diff --git a/docs/commands/README.md b/docs/commands/README.md
index 071a1249edb22ee2d0d430276e28a8f1ca7d1601..84e7caf15247f928fb2ad2b77e4e9fe21fe079ba 100644
--- a/docs/commands/README.md
+++ b/docs/commands/README.md
@@ -18,3 +18,4 @@ Running `zigmod` with no commands will print this list.
 - [`aq add`](aq_add.md)
 - [`aq showjson`](aq_showjson.md)
 - [`aq install`](aq_install.md)
+- [`aq update`](aq_update.md)
diff --git a/docs/commands/aq.md b/docs/commands/aq.md
index c1ff96c031adc6af34b4aaf6f7cdc2161e10cefc..aa513934f180115c4ec8bf1b3567ba17afb2ed5a 100644
--- a/docs/commands/aq.md
+++ b/docs/commands/aq.md
@@ -15,3 +15,4 @@ The subcommands available are:
 - [`modfile`](aq_modfile.md)
 - [`showjson`](aq_showjson.md)
 - [`install`](aq_install.md)
+- [`update`](aq_update.md)
diff --git a/docs/commands/aq_update.md b/docs/commands/aq_update.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ccb155206c7dd8bfa225d45f7a9cf5d6263822e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/commands/aq_update.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+## `aq update` command
+```
+zigmod aq update
+```
+
+This command takes zero arguments and updates all programs installed with [`zigmod aq install`](./aq_install.md).
+
+Adding `~/.zigmod/bin` to your `$PATH` will allow you to reference the commands by name instead of by absolute path.
+
+The directory `~/.cache/zigmod` is a cache directory and may be deleted at any time.
diff --git a/src/cmd/aq.zig b/src/cmd/aq.zig
index d8816c1bf079f9939f90ce621c0cf9a5a79a3f63..0350da9944d6a9ed8420916fdeccf3bf88feeec8 100644
--- a/src/cmd/aq.zig
+++ b/src/cmd/aq.zig
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ pub const commands = struct {
     pub const add = @import("./aquila/add.zig");
     pub const showjson = @import("./aquila/showjson.zig");
     pub const install = @import("./aquila/install.zig");
+    pub const update = @import("./aquila/update.zig");
 };
 
 pub const server_root = "https://aquila.red";
diff --git a/src/cmd/aquila/update.zig b/src/cmd/aquila/update.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e19c7381d501ae266590f8b888acb09cd43c50cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cmd/aquila/update.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+const string = []const u8;
+const gpa = std.heap.c_allocator;
+const knownfolders = @import("known-folders");
+
+const zigmod = @import("../../lib.zig");
+const u = @import("./../../util/index.zig");
+const common = @import("./../../common.zig");
+
+pub fn execute(args: [][]u8) !void {
+    const home = try knownfolders.getPath(gpa, .home);
+    const homepath = home.?;
+    const homedir = try std.fs.cwd().openDir(homepath, .{});
+
+    if (!(try u.does_file_exist(homedir, "zigmod.yml"))) {
+        const f = try homedir.createFile("zigmod.yml", .{});
+        defer f.close();
+        const w = f.writer();
+        const init = @import("../init.zig");
+        try init.writeExeManifest(w, try u.random_string(gpa, 48), "zigmod_installation", null, null);
+    }
+    u.assert(args.len == 0, "zigmod aq update accepts no parameters", .{});
+
+    // get modfile and dep
+    const m = try zigmod.ModFile.from_dir(gpa, homedir);
+    for (m.rootdeps) |dep| {
+        //
+        const cache = try knownfolders.getPath(gpa, .cache);
+        const cachepath = try std.fs.path.join(gpa, &.{ cache.?, "zigmod", "deps" });
+
+        // fetch singular pkg
+        var fetchoptions = common.CollectOptions{
+            .log = true,
+            .update = false,
+            .alloc = gpa,
+        };
+        try fetchoptions.init();
+        const modpath = try common.get_modpath(cachepath, dep, &fetchoptions);
+        const moddir = try std.fs.cwd().openDir(modpath, .{});
+        std.log.info("{s}", .{dep.path});
+
+        // zigmod ci
+        const ci = @import("../ci.zig");
+        try ci.do(gpa, modpath, moddir);
+
+        // zig build
+        const argv: []const string = &.{
+            "zig",         "build",
+            "--prefix",    try std.fs.path.join(gpa, &.{ homepath, ".zigmod" }),
+            "--cache-dir", try std.fs.path.join(gpa, &.{ cache.?, "zigmod", "zig" }),
+        };
+        const proc = try std.ChildProcess.init(argv, gpa);
+        proc.cwd = modpath;
+        const term = try proc.spawnAndWait();
+        switch (term) {
+            .Exited => |v| u.assert(v == 0, "zig build failed with exit code: {d}", .{v}),
+            .Signal => |v| std.log.info("zig build was interrupted with signal: {d}", .{v}),
+            .Stopped => |v| std.log.info("zig build was stopped with code: {d}", .{v}),
+            .Unknown => |v| std.log.info("zig build encountered unknown: {d}", .{v}),
+        }
+    }
+}