diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index b3885e4..a2e4db0 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -23,6 +23,15 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
 
     const srf_mod = srf_dep.module("srf");
 
+    // Build-time info: version string (from git describe) and build timestamp.
+    // Exposed to application code as `@import("build_info")`.
+    //
+    // The version string is derived from `git describe --tags --always --dirty`
+    // so dev builds show the nearest tag plus commit hash + dirty flag. If git
+    // is unavailable (e.g. building from a source tarball), falls back to the
+    // `.version` in build.zig.zon.
+    const build_info = buildInfoOptions(b);
+
     // Library module -- the public API for downstream consumers of zfin.
     // Internal code (CLI, TUI) uses file-path imports instead.
     _ = b.addModule("zfin", .{
@@ -30,6 +39,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         .target = target,
         .imports = &.{
             .{ .name = "srf", .module = srf_mod },
+            .{ .name = "build_info", .module = build_info },
         },
     });
 
@@ -40,6 +50,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         .{ .name = "srf", .module = srf_mod },
         .{ .name = "vaxis", .module = vaxis_dep.module("vaxis") },
         .{ .name = "z2d", .module = z2d_dep.module("z2d") },
+        .{ .name = "build_info", .module = build_info },
     };
 
     // Unified executable (CLI + TUI in one binary)
@@ -83,6 +94,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
             .optimize = optimize,
             .imports = &.{
                 .{ .name = "srf", .module = srf_mod },
+                .{ .name = "build_info", .module = build_info },
             },
         }),
     });
@@ -104,3 +116,70 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         }), "zfin");
     }
 }
+
+/// Produce the `build_info` module exposing `version` (derived from `git
+/// describe`) and `build_timestamp` (Unix epoch seconds at build time).
+/// Consumed as `@import("build_info")` from `src/version.zig`.
+fn buildInfoOptions(b: *std.Build) *std.Build.Module {
+    const opts = b.addOptions();
+
+    // `git describe --tags --always --dirty` gives the closest tag, with a
+    // distance-+-hash suffix when HEAD isn't exactly on a tag, plus a
+    // `-dirty` marker if the working tree has uncommitted changes. Falls
+    // back to the build.zig.zon `.version` when git is unavailable.
+    const version = gitDescribe(b) orelse fallbackVersion();
+    opts.addOption([]const u8, "version", version);
+
+    // Seconds since the Unix epoch at build time. Rendered by `zfin version
+    // --verbose` as a human-readable date.
+    opts.addOption(i64, "build_timestamp", std.time.timestamp());
+
+    return opts.createModule();
+}
+
+/// Run `git describe --tags --always --dirty` in the repo root and return
+/// the trimmed output. Returns null on any error (git missing, not a repo,
+/// non-zero exit).
+fn gitDescribe(b: *std.Build) ?[]const u8 {
+    var child = std.process.Child.init(&.{ "git", "describe", "--tags", "--always", "--dirty" }, b.allocator);
+    child.cwd = b.build_root.path;
+    child.stdout_behavior = .Pipe;
+    child.stderr_behavior = .Ignore;
+    child.spawn() catch return null;
+
+    const stdout_file = child.stdout orelse {
+        _ = child.wait() catch {};
+        return null;
+    };
+    const stdout_bytes = stdout_file.readToEndAlloc(b.allocator, 4096) catch {
+        _ = child.wait() catch {};
+        return null;
+    };
+
+    const term = child.wait() catch return null;
+    switch (term) {
+        .Exited => |code| if (code != 0) return null,
+        else => return null,
+    }
+
+    const trimmed = std.mem.trim(u8, stdout_bytes, " \t\r\n");
+    if (trimmed.len == 0) return null;
+    return b.dupe(trimmed);
+}
+
+/// Read `.version` from `build.zig.zon` as a fallback when git describe
+/// fails (e.g. when building from a source tarball with no .git directory).
+/// Returns a static string if even that fails.
+fn fallbackVersion() []const u8 {
+    // `build.zig.zon` is embedded at compile time so the fallback never
+    // requires runtime filesystem access in the built binary — we only do
+    // this lookup at build time, on the build host.
+    const zon_contents = @embedFile("build.zig.zon");
+    if (std.mem.indexOf(u8, zon_contents, ".version = \"")) |start| {
+        const after = zon_contents[start + ".version = \"".len ..];
+        if (std.mem.indexOfScalar(u8, after, '"')) |end| {
+            return after[0..end];
+        }
+    }
+    return "unknown";
+}