zodown

Write Zod v4 schemas, run them in Zod v3 environments

The Problem

Many popular libraries still depend on Zod v3 (like @modelcontextprotocol/sdk), but you want to use the latest Zod v4 features and stay current with the ecosystem. Version conflicts force you to choose between modern schemas and library compatibility.

The Solution

zodown converts Zod v4 schemas to functionally equivalent Zod v3 schemas at runtime, preserving all validations, refinements, and type safety. Write modern code, maintain compatibility.

Installation

npm install zodown
# or
pnpm add zodown
# or
yarn add zodown

Note: zodown includes Zod v4 built-in and handles Zod v3 conversion internally. You don't need to install Zod separately!

Usage

import { z, zodown } from 'zodown' // Includes Zod v4!

// Write modern Zod v4 schemas
const UserSchema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email(),
  age: z.number().int().positive(),
  role: z.enum(['admin', 'user']),
  metadata: z.record(z.unknown()).optional(),
})

// Convert for Zod v3 compatibility
const v3Schema = zodown(UserSchema)

// Use with libraries that require Zod v3
import { Client } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk'
const client = new Client({
  schema: v3Schema, // Works perfectly!
})

Features

✅ Complete Type Support - All Zod types including primitives, objects, arrays, unions, intersections, and more
✅ Validation Preservation - All refinements, transforms, and custom validations are maintained
✅ Type Safety - Full TypeScript support with proper type inference
✅ Circular References - Handles recursive schemas with WeakMap caching
✅ Zero Configuration - Just wrap your schema with zodown()
✅ Lightweight - ~1.3KB gzipped converter logic

Supported Types

zodown supports all Zod v4 types:

• Primitives: string, number, boolean, date, bigint, symbol, undefined, null, void, any, unknown, never
• Literals: literal values, enums, native enums
• Strings: with all refinements (email, url, uuid, regex, length constraints, etc.)
• Numbers: with all refinements (int, positive, min/max, multipleOf, finite)
• Complex Types: objects, arrays, tuples, records, maps, sets
• Compositions: unions, intersections, optional, nullable, default
• Advanced: lazy (recursive), promise, function, transform, refine, preprocess
• Effects: Custom refinements and transformations

Examples

Basic Schema

import { z, zodown } from 'zodown'

const ProductSchema = z.object({
  id: z.string().uuid(),
  name: z.string().min(1).max(100),
  price: z.number().positive(),
  tags: z.array(z.string()),
})

const v3Product = zodown(ProductSchema)

With Refinements

import { z, zodown } from 'zodown'

const PasswordSchema = z
  .string()
  .min(8)
  .regex(/[A-Z]/, 'Must contain uppercase')
  .regex(/[0-9]/, 'Must contain number')
  .refine((val) => !commonPasswords.includes(val), 'Too common')

const v3Password = zodown(PasswordSchema)

Recursive Schema

import { z, zodown, ZodType } from 'zodown'

const CategorySchema: ZodType<Category> = z.lazy(() =>
  z.object({
    name: z.string(),
    subcategories: z.array(CategorySchema).optional(),
  })
)

const v3Category = zodown(CategorySchema)

With Transform

import { z, zodown } from 'zodown'

const DateSchema = z
  .string()
  .transform((str) => new Date(str))
  .refine((date) => !isNaN(date.getTime()), 'Invalid date')

const v3Date = zodown(DateSchema)

API

zodown(schema)

Converts a Zod v4 schema to a Zod v3 schema.

• Parameters: schema - Any Zod v4 schema
• Returns: Equivalent Zod v3 schema
• Type Safety: Preserves full type inference

InferDowngraded<T>

Type helper for extracting the inferred type from a downgraded schema.

import type { InferDowngraded } from 'zodown'

const Schema = z.object({ name: z.string() })
type User = InferDowngraded<typeof Schema> // { name: string }

Limitations

While zodown handles most Zod v4 features, there are some limitations due to architectural differences between v3 and v4:

Features That Cannot Be Converted

1. .refine() and .superRefine() on base types - In Zod v4, these are compiled into internal check functions that cannot be reverse-engineered. The base schema is returned without the refinement.

2. Branded types - Zod v4 implements branding as a compile-time TypeScript feature with no runtime representation, while v3 expects runtime ZodBranded instances. Branded schemas are returned as their base type.

3. Variable-length tuples with optional elements - Zod v4 allows tuples like [string, number?] to have variable length, but v3 requires fixed length with undefined for optional elements.

Workarounds

If you need these features, consider:

• Using transforms instead of refinements where possible
• Implementing validation logic outside of Zod
• Using v3-compatible patterns from the start

Example of Limitations

// These v4 features have limitations:

// ❌ Refinements are lost
const v4Refined = z.number().refine((n) => n % 2 === 0)
const v3Refined = zodown(v4Refined) // Returns ZodNumber without refinement

// ❌ Brands become base types
const v4Branded = z.string().brand<'UserId'>()
const v3Branded = zodown(v4Branded) // Returns ZodString, not ZodBranded

// ❌ Optional tuple elements need all positions
const v4Tuple = z.tuple([z.string(), z.number().optional()])
const v3Tuple = zodown(v4Tuple)
v3Tuple.parse(['hi', undefined]) // ✅ Works
v3Tuple.parse(['hi']) // ❌ Fails - v3 needs fixed length

Use Cases

• 📦 Using @modelcontextprotocol/sdk with modern Zod schemas
• 🔄 Gradually migrating large codebases from Zod v3 to v4
• 📚 Maintaining libraries that need to support both versions
• 🛠️ Working with tools that haven't updated to Zod v4 yet

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

License

MIT © Justin Schroeder

Acknowledgments

Built with necessity for the Model Context Protocol SDK and the many other libraries still on Zod v3.