Zeal is an offline documentation browser that lets you search API documentation instantly without an internet connection.
The tool solves the problem of needing to look up reference material while offline or without network latency. It works by downloading docsets—structured documentation packages in the same format used by Dash—and indexing them locally for instant full-text search. You can narrow searches to specific docsets by prefixing your query with the docset name, or search across multiple docsets at once by listing them separated by commas. The tool also supports command-line queries, letting you launch it with a search term directly.
Zeal suits developers who want a lightweight, always-available reference library without relying on web browsers or internet connectivity. It works well for anyone building a personal knowledge base across multiple programming languages and frameworks. The project is cross-platform, available on Windows, Linux, and other systems through standard package managers and direct downloads. Since it uses the Dash docset format, you can leverage the existing ecosystem of pre-built docsets or create your own following Dash's docset generation guide.
The project maintains active communication channels including GitHub issues for bug reports, GitHub discussions for questions, and a Discord server for real-time chat with developers and users. Development follows documented conventions outlined in a contributing guide, with code review expectations set for pull requests. The tool is built with Qt and requires modern dependencies including CMake, Ninja, libarchive, and SQLite, with platform-specific requirements documented in the project wiki.
