Quickstart

Get a minimal Rust project building with rusty on Linux.

Prerequisites

A Linux host (x86_64 or aarch64 typical)
Network access for the first toolchain install and crate fetch
A linker (cc / ld) available for linking Rust binaries

1. Install rusty

Obtain a rusty binary for your machine and put it on PATH. See Install for current distribution options.

rusty --version
# rusty 0.0.1-dev (version string may differ)

Data lives under $RUSTY_HOME (default ~/.rusty).

2. Install a toolchain

Default installs include rustc + rust-std only (no cargo):

rusty env install stable
rusty env use stable
rusty env show

Optional: put toolchain shims on your path after rusty env use:

export PATH="$RUSTY_HOME/bin:$PATH"
# default RUSTY_HOME is ~/.rusty
export PATH="${RUSTY_HOME:-$HOME/.rusty}/bin:$PATH"

rustc, rustdoc, rustfmt, and related tools are hardlinked shims that dispatch to the active toolchain. cargo is not installed or shimmed by default.

3. Create a project

Interactive (TTY) or fully flagged:

mkdir hello-rusty && cd hello-rusty
rusty init --format rusty --kind cli --edition 2021

Useful flags:

Flag	Meaning
`--format rusty`	Scaffold `rusty.json` + `rusty.lock` (native-first)
`--format cargo`	Scaffold `Cargo.toml` for interop / gradual migration
`--kind cli` / `lib` / `web` / …	Template kind (prompted on TTY if omitted)
`--edition 2021`	Rust edition

Project metadata and caches land in .rusty/ (including .rusty/format).

4. Lock and fetch

rusty lock
rusty fetch

Lock writes rusty.lock or Cargo.lock depending on project format.
Fetch resolves (if needed) and ingests crates into the content-addressable store.

5. Build and test

rusty build
rusty test

Native-only for these verbs: if the project shape is outside the supported matrix, rusty exits with an error instead of silently calling cargo. Optional package and workspace flags (same spirit as Cargo):

rusty build -p mypkg --workspace
rusty build --affected main
rusty test -j 8

6. Day-to-day commands

rusty add serde --vers "^1"
rusty rm some_crate
rusty update
rusty clean          # removes <project>/.rusty/target
rusty script <name>  # run a named entry from rusty.json "scripts"

Lint and format require scripts in rusty.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "lint": "…",
    "format": "…"
  }
}

rusty lint
rusty format

Existing Cargo workspace?

You do not have to rewrite everything on day one:

Point rusty at the tree (detects Cargo.toml / cargo-format).
Use native lock/fetch/add where supported.
When ready: rusty migrate to convert to rusty.json + rusty.lock.

See Migrate from Cargo.

Project formats — rusty vs cargo layout
Build and test — flags, affected builds, scripts
CLI reference — full command map

Get started

Core concepts

Guides

Reference

Prerequisites

1. Install rusty

2. Install a toolchain

3. Create a project

4. Lock and fetch

5. Build and test

6. Day-to-day commands

Existing Cargo workspace?

Next

​Prerequisites

​1. Install rusty

​2. Install a toolchain

​3. Create a project

​4. Lock and fetch

​5. Build and test

​6. Day-to-day commands

​Existing Cargo workspace?

​Next

Prerequisites

1. Install rusty

2. Install a toolchain

3. Create a project

4. Lock and fetch

5. Build and test

6. Day-to-day commands

Existing Cargo workspace?

Next