diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index c99b617..a2f57b9 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -63,10 +63,16 @@ RUN mkdir -p /home/linuxbrew \
   && rm -rf /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-core
 
 # 1.5. mise — dev tool manager; pre-approved tools defined in the global config
-#     auto-install via Homebrew backend on first use at runtime.
+#     auto-install via zerobrew backend on first use at runtime.
 RUN curl -fsSL https://mise.run | MISE_INSTALL_PATH=/usr/local/bin/mise sh \
   && mkdir -p /opt/mise \
-  && MISE_DATA_DIR=/opt/mise mise plugins install brew https://github.com/woutermont/mise-brew
+  && MISE_DATA_DIR=/opt/mise mise plugins install zerobrew https://github.com/kennyg/mise-zerobrew \
+  && sed -i '/quoted_path .. " install /i\    cmd.exec(quoted_zb .. " --root " .. quoted_path .. " init")' /opt/mise/plugins/zerobrew/hooks/backend_install.lua
+
+# 1.6. zerobrew — fast Homebrew alternative; used as mise backend
+RUN sudo -u opencode HOME=/home/opencode NONINTERACTIVE=1 /bin/bash -c " \
+  curl -fsSL https://zerobrew.rs/install | bash -s -- --no-modify-path \
+"
 
 ARG OPENCODE_VERSION
 
@@ -85,7 +91,7 @@ FROM base
 ARG OPENCODE_VERSION
 ARG IMAGE_CREATED
 
-ENV PATH=/home/opencode/.local/bin:/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin:/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/sbin:/opt/auto-install-shims:${PATH}
+ENV PATH=/home/opencode/.local/bin:/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin:/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/sbin:/home/opencode/.local/share/zerobrew/prefix/bin:/opt/auto-install-shims:${PATH}
 ENV HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1
 ENV HOMEBREW_INSTALL_FROM_API=1
 ENV MISE_DATA_DIR=/opt/mise
@@ -114,9 +120,14 @@ COPY --from=builder /usr/local/bin/mise /usr/local/bin/mise
 COPY --from=builder --chown=opencode:opencode /opt/mise /opt/mise
 COPY mise-config.toml /etc/mise/config.toml
 
+# Zerobrew — fast Homebrew alternative; mise zerobrew backend.
+COPY --from=builder /home/opencode/.local/bin/zb /usr/local/bin/zb
+COPY --from=builder /home/opencode/.local/bin/zbx /usr/local/bin/zbx
+COPY --from=builder --chown=opencode:opencode /home/opencode/.local/share/zerobrew /home/opencode/.local/share/zerobrew
+
 # Verify runtime and set up login-shell PATH and auto-install handler
 RUN opencode --version \
-  && printf 'for d in "$HOME/.local/bin" "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin" "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/sbin"; do case ":$PATH:" in *":$d:"*) ;; *) PATH="$d:$PATH";; esac; done\nexport PATH\n' > /etc/profile.d/brew-path.sh \
+  && printf 'for d in "$HOME/.local/bin" "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin" "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/sbin" "$HOME/.local/share/zerobrew/prefix/bin"; do case ":$PATH:" in *":$d:"*) ;; *) PATH="$d:$PATH";; esac; done\nexport PATH\n' > /etc/profile.d/brew-path.sh \
   && chmod 0644 /etc/profile.d/brew-path.sh \
   && printf '\neval "$(mise activate bash)"\n' >> /home/opencode/.bashrc \
   && printf '\neval "$(mise activate zsh)"\n' >> /home/opencode/.zshrc \
@@ -126,7 +137,13 @@ RUN opencode --version \
   && mkdir -p /opt/auto-install-shims \
   && grep -E '^\s*"' /etc/mise/config.toml | while IFS='=' read -r key value; do \
   key="$(echo "$key" | tr -d ' "')" \
-  && shim="${key#*:}" \
+  && shim="$(echo "$value" | sed -n 's/.*# shim:\([^ ]*\).*/\1/p')" \
+  && if [ -z "$shim" ]; then \
+     case "$key" in \
+       github:*) shim="${key##*/}" ;; \
+       *) shim="${key#*:}" ;; \
+     esac; \
+     fi \
   && printf '#!/usr/bin/env bash\nexec /usr/local/bin/mise exec "%s" -- %s "$@"\n' "$key" "$shim" > "/opt/auto-install-shims/$shim" \
   && chmod 0755 "/opt/auto-install-shims/$shim"; \
   done \
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ccecad6..88739d5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -17,27 +17,29 @@ A general-purpose Ubuntu Docker image for running [opencode](https://github.com/
 | **Build tools** | `build-essential`, `pkg-config` (for native npm addons, pip source builds) |
 | **Python 3** | Lazy-installed via mise (see table below) |
 | **Homebrew** | Linux-native Homebrew (`/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew`) — `brew` on PATH |
-| **mise** | Dev tool manager — tools listed below install on first use via `brew` backend |
+| **zerobrew** | Faster Homebrew alternative (`zb` on PATH) -- used as mise backend for lazy-installed tools |
+| **mise** | Dev tool manager — tools listed below install on first use via `zerobrew` backend |
 | **CLI utilities** | git, curl, jq, less, unzip, ssh client |
 | **Init** | tini as PID 1 (zombie reaping, clean shutdown) |
 
 ### Lazy-installed tools
 
-These tools install on first use (via mise → Homebrew):
+These tools install on first use (via mise → github/zerobrew):
 
 | Tool | Command | Backend |
 |---|---|---|
-| GitHub CLI | `gh` | brew |
-| GitLab CLI | `glab` | brew |
-| Ruby | `ruby` | brew |
-| ripgrep | `rg` | brew |
-| fd | `fd` | brew |
-| Wget | `wget` | brew |
-| Vim | `vim` | brew |
-| Micro | `micro` | brew |
-| Nano | `nano` | brew |
-| Python 3 | `python3` | brew |
-| Node.js | `node` | brew |
+| GitHub CLI | `gh` | github |
+| GitLab CLI | `glab` | zerobrew |
+| Ruby | `ruby` | zerobrew |
+| ripgrep | `rg` | github |
+| fd | `fd` | github |
+| Wget | `wget` | zerobrew |
+| Vim | `vim` | zerobrew |
+| Micro | `micro` | github |
+| Nano | `nano` | zerobrew |
+| Python 3 | `python3` | zerobrew |
+| Node.js | `node` | github |
+| Sapling | `sl` | github |
 
 The image ships with a system config at `/etc/mise/config.toml` with these pre-approved tools. Users can add or override tools by creating `~/.config/mise/config.toml` — mise merges both.
 
@@ -109,4 +111,5 @@ Fetches the latest release from [anomalyco/opencode](https://github.com/anomalyc
 - `~/.local/bin` is on PATH and user-writable, useful for dropping custom tools at runtime.
 - Node version can be switched at runtime with `n <version>` (e.g. `n lts`).
 - Homebrew is installed under `/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew` (outside the persistent volume). It uses its bundled portable Ruby — no system Ruby needed.
-- **Lazy-installed tools** (see table above): run any listed tool and mise auto-installs it via Homebrew on first use. The image ships defaults in `/etc/mise/config.toml`; create `~/.config/mise/config.toml` to add your own — mise merges both.
+- Zerobrew (`zb`) is installed at `/usr/local/bin/zb` with its prefix at `~/.local/share/zerobrew/prefix` on PATH for accessing formula binaries.
+- **Lazy-installed tools** (see table above): run any listed tool and mise auto-installs it via zerobrew or github backend on first use. The image ships defaults in `/etc/mise/config.toml`; create `~/.config/mise/config.toml` to add your own — mise merges both.
diff --git a/mise-config.toml b/mise-config.toml
index 356b97e..646d0aa 100644
--- a/mise-config.toml
+++ b/mise-config.toml
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 [tools]
-"brew:gh" = "latest"
-"brew:glab" = "latest"
-"brew:ruby" = "latest"
-"brew:ripgrep" = "latest"
-"brew:fd" = "latest"
-"brew:wget" = "latest"
-"brew:vim" = "latest"
-"brew:micro" = "latest"
-"brew:nano" = "latest"
-"brew:python" = "latest"
-"brew:node" = "latest"
+"github:cli/cli" = "latest"          # shim:gh
+"zerobrew:glab" = "latest"
+"zerobrew:ruby" = "latest"
+"github:BurntSushi/ripgrep" = "latest"  # shim:rg
+"github:sharkdp/fd" = "latest"
+"zerobrew:wget" = "latest"
+"zerobrew:vim" = "latest"
+"github:zyedidia/micro" = "latest"
+"zerobrew:nano" = "latest"
+"zerobrew:python" = "latest"
+"github:nodejs/node" = "latest"
+"github:facebook/sapling" = "latest"    # shim:sl