diff --git a/src/lexer.cpp b/src/lexer.cpp
index e3004a7..5995669 100644
--- a/src/lexer.cpp
+++ b/src/lexer.cpp
@@ -69,7 +69,10 @@ bool Lexer::isAlphaNumeric(char c) const { return isAlpha(c) || isDigit(c); }
 void Lexer::addToken(TokenType type) { addToken(type, ""); }
 
 void Lexer::addToken(TokenType type, const std::string &lexeme) {
-	tokens.emplace_back(type, lexeme, line);
+	// `tokenStart` is captured at the top of each scan-loop iteration
+	// (before the first `advance()`), so we can stamp it onto every
+	// emitted Token without per-call site bookkeeping.
+	tokens.emplace_back(type, lexeme, line, tokenStart);
 }
 
 void Lexer::identifier() {
@@ -430,6 +433,11 @@ std::vector<Token> Lexer::scanTokens() {
 		skipWhitespace();
 		if (isAtEnd()) break;
 
+		// Snapshot the byte offset of the token we're about to scan.
+		// Every `addToken` call below reads this via member state, so
+		// each emitted Token carries its start offset — matches Zig's
+		// `Ast.TokenList.start` field.
+		tokenStart = static_cast<uint32_t>(current);
 		char c = advance();
 
 		switch (c) {
diff --git a/src/lexer.h b/src/lexer.h
index 0144597..481ee3d 100644
--- a/src/lexer.h
+++ b/src/lexer.h
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ class Lexer {
 	std::vector<Token> tokens;
 	int current = 0;
 	int line = 1;
+	// Byte offset where the current token began — captured at the top
+	// of each scan-loop iteration and recorded onto every emitted
+	// Token. Matches Zig's `Ast.TokenList = { tag, start }` shape:
+	// the persistent per-token info is just the start offset.
+	uint32_t tokenStart = 0;
 
 	bool isAtEnd() const;
 	char advance();
diff --git a/src/token.h b/src/token.h
index 6740e44..e58477f 100644
--- a/src/token.h
+++ b/src/token.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #ifndef TOKEN_H
 #define TOKEN_H
 
+#include <cstdint>
 #include <string>
 
 // Token types
@@ -76,14 +77,26 @@ enum TokenType {
 	TOK_AS,         // as keyword (explicit type cast)
 };
 
-// Token structure
+// Token structure.
+//
+// `byteOffset` is the start byte offset of the token in the source —
+// matches Zig's `Ast.TokenList = MultiArrayList({ tag, start })`. Zig
+// stores only `start` per token; the end is recomputed on demand from
+// the tokenizer (`tokenSlice` re-tokenizes for variable-length tokens,
+// short-circuits on a static lexeme table for keywords/operators).
+//
+// `lexeme` and `line` are legacy: kept for compat while the rest of
+// the codebase migrates to byte-offset-only access. Under strict
+// `lib/std/zig/` parity neither will exist in the long run.
 struct Token {
 	TokenType type;
 	std::string lexeme;
 	int line;
+	uint32_t byteOffset = 0;
 
-	Token(TokenType type, std::string lexeme, int line)
-	    : type(type), lexeme(std::move(lexeme)), line(line) {}
+	Token(TokenType type, std::string lexeme, int line, uint32_t byteOffset = 0)
+	    : type(type), lexeme(std::move(lexeme)), line(line),
+	      byteOffset(byteOffset) {}
 };
 
 #endif  // TOKEN_H