ZEVM

ZEVM is a Zig Ethereum client with two runtime modes:

Trusted mode: a writable local dev node with mining controls, transaction submission, and ZEVM dev methods.
Light mode: a read-only, proof-backed, consensus-anchored client for execution reads.

Forking is trusted-mode configuration, not a separate runtime mode.

ZEVM is under active development. For version-specific behavior, check the ZEVM release notes and the reference pages in this docs site.

Phase 1 Scope (Public Contract)

For phase-1 scope, route to canonical sources instead of restated checklists:

product/runtime and JSON-RPC contract boundaries: Canonical Specs
startup/config precedence and phase-1 operator contract: Configuration Overview
deferred-surface promotion and phase-1 boundary/graduation criteria: Specs And Process

Phase 1 remains source-first. Release artifact jobs may publish CLI binaries, C ABI libraries, and npm native packages, but byte-identical reproducible-build guarantees, signing/notarization, and installer UX are still out of scope. GA posture in this docs set is scoped to that source/package public contract only. For release/build metadata routing, see Release Metadata And Behavior Deltas.

Choose Your Path

I want to…	Start here
Install from source and run ZEVM locally	Installation
Start a local trusted dev node	Run Trusted Mode
Start trusted mode against an upstream fork	Forked Dev Node
Run the proof-backed, consensus-anchored light client	Run Light Mode
Jump to authoritative contract source files	Canonical Specs
Follow docs-first update order and release/qualification policy	Specs And Process
Reproduce release metadata and operator provenance	Release Metadata Runbook
Check behavior changes by release	ZEVM Release Notes (GitHub)
Fix startup, configuration, or RPC issues	Troubleshooting

Canonical Specs And Process

contract-source index page: Canonical Specs
process/policy page: Specs And Process
active public contract sources: docs/specs/prd.md and docs/specs/json-rpc-contract.md
contract-affecting changes are docs-first: update the canonical spec sources first, then land implementation/docs updates that match
docs-first process contract: docs/specs/docs-first-process.md
for release-specific behavior deltas, use ZEVM Release Notes

Learn The Runtime Model

Release Metadata And Behavior Deltas

For exact release/build pins and baked defaults, use Release Metadata Runbook; use runtime zevm_lightSyncStatus as an audit signal only. For behavior deltas by release, use ZEVM Release Notes.

JSON-RPC And Configuration Reference

Normative source ownership: