Rust Development

Commands

• •cargo build - Build (debug only)
• •cargo test - Run tests
• •cargo fmt - Format code (run after changes)
• •cargo clippy - Lint (run after changes)

Dependencies

• •MUST use cargo add <crate> to add dependencies - never manually edit Cargo.toml for dependencies
• •ALWAYS ask the user for approval before adding any new dependency
• •Only suggest well-known, widely-used crates with good maintenance records
• •Prefer crates from the Rust ecosystem's trusted maintainers (e.g., tokio-rs, serde-rs, rust-lang)
• •Check crate download counts and recent activity as indicators of reliability
• •ALWAYS run cargo audit after adding a new dependency
• •ALWAYS report any vulnerabilities or issues from cargo audit to the user - never silently ignore audit results

Toolchain

• •Prefer stable Rust
• •Use nightly only if required

Style

• •Minimal comments, self-documenting code
• •Concise implementations
• •Discuss large refactors before starting

Error Handling

• •Use judgment: unwrap/expect OK when clearer
• •Match on errors when recovery is needed

Testing

• •Unit tests with #[cfg(test)] module when asked
• •Integration tests in separate files

Build

• •NEVER make release builds (--release)
• •Always use debug builds