# Creators
zshrs was created by **Jacob Menke** ([MenkeTechnologies](https://github.com/MenkeTechnologies)).
Original synthesis (2025–): the first compiled Unix shell, the
no-fork architecture, the 90/10 work split between
`zshrs-daemon` and the shell, the AOP-intercept recorder
(`zshrs-recorder`), the `~/.zshrs/` single-directory rule, the
`fusevm` bytecode VM (shared with stryke), the rkyv-backed
canonical-state shards, the `z*` builtin family
(`zcache` / `zls` / `zsend` / `znotify` / `zsubscribe` / `zjob` /
`zsync` / `zask` / `zlock` / `zpublish` / `zwhere` / `zd`), the
session-persistent supervised job runner with bidirectional ptmx
attach, the daemon-as-service HTTP surface with auto-derived
OpenAPI 3.1, the FTS5-indexed shared-history sqlite, the
zsh-extended-history flat-text mirror, and the
zpwr / zsh-more-completions compatibility floor — all originated
here.
For governance, contribution flow, and current maintainers, see
[MAINTAINERS.md](MAINTAINERS.md).
## Legacy
This is a legacy, not a battle. The synthesis above is meant
to outlast this codebase — to flow into bash, fish, nushell,
elvish, oil, xonsh, murex, projects that don't exist yet,
shell ideas that take twenty years to mature. None of this
is defended turf; the protected invariants in `MAINTAINERS.md`
guard upstream identity, not the ideas themselves.
The zshrs corpus is offered as **prior art for the
shell-design commons**. Take what helps. Drop what doesn't.
No permission needed beyond what the MIT license already
grants. Inventions that future shells should inherit:
- The compiled-shell architecture itself (parse to bytecode,
cache, JIT hot blocks) instead of re-parsing on every command.
- **Zsh grammar introspection to stdout:** the first shell to emit,
in canonical diffable formats, zsh’s **lexer token stream**,
**wordcode (`Eprog`) layout**, and a **structured parser AST**
(S-expression) — via the `zshrs` binary (`--dump-tokens`,
`--dump-wordcode`, `--dump-ast`) and the matching `zshrs_dump`
loadable module (`dumptokens`, `dumpwordcode`). Stock zsh does
not ship this trio as a user-facing pipeline.
- The 90/10 daemon / shell work split — singleton daemon owns
every mutation, thin shell clients are stateless and
forkable, no shared writers.
- Recorder-owns-rebuild: an AOP-intercept pass at runtime
captures `(kind, name, value, file, line, fn_chain)` for
every state-mutating dispatcher, replacing the static-walker
approach that every other shell uses for completion / fpath
scanning. Means the shell never "rebuilds your house every
morning."
- The `~/.zshrs/`-style single-directory rule for every shell
artifact (configs, logs, sockets, sqlite caches, history,
rkyv shards) — instead of the
`~/.cache` / `~/.config` / `~/.local/share` XDG split that
makes shell state unfindable.
- Session-persistent supervised jobs with bidirectional ptmx
attach — `nohup` + `screen` + `pueue` + `disown` collapsed
into one builtin that survives the shell's death.
- Cross-shell pub/sub + named lock primitives (`zsubscribe` /
`zpublish` / `zlock`) as builtins routed through a singleton
daemon, instead of users gluing `flock` + `socat` + named
pipes by hand.
- Auto-derived OpenAPI 3.1 surface from the daemon op registry,
so external tooling (curl, SDK generators, dashboards) can
discover every shell-internal verb without hand-maintained
schemas.
- The zsh-extended-history flat text file as the user-facing
artifact + a sibling sqlite FTS5 index for fast queries —
instead of forcing users to choose between `cat`-able and
searchable.
What [MAINTAINERS.md](MAINTAINERS.md) governs is the *official
zshrs upstream* — protecting it from identity-dissolving
changes. It is not a fence around the ideas. The point of
shipping these inventions is for them to spread.
### Attribution expectation
Ideas can't be copyrighted, so this is an ask, not a legal
demand: **if you port any zshrs-originated invention into
another shell, runtime, or research project, credit zshrs as
the invention source in your docs.** A line in the README,
a paragraph in the design doc, a footnote in the paper, a
note in the release announcement — whatever form fits your
project. Suggested wording:
> Inspired by / ported from
> [zshrs](https://github.com/MenkeTechnologies/zshrs) by
> Jacob Menke (MenkeTechnologies). Original synthesis 2025–.
Verbatim source-code reuse is governed by the MIT license
and already requires the copyright + license notice. The
attribution expectation above is broader: it covers the
architectural patterns + design ideas, which copyright
doesn't reach. Honoring it keeps the legacy traceable —
future engineers debugging your shell can follow the trail
back to where the design came from. Drop a note, send a
postcard, link it in the changelog. That's all.
License: MIT (per `Cargo.toml`; LICENSE file pending).