Search Rust Dependency Documentation

Use this skill to find API details, function signatures, and usage patterns from project dependencies when docs.rs is insufficient or you need to search across multiple crates.

Step 1: Build Documentation

Build docs for the workspace and all dependencies:

# Do not pass --open to cargo doc!
cargo doc --workspace

This generates HTML documentation in target/doc/. Each crate gets its own subdirectory.

Step 2: Search the Generated Docs

The docs are HTML files. Use grep to search:

# Search for a function name
grep -r "fn create_buffer" target/doc/wgpu/

# Search for a struct
grep -r "struct Device" target/doc/wgpu/

# Search for a pattern across all deps
grep -rh "compile_protos" target/doc/ --include="*.html" | head -50

# Find methods on a type
grep -r "impl.*Queue" target/doc/wgpu/

Step 3: Read Specific Documentation

Documentation files follow predictable paths:

Tips

• •HTML contains full docstrings — search for text you'd see on docs.rs
• •Use --include="*.html" to skip source maps and JS files
• •Crate names use underscores: wgpu_core, prost_build
• •The all.html file lists every public item in a crate