rust-conventions

name	rust-conventions
description	Idiomatic Rust conventions — ownership, naming, module structure, documentation, and dependency management
compatibility	>=1.4

Rust Conventions

Skill metadata: version "1.0"; license MIT; tags [rust, cargo, ownership, conventions]; recommended tools [codebase, editFiles].

When to use

• Writing or reviewing Rust source files
• Enforcing idiomatic Rust patterns and API guidelines

File scope

Applies to: **/*.rs

Conventions

• Follow Rust API Guidelines (https://rust-lang.github.io/api-guidelines/) for public API design.
• Use snake_case for functions, methods, variables, and modules. Use PascalCase for types, traits, and enum variants. Use SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE for constants and statics.
• Prefer borrowing (&T, &mut T) over ownership transfer unless the function needs to consume the value.
• Use impl Trait in argument position for simple generic bounds. Use named generics for complex bounds.
• Derive standard traits (Debug, Clone, PartialEq) for data types unless there is a reason not to.
• Use pub(crate) for internal visibility — avoid pub on implementation details.
• Write doc comments (///) for all public items. Include examples in doc comments for complex functions.
• Use cargo fmt for formatting — do not override rustfmt defaults without team agreement.
• Pin dependency versions in Cargo.lock for binaries. Libraries should use semver ranges in Cargo.toml.
• Avoid .clone() unless necessary — prefer references. When cloning, consider whether Cow<'_, T> is more appropriate.
• Use iterators and combinators (map, filter, collect) over manual loops where readability is preserved.
• Prefer String for owned data and &str for borrowed string parameters.