zsh

name	zsh
description	Use when working with zsh shell internals — completion system (compsys), compinit, compdef, compadd, _describe, _arguments, _alternative, _values, _multi_parts, _sep_parts, _regex_arguments, zstyle, matcher specification, tag system, ZLE widgets, keymaps, bindkey, compstate, quoting, parameter expansion, globbing, startup files, fpath, autoload, or compinstall. Triggers on: "zsh", "zsh completion", "zsh compinit", "zsh compdef", "zsh compadd", "zsh _describe", "zsh _arguments", "zsh zstyle", "zsh matcher", "zsh ZLE", "zsh widget", "zsh bindkey", "zsh compstate", "zsh quoting", "zsh expansion", "zsh globbing", "zsh startup", "zsh fpath", "zsh autoload", "zsh compinstall", "zsh list-colors", "zsh tag-order", "zsh group-name", "zsh menu-select", "zsh menu-complete", "curcontext", "words", "CURRENT", "PREFIX", "SUFFIX", "compquote", "comptilde", "compset", "zpty", "capture completion", "compadd override", "compprefuncs", "comppostfuncs".
user-invocable	true

Zsh Shell In-Depth Reference

Comprehensive reference for zsh shell internals, with emphasis on the completion system and how external tools hook into it.

Sub-Resources

Load the reference that matches your task. When in doubt, load multiple references.

Keywords	Reference
compinit, compdef, compadd, _describe, _arguments, _alternative, _values, _multi_parts, _sep_parts, _regex_arguments, _regex_words, _combination, _sequence, _path_files, _files, _gnu_generic, _wanted, _requested, _next_label, _all_labels, _tags, _message, _setup, _pick_variant, _call_function, _dispatch, _normal, _generic, _guard, _store_cache, _retrieve_cache, _cache_invalid, tag system, tag-order, group-name, group-order, zstyle, list-colors, matcher, matcher-list, completer, curcontext, context format, special parameters (words, CURRENT, PREFIX, SUFFIX, IPREFIX, ISUFFIX, QIPREFIX, QISUFFIX), opt_args, val_args, line, state, context, NORMARG, service, _compskip, expl, compinstall, bashcompinit, #compdef directive, _complete, _approximate, _correct, _expand, _history, _match, _prefix, _list, _menu, _oldlist, _ignored, _user_expand, _all_matches, how external tools hook in, completion dispatch flow, completion caching	references/completion.md
ZLE, zle builtin, widget, keymap, bindkey, emacs, viins, vicmd, main, .safe, isearch, complete-word, menu-complete, menu-select, reverse-menu-complete, delete-char-or-list, list-choices, expand-or-complete, accept-and-menu-complete, compstate, compwidget, compquote, comptilde, compset, compcall, BUFFER, CURSOR, LBUFFER, RBUFFER, KEYMAP, WIDGET, KEYS, NUMERIC, CONTEXT, vared, zle_highlight, KEYTIMEOUT, user-defined widget, completion widget, zle -C, zle -N	references/zle.md
quoting, single quotes, double quotes, $'...' ANSI-C quoting, backslash escaping, RC_QUOTES, parameter expansion, ${name}, ${name:-word}, ${name:=word}, ${name:+word}, ${name:?word}, ${#name}, ${name#pattern}, ${name##pattern}, ${name%pattern}, ${name%%pattern}, ${(flags)name}, expansion flags, globbing, filename generation, *, ?, [...], , **/, glob qualifiers, extended glob, (#b), (#i), ksh glob, expansion order, tilde expansion, brace expansion, process substitution, command substitution, arithmetic expansion, WORDCHARS, FIGNORE, nullglob, nomatch	references/expansion-quoting.md
startup, .zshenv, .zshprofile, .zshrc, .zlogin, .zlogout, ZDOTDIR, login shell, interactive shell, fpath, FPATH, autoload, compinit security, compaudit, zcompdump, compinit -C, compinit -D, compinit -u, compinit -i, compinstall, RCS, GLOBAL_RCS, completion function discovery, #compdef, _compdir, completion directories, Base, Zsh, Unix, X, platform-specific completions	references/startup-config.md
zpty, capture completion, compadd override, compprefuncs, comppostfuncs, compadd -A, compadd -D, zparseopts, headless zsh, pty completion capture, carapace-bridge, Valodim, capture.zsh, completion capture consumer, null-byte framing	references/capture-completion.md

Quick Guide

• How do I write a completion function? → references/completion.md
• How does the completion dispatch flow work? → references/completion.md
• How do I use _arguments with the state machine? → references/completion.md
• How do I use _describe for simple completions? → references/completion.md
• How do I configure zstyle for completion? → references/completion.md
• How does the matcher specification work? → references/completion.md
• How does the tag system work? → references/completion.md
• How do I use list-colors for colored completions? → references/completion.md
• How do external tools hook into zsh completion? → references/completion.md
• How do I cache expensive completions? → references/completion.md
• How do ZLE widgets and keymaps work? → references/zle.md
• How do I create a custom ZLE widget? → references/zle.md
• How do completion widgets interact with ZLE? → references/zle.md
• What is compstate and how do I use it? → references/zle.md
• How does zsh quoting work? → references/expansion-quoting.md
• How does parameter expansion work? → references/expansion-quoting.md
• How does zsh globbing work? → references/expansion-quoting.md
• Which startup files does zsh read? → references/startup-config.md
• How does compinit work? → references/startup-config.md
• How do I add custom completion functions? → references/startup-config.md
• How do I capture zsh completions externally (zpty/pty)? → references/capture-completion.md

Cross-Project References

• For carapace-specific zsh integration (snippet, quoting state machine, zstyle generation, _describe protocol, named directories), see the carapace-dev skill → references/shell-zsh.md.