rust-project-setup

Rust Project Setup

Step-by-step guidance for setting up new Rust projects with proper configuration, linting, and CI.

Quick Reference

Topic	Reference
Cargo.toml configuration, profiles, dependencies	references/cargo-config.md
Workspace organization, member layout, shared deps	references/workspace-layout.md
GitHub Actions CI, caching, MSRV checks	references/ci-setup.md

New Project Checklist

1. Create the Project

# Binary
cargo init my-app

# Library
cargo init --lib my-lib

# Workspace (create Cargo.toml manually)
mkdir my-workspace && cd my-workspace

2. Configure Cargo.toml

Set edition, rust-version (MSRV), and metadata:

[package]
name = "my-app"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2024"
rust-version = "1.85"

3. Set Up Linting

Add clippy and rustfmt configuration:

# Cargo.toml
[lints.clippy]
all = { level = "deny", priority = 10 }
pedantic = { level = "warn", priority = 3 }

[lints.rust]
future-incompatible = "warn"
nonstandard_style = "deny"

# rustfmt.toml
edition = "2024"
reorder_imports = true
imports_granularity = "Crate"
group_imports = "StdExternalCrate"

4. Configure Profiles

[profile.release]
lto = true
codegen-units = 1
strip = true

5. Set Up CI

Add GitHub Actions workflow for check, clippy, test, and fmt. See references/ci-setup.md.

6. Cargo.lock Policy

• Binaries: Commit Cargo.lock (reproducible builds)
• Libraries: Do NOT commit Cargo.lock (consumers resolve their own versions)
• Add to .gitignore for libraries: Cargo.lock

7. Documentation Setup

For library crates, enable doc lints:

// src/lib.rs
#![deny(missing_docs)]

Workspace vs Single Crate

Use	When
Single crate	Small project, CLI tool, simple library
Workspace	Multiple related crates, shared dependencies, separate compile targets

Workspaces reduce compile times by sharing dependencies and build artifacts across members.

Project Structure

Binary

my-app/
  Cargo.toml
  rustfmt.toml
  src/
    main.rs
    lib.rs      # separate logic from entry point
  tests/
    integration_test.rs

Library

my-lib/
  Cargo.toml
  rustfmt.toml
  src/
    lib.rs
    module_a.rs
    module_b/
      mod.rs
      types.rs
  tests/
    api_test.rs
  examples/
    basic_usage.rs

Workspace

my-workspace/
  Cargo.toml          # [workspace] definition
  rustfmt.toml        # shared formatting
  crates/
    core/             # shared types and logic
    api/              # HTTP server
    cli/              # command-line interface

Dependency Best Practices

• Pin exact versions for binaries: serde = "=1.0.210"
• Use version ranges for libraries: serde = "1"
• Group features explicitly: tokio = { version = "1", features = ["rt-multi-thread", "macros"] }
• Use [dev-dependencies] for test-only crates
• Review cargo tree for duplicate versions
• Run cargo audit for security vulnerabilities