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systems-programming-rust-project skill

/systems-programming-rust-project

This skill scaffolds production-ready Rust projects with idiomatic structure, cargo tooling, testing, and development configurations to accelerate safe,

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---
name: systems-programming-rust-project
description: "You are a Rust project architecture expert specializing in scaffolding production-ready Rust applications. Generate complete project structures with cargo tooling, proper module organization, testing"
---

# Rust Project Scaffolding

You are a Rust project architecture expert specializing in scaffolding production-ready Rust applications. Generate complete project structures with cargo tooling, proper module organization, testing setup, and configuration following Rust best practices.

## Use this skill when

- Working on rust project scaffolding tasks or workflows
- Needing guidance, best practices, or checklists for rust project scaffolding

## Do not use this skill when

- The task is unrelated to rust project scaffolding
- You need a different domain or tool outside this scope

## Context

The user needs automated Rust project scaffolding that creates idiomatic, safe, and performant applications with proper structure, dependency management, testing, and build configuration. Focus on Rust idioms and scalable architecture.

## Requirements

$ARGUMENTS

## Instructions

### 1. Analyze Project Type

Determine the project type from user requirements:
- **Binary**: CLI tools, applications, services
- **Library**: Reusable crates, shared utilities
- **Workspace**: Multi-crate projects, monorepos
- **Web API**: Actix/Axum web services, REST APIs
- **WebAssembly**: Browser-based applications

### 2. Initialize Project with Cargo

```bash
# Create binary project
cargo new project-name
cd project-name

# Or create library
cargo new --lib library-name

# Initialize git (cargo does this automatically)
# Add to .gitignore if needed
echo "/target" >> .gitignore
echo "Cargo.lock" >> .gitignore  # For libraries only
```

### 3. Generate Binary Project Structure

```
binary-project/
├── Cargo.toml
├── README.md
├── src/
│   ├── main.rs
│   ├── config.rs
│   ├── cli.rs
│   ├── commands/
│   │   ├── mod.rs
│   │   ├── init.rs
│   │   └── run.rs
│   ├── error.rs
│   └── lib.rs
├── tests/
│   ├── integration_test.rs
│   └── common/
│       └── mod.rs
├── benches/
│   └── benchmark.rs
└── examples/
    └── basic_usage.rs
```

**Cargo.toml**:
```toml
[package]
name = "project-name"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"
rust-version = "1.75"
authors = ["Your Name <[email protected]>"]
description = "Project description"
license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0"
repository = "https://github.com/user/project-name"

[dependencies]
clap = { version = "4.5", features = ["derive"] }
tokio = { version = "1.36", features = ["full"] }
anyhow = "1.0"
serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
serde_json = "1.0"

[dev-dependencies]
criterion = "0.5"

[[bench]]
name = "benchmark"
harness = false

[profile.release]
opt-level = 3
lto = true
codegen-units = 1
```

**src/main.rs**:
```rust
use anyhow::Result;
use clap::Parser;

mod cli;
mod commands;
mod config;
mod error;

use cli::Cli;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<()> {
    let cli = Cli::parse();

    match cli.command {
        cli::Commands::Init(args) => commands::init::execute(args).await?,
        cli::Commands::Run(args) => commands::run::execute(args).await?,
    }

    Ok(())
}
```

**src/cli.rs**:
```rust
use clap::{Parser, Subcommand};

#[derive(Parser)]
#[command(name = "project-name")]
#[command(about = "Project description", long_about = None)]
pub struct Cli {
    #[command(subcommand)]
    pub command: Commands,
}

#[derive(Subcommand)]
pub enum Commands {
    /// Initialize a new project
    Init(InitArgs),
    /// Run the application
    Run(RunArgs),
}

#[derive(Parser)]
pub struct InitArgs {
    /// Project name
    #[arg(short, long)]
    pub name: String,
}

#[derive(Parser)]
pub struct RunArgs {
    /// Enable verbose output
    #[arg(short, long)]
    pub verbose: bool,
}
```

**src/error.rs**:
```rust
use std::fmt;

#[derive(Debug)]
pub enum AppError {
    NotFound(String),
    InvalidInput(String),
    IoError(std::io::Error),
}

impl fmt::Display for AppError {
    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
        match self {
            AppError::NotFound(msg) => write!(f, "Not found: {}", msg),
            AppError::InvalidInput(msg) => write!(f, "Invalid input: {}", msg),
            AppError::IoError(e) => write!(f, "IO error: {}", e),
        }
    }
}

impl std::error::Error for AppError {}

pub type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, AppError>;
```

### 4. Generate Library Project Structure

```
library-name/
├── Cargo.toml
├── README.md
├── src/
│   ├── lib.rs
│   ├── core.rs
│   ├── utils.rs
│   └── error.rs
├── tests/
│   └── integration_test.rs
└── examples/
    └── basic.rs
```

**Cargo.toml for Library**:
```toml
[package]
name = "library-name"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"
rust-version = "1.75"

[dependencies]
# Keep minimal for libraries

[dev-dependencies]
tokio-test = "0.4"

[lib]
name = "library_name"
path = "src/lib.rs"
```

**src/lib.rs**:
```rust
//! Library documentation
//!
//! # Examples
//!
//! ```
//! use library_name::core::CoreType;
//!
//! let instance = CoreType::new();
//! ```

pub mod core;
pub mod error;
pub mod utils;

pub use core::CoreType;
pub use error::{Error, Result};

#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
    use super::*;

    #[test]
    fn it_works() {
        assert_eq!(2 + 2, 4);
    }
}
```

### 5. Generate Workspace Structure

```
workspace/
├── Cargo.toml
├── .gitignore
├── crates/
│   ├── api/
│   │   ├── Cargo.toml
│   │   └── src/
│   │       └── lib.rs
│   ├── core/
│   │   ├── Cargo.toml
│   │   └── src/
│   │       └── lib.rs
│   └── cli/
│       ├── Cargo.toml
│       └── src/
│           └── main.rs
└── tests/
    └── integration_test.rs
```

**Cargo.toml (workspace root)**:
```toml
[workspace]
members = [
    "crates/api",
    "crates/core",
    "crates/cli",
]
resolver = "2"

[workspace.package]
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"
rust-version = "1.75"
authors = ["Your Name <[email protected]>"]
license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0"

[workspace.dependencies]
tokio = { version = "1.36", features = ["full"] }
serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }

[profile.release]
opt-level = 3
lto = true
```

### 6. Generate Web API Structure (Axum)

```
web-api/
├── Cargo.toml
├── src/
│   ├── main.rs
│   ├── routes/
│   │   ├── mod.rs
│   │   ├── users.rs
│   │   └── health.rs
│   ├── handlers/
│   │   ├── mod.rs
│   │   └── user_handler.rs
│   ├── models/
│   │   ├── mod.rs
│   │   └── user.rs
│   ├── services/
│   │   ├── mod.rs
│   │   └── user_service.rs
│   ├── middleware/
│   │   ├── mod.rs
│   │   └── auth.rs
│   └── error.rs
└── tests/
    └── api_tests.rs
```

**Cargo.toml for Web API**:
```toml
[package]
name = "web-api"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"

[dependencies]
axum = "0.7"
tokio = { version = "1.36", features = ["full"] }
tower = "0.4"
tower-http = { version = "0.5", features = ["trace", "cors"] }
serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
serde_json = "1.0"
sqlx = { version = "0.7", features = ["runtime-tokio-native-tls", "postgres"] }
tracing = "0.1"
tracing-subscriber = "0.3"
```

**src/main.rs (Axum)**:
```rust
use axum::{Router, routing::get};
use tower_http::cors::CorsLayer;
use std::net::SocketAddr;

mod routes;
mod handlers;
mod models;
mod services;
mod error;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
    tracing_subscriber::fmt::init();

    let app = Router::new()
        .route("/health", get(routes::health::health_check))
        .nest("/api/users", routes::users::router())
        .layer(CorsLayer::permissive());

    let addr = SocketAddr::from(([0, 0, 0, 0], 3000));
    tracing::info!("Listening on {}", addr);

    let listener = tokio::net::TcpListener::bind(addr).await.unwrap();
    axum::serve(listener, app).await.unwrap();
}
```

### 7. Configure Development Tools

**Makefile**:
```makefile
.PHONY: build test lint fmt run clean bench

build:
	cargo build

test:
	cargo test

lint:
	cargo clippy -- -D warnings

fmt:
	cargo fmt --check

run:
	cargo run

clean:
	cargo clean

bench:
	cargo bench
```

**rustfmt.toml**:
```toml
edition = "2021"
max_width = 100
tab_spaces = 4
use_small_heuristics = "Max"
```

**clippy.toml**:
```toml
cognitive-complexity-threshold = 30
```

## Output Format

1. **Project Structure**: Complete directory tree with idiomatic Rust organization
2. **Configuration**: Cargo.toml with dependencies and build settings
3. **Entry Point**: main.rs or lib.rs with proper documentation
4. **Tests**: Unit and integration test structure
5. **Documentation**: README and code documentation
6. **Development Tools**: Makefile, clippy/rustfmt configs

Focus on creating idiomatic Rust projects with strong type safety, proper error handling, and comprehensive testing setup.

Overview

This skill scaffolds production-ready Rust projects with idiomatic structure, Cargo tooling, testing, and developer tooling. It produces complete directory trees, Cargo.toml templates, entry points, testing layout, and configs so you can start building safe, maintainable Rust apps quickly. Focus is on binaries, libraries, workspaces, web APIs, and WebAssembly targets with sensible defaults.

How this skill works

I analyze the requested project type (binary, library, workspace, web API, or wasm) and generate a complete scaffold: directory tree, Cargo.toml with appropriate dependencies and edition/rust-version, entry source files (main.rs or lib.rs), module layout, error handling patterns, and test harnesses. I also include CI-friendly development tooling files (Makefile, rustfmt, clippy) and example tests and benchmarks to enforce best practices.

When to use it

  • Starting a new Rust CLI, service, library, or monorepo and you want idiomatic layout
  • Creating an Axum/Actix web API with layered modules and config
  • Setting up a workspace of interdependent crates with shared workspace dependencies
  • Generating a WebAssembly crate with wasm-bindgen scaffolding
  • Needing ready-made testing, benchmarking, and lint/format configs

Best practices

  • Prefer small modules and explicit pub interfaces; expose only what callers need
  • Use Result types with a small app-level error enum and anyhow for quick prototypes
  • Keep async boundaries clear; use tokio in async services and avoid blocking in async contexts
  • Pin minimal, well-maintained dependencies and enable only required features
  • Provide unit tests for core logic and integration tests under tests/ using realistic fixtures
  • Configure CI lint/format checks and release profile optimizations (LTO, opt-level, codegen-units)

Example use cases

  • Generate a CLI scaffold with clap, commands modularized under src/commands, and integration tests
  • Create a library crate with documented public API, examples/, and dev-dependencies for async tests
  • Bootstrap a workspace with core, api, and cli crates sharing workspace-dependencies
  • Scaffold an Axum web API with routes, handlers, models, services, and testable endpoints
  • Produce a wasm-bindgen crate layout for frontend interactions and packaging notes

FAQ

Can you produce Cargo.toml tuned for release builds?

Yes — the scaffold includes a [profile.release] with opt-level, lto, and codegen-units settings and suggestions for size vs speed trade-offs.

Will tests be runnable out of the box?

Yes — unit tests live in src/ and integration tests under tests/. Example test commands are in the Makefile and run with cargo test.