create-zk-app (cza)

A CLI tool for scaffolding zero-knowledge application projects with modern development tooling and best practices built-in.

What is cza?

cza (create-zk-app) is like create-react-app but for zero-knowledge applications. It provides curated, opinionated project templates that combine ZK frameworks with modern frontend stacks, complete with development tooling and CI/CD setup.

Features

• 🚀 Quick Project Setup - Generate complete ZK projects in seconds
• 🎯 Opinionated Templates - Pre-configured with best practices and modern tooling
• 🔧 Development Ready - Includes mise, git hooks, formatting, linting, and CI/CD
• 🌐 Full Stack - ZK circuits + modern frontend (Vite + TanStack)
• 🛠️ Smart Setup - Automatic dependency installation and project initialization

Quick Start

Installation

From Cargo

cargo install cza

From npm/yarn/pnpm/bun

npx create-zk-app

npm install -g create-zk-app

yarn global add create-zk-app

pnpm add -g create-zk-app

bun add -g create-zk-app

Pre-built Binaries

Download pre-built binaries for your platform from the latest release.

Create Your First ZK Project

# List available templates
cza list

# List templates as JSON (for scripting)
cza list --json

# Preview a template structure (dry-run)
cza new noir-vite my-zk-app --dry-run

# Create a new Noir + Vite project
cza new noir-vite my-zk-app

# Pin template to specific git revision (commit SHA, tag, or branch)
cza new noir-vite my-zk-app --revision abc123def

# Navigate and start developing
cd my-zk-app
mise run dev

Available Templates

Templates are hosted at cza-templates.

More templates coming soon: Cairo, Risc0, o1js, and more!

How It Works

cza is built in Rust and uses:

• cargo-generate for template processing
• Template repositories hosted on GitHub with Handlebars variable substitution
• Automatic setup via post-generation scripts that install tools and configure the environment
• Embedded registry for fast template discovery and listing

Each template is a complete, working project that includes:

• ZK framework setup (Noir, Cairo, etc.)
• Modern frontend stack (Vite + TanStack Router/Query/Form)
• Development tooling (mise, dprint, biome, convco)
• Git hooks and CI/CD workflows
• Ready-to-use examples and documentation

Development Stack

Templates come pre-configured with:

Configuration

Contributing