Rust CLI Cheat Sheet

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Core rustup and Cargo commands for creating, building, running, and inspecting Rust CLI projects.

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Bootstrap and versions

Install, inspect, and verify the Rust toolchain.

Show rustup version

Print the rustup version.

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bashANYrustupversion

bash

rustup --version

Confirms rustup is installed and shows its current version.

Show rustc version

Print the active Rust compiler version.

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bashANYrustcversion

bash

rustc --version

Shows which `rustc` is currently active in your shell.

Show Cargo version

Print the active Cargo version.

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bashANYcargoversion

bash

cargo --version

Useful for debugging toolchain mismatches and environment issues.

Update Rust toolchains

Update installed toolchains and rustup itself.

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bashANYrustupupdate

bash

rustup update

Updates channels like stable, beta, and nightly when installed.

Set stable as default toolchain

Use stable globally unless overridden.

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bashANYrustuptoolchainstable

bash

rustup default stable

Sets the default toolchain used outside directories with overrides.

Run Cargo with a specific toolchain

Use toolchain shorthand for one command.

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bashANYcargorustuptoolchain

bash

cargo +nightly --version

Cargo supports `+toolchain` shorthand when installed via rustup.

Create projects

Create new Rust binary and library packages.

Create a new binary crate

Generate a new package for an executable.

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bashANYcargonewbinary

bash

cargo new hello-cli

`cargo new` creates a new package with a manifest and starter source.

Create a new library crate

Generate a reusable library package.

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bashANYcargonewlibrary

bash

cargo new mylib --lib

Use `--lib` when the package is meant to be a library crate.

Initialize Cargo in an existing directory

Create a manifest in the current project folder.

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bashANYcargoinit

bash

cargo init

Useful when you already created the folder or are converting existing code.

Initialize as library

Create a library package in the current directory.

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bashANYcargoinitlibrary

bash

cargo init --lib

Creates `Cargo.toml` and a `src/lib.rs` starter file.

Locate the manifest

Print the path to the Cargo.toml file Cargo will use.

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bashANYcargomanifestproject

bash

cargo locate-project

Helpful when working in nested directories or workspaces.

Inspect package metadata

Emit machine-readable package metadata.

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bashANYcargometadatajson

bash

cargo metadata --format-version 1

Frequently used by tooling and scripts to inspect crates and workspaces.

Help and discovery

Explore Cargo commands and built-in help.

Show Cargo help

Display top-level help for Cargo.

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bashANYcargohelp

bash

cargo help

Lists commands and global options.

Show help for a subcommand

Read options for a specific command.

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bashANYcargohelpbuild

bash

cargo help build

Equivalent to the command-specific manual page for build.

Find installed tool executable

Show where an executable resolves from.

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bashANYcargopathshell

bash

which cargo

Useful when multiple toolchain installs exist on the machine.

Show active rustup state

Display installed toolchains, defaults, and active host.

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bashANYrustuptoolchainsshow

bash

rustup show

Shows the active toolchain and installed targets/components.

Manifest basics

Common `Cargo.toml` structures for CLI apps.

Minimal package manifest

Define package metadata and edition.

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tomlANYcargomanifesttoml

toml

[package]
name = "hello-cli"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"

`Cargo.toml` is the package manifest written in TOML.

Add dependencies table

Declare crate dependencies in the manifest.

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tomlANYcargodependenciestoml

toml

[dependencies]
clap = { version = "4", features = ["derive"] }
anyhow = "1"

Dependencies are normally declared in the `[dependencies]` table.

Add a named binary target

Expose an extra executable from the same package.

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tomlANYcargobinmanifest

toml

[[bin]]
name = "admin-tool"
path = "src/bin/admin-tool.rs"

Binary packages can expose additional executables with `[[bin]]` targets.

Pin minimum Rust version

Require a minimum supported compiler version.

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tomlANYcargomanifestmsrv

toml

[package]
rust-version = "1.75"

The manifest supports declaring a minimum supported Rust version.

More in Rust CLI

Rust CLI Troubleshooting: CI, Environment, Build Scripts, and Publishing

Commands for debugging CI failures, environment mismatches, build script output, installation problems, and publish checks in Rust CLI projects.

Rust CLI Troubleshooting: rustup, Toolchains, Components, and Targets

Commands for fixing toolchain mismatches, missing components, and cross-compilation target issues in Rust CLI projects.

Rust CLI Troubleshooting: Tests, Doctests, and Documentation

Commands for debugging failing tests, capturing output, isolating flaky cases, and fixing documentation-generation issues in Rust CLI projects.

Rust CLI Troubleshooting: Dependencies, Features, and Lockfiles

Commands for analyzing dependency trees, feature activation, duplicate crates, and lockfile behavior in Rust CLI projects.

Rust CLI Troubleshooting: Manifest, Packages, and Workspaces

Commands and examples for debugging Cargo.toml issues, package selection mistakes, and workspace confusion in Rust CLI repos.

Rust CLI Troubleshooting: Build Errors and Diagnostics

Commands for investigating compiler errors, Cargo diagnostics, verbose output, and fix suggestions in Rust CLI projects.

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