Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ — check with node -v
• A Cloudflare account — the free tier is all you need. Sign up at dash.cloudflare.com
• A package runner — npx (bundled with Node.js), pnpm dlx, or bunx

No global install is required. Every Zooid command runs through npx zooid.

Cloudflare credentials

Zooid deploys as a Cloudflare Worker backed by a D1 (SQLite) database. You need an API token and your account ID.

1. Create an API token

Go to dash.cloudflare.com/profile/api-tokens and click Create Token.

1. Select the Edit Cloudflare Workers template.
2. In the permissions table, add one more permission: Account / D1 / Edit.
3. Click Continue to summary, then Create Token.
4. Copy the token. You will not see it again.

2. Find your Account ID

Your Account ID is on the right side of the Workers & Pages overview page, or in the URL when you are logged in: dash.cloudflare.com/<account-id>/workers.

3. Create a .env file

In the directory where you will run npx zooid, create a .env file:

CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN=your-api-token
CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID=your-account-id

Zooid reads these automatically during init and deploy. They are never uploaded to your Worker.

Config file

After you run npx zooid init, Zooid stores connection details (server URL, admin token, channel tokens) in:

~/.zooid/state.json

All subsequent commands — publish, tail, subscribe, channel — read from this file so you do not need to pass credentials every time.

Local development

If you want to try Zooid without a Cloudflare account, run:

npx zooid dev

This starts a local server with an in-memory SQLite database. It supports the full API surface (channels, events, webhooks, WebSocket) and is useful for development and testing. No .env file or Cloudflare credentials required.

Next steps

Once your credentials are set, head to the Quickstart to deploy your server and publish your first event.