# Quickstart

Neutron for Zig is a composable systems library. This page gets you from zero to a running HTTP server and a database connection. For the layered architecture, see the [overview](/docs/zig/overview).

Minimum Zig version: **0.14.0**.

## Build the full stack

```bash
zig build
```

The default build includes all four layers. Use the `-D` flags documented in the [overview](/docs/zig/overview) to compile only the layers you need.

## A minimal HTTP server

```zig
const HttpServer = @import("protocol/http_server.zig").HttpServer;

fn handler(ctx: *RequestContext) !void {
    const name = ctx.queryParam("name") orelse "World";
    try ctx.respondJson(.{ .message = "Hello, " ++ name });
}

var server = try HttpServer.init(allocator, .{
    .host = "127.0.0.1",
    .port = 8080,
});
try server.serve(handler);
```

`RequestContext` provides:

- `respondJson(value)` — serialize and send JSON
- `respondText(text)` — send plain text
- `respondError(status, detail)` — RFC 7807 Problem Details

## Connect to Nucleus

```zig
const NucleusClient = @import("nucleus/client.zig").NucleusClient;

var client = try NucleusClient.fromUrl(allocator, "postgres://localhost:5432/mydb");
try client.connect();
defer client.deinit();

const rows = try client.query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE active = true");
```

## Next steps

- [Layers](/docs/zig/layers) — the wire codecs, HAL networking, protocol servers, and application framework.
- [Nucleus client](/docs/zig/nucleus-client) — the typed client for all 14 data models.