates

Zerobrew automatically configures SSL certificate paths when available:
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CURL_CA_BUNDLE
string
Path to the CA certificate bundle for curl and other tools. Automatically set to one of:
  • $ZEROBREW_PREFIX/opt/ca-certificates/share/ca-certificates/cacert.pem
  • $ZEROBREW_PREFIX/etc/ca-certificates/cacert.pem
  • $ZEROBREW_PREFIX/etc/openssl/cert.pem
  • $ZEROBREW_PREFIX/share/ca-certificates/cacert.pem
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SSL_CERT_FILE
string
Path to the SSL certificate file. Uses the same priority order as CURL_CA_BUNDLE.
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SSL_CERT_DIR
string
Directory containing SSL certificates. Automatically set to one of:
  • $ZEROBREW_PREFIX/etc/ca-certificates
  • $ZEROBREW_PREFIX/etc/openssl/certs
  • $ZEROBREW_PREFIX/share/ca-certificates

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Usage Examples

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Custom Installation Location

export ZEROBREW_ROOT="$HOME/.zerobrew"
export ZEROBREW_PREFIX="$HOME/.local"
zb install wget

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CI/CD Environment

export ZEROBREW_ROOT="/opt/zerobrew"
export ZEROBREW_PREFIX="/opt/zerobrew"
export ZEROBREW_AUTO_INIT=true
zb install jq curl wget

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Docker Container

ENV ZEROBREW_ROOT=/opt/zerobrew
ENV ZEROBREW_PREFIX=/opt/zerobrew
ENV ZEROBREW_AUTO_INIT=true
ENV PATH="/opt/zerobrew/bin:$PATH"
RUN zb install git make cmake

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Development Setup

# .envrc (for use with direnv)
export ZEROBREW_ROOT="$PWD/.zerobrew"
export ZEROBREW_PREFIX="$PWD/.zerobrew/prefix"
export PATH="$ZEROBREW_PREFIX/bin:$PATH"

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CLI Flag Override

Environment variables can be overridden using CLI flags: 
# Override ZEROBREW_ROOT
zb --root /custom/path install wget

# Override ZEROBREW_PREFIX
zb --prefix /usr/local install wget

# Override ZEROBREW_AUTO_INIT
zb --auto-init install wget

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Priority Order

Zerobrew determines configuration values in the following priority order (highest to lowest):
  1. CLI flags - --root, --prefix, --auto-init
  2. Environment variables - ZEROBREW_ROOT, ZEROBREW_PREFIX, ZEROBREW_AUTO_INIT
  3. Existing installation - If /opt/zerobrew exists, it will be used
  4. Platform defaults - macOS uses /opt/zerobrew, Linux uses $XDG_DATA_HOME/zerobrew
On macOS, the prefix must not exceed 13 characters due to Mach-O binary limitations. Zerobrew defaults to using the root directory as the prefix (/opt/zerobrew) to maintain compatibility with Homebrew’s path length.

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