Packaging overview

To make software available through Zero Install, you publish a signed XML feed that lists the available versions, where to download them, how to run them, and what they depend on. Anyone with a web server (or a static host like GitHub Pages) can publish feeds; there is no central registry.

A feed looks roughly like this:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<interface xmlns="http://zero-install.sourceforge.net/2004/injector/interface">
  <name>MyApp</name>
  <summary>does something useful</summary>
  <homepage>https://example.com/myapp</homepage>

  <group license="MIT">
    <command name="run" path="myapp"/>

    <implementation arch="Linux-x86_64" version="1.0" released="2026-04-01" stability="stable">
      <manifest-digest sha256new="..."/>
      <archive href="https://example.com/myapp-1.0-linux-x64.tar.gz"/>
    </implementation>
  </group>
</interface>

You don't usually write this from scratch. The tools generate and update feeds for you.

Where to start

Before reading the guides below, skim Concepts to make sure you're familiar with the terms interface, feed, implementation and command.

Tutorials walk through end-to-end workflows.

Guides are reference recipes for packaging specific kinds of software.

Tip

If you only want to run a program from a Git checkout, you may not need to publish anything at all. See Local feeds.

Reference

• Feed file specification: the formal XML format.
• Tools: the publishing tools (0template, 0publish, 0publish-gui, 0repo, 0release, 0watch, 0compile, 0test, feedlint).
• apps.0install.net: a large public repository of feeds, useful as a reference.