Zeal

Zeal is an offline documentation browser: your personal reference library, searchable in an instant and available without a connection. Originally inspired by Dash, it supports the same docset format.

Download

Binary builds for Windows and other installation options are available on the download page.

How to use

After installing Zeal, go to File → Docset Library, select the docsets you want, and click the Download button.

Query and filter docsets

Limit the search scope by prefixing your query with a docset name and a colon:

cpp:vector

To search multiple docsets, separate them with a comma:

python,django:string

Command line

You can also start Zeal with a query from the command line:

zeal python:pprint

How to compile

Detailed, up-to-date build instructions for each platform are available in the wiki. The bare minimum is described below.

Build dependencies

• CMake and Ninja.
• Qt version 6.4.2 or later. Required modules besides Qt Base: Svg, WebEngine.
• libarchive.
• SQLite.
• Linux/BSD platforms: extra-cmake-modules.
• X11 platforms only: libxkbcommon, xcb-util-keysyms.

Build instructions

cmake --preset release
cmake --build --preset release

The resulting binary is build/release/zeal (zeal.exe on Windows).

Create your own docsets

Follow the instructions in the Dash docset generation guide.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for how to build Zeal, the conventions to follow, and what to expect from review.

Contact and support

Ways to get help or reach the developers:

• Report bugs and submit feature requests to GitHub issues.
• Ask questions in GitHub discussions.
• Chat with the developers and other Zeal users on Discord.
• Subscribe to the Telegram channel for announcements.
• Follow @zealdocs on X for news and updates.
• Email support@zealdocs.org for anything private or sensitive.

License

This software is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3) or later. Full text of the license is available in the COPYING file and online.

Bundled third-party components are licensed under their respective terms; the repository is REUSE-compliant, with all license texts available in the LICENSES directory.