Pre-commit & Editor Setup

Q: How select workspace crate in RA?

rust-analyzer.linkedProjects or Cargo: Open Cargo.toml picks crate context.

Q: pre-commit on Windows?

language: system hooks need cargo on PATH; use same rust-toolchain.toml.

Q: Clippy fix on save?

Not default; run cargo clippy --fix manually with review.

Q: How share settings?

Commit .vscode/settings.json with team defaults; optional personal overrides gitignored.

Q: rust-analyzer slow?

Exclude target/ from file watcher; use cargo clean if metadata corrupt; split large workspace.

Q: Mise vs rustup?

Both pin toolchain; rust-toolchain.toml is canonical for rustup; mise can read it.

Local tooling catches fmt and clippy issues before CI. rust-analyzer plus format-on-save and optional pre-commit hooks keep feedback instant.

Recipe

// .vscode/settings.json
{
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "rust-analyzer.check.command": "clippy",
  "rust-analyzer.rustfmt.extraArgs": ["+nightly"]
}

# .pre-commit-config.yaml
repos:
  - repo: local
    hooks:
      - id: cargo-fmt
        entry: cargo fmt --all -- --check
        language: system
        pass_filenames: false
      - id: cargo-clippy
        entry: cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings
        language: system
        pass_filenames: false

When to reach for this: Onboarding developers and reducing CI churn from style-only failures.

Working Example

# rust-toolchain.toml
[toolchain]
channel = "1.97.0"
components = ["rustfmt", "clippy"]

rustup component add rustfmt clippy
pre-commit install

What this demonstrates:

Pinned toolchain matches CI Rust 1.97.0
rust-analyzer uses clippy for inline diagnostics
pre-commit runs same checks as CI subset
components ensures fmt/clippy available offline

Deep Dive

rust-analyzer Essentials

Setting	Effect
`check.command = "clippy"`	Inline clippy hints
`cargo.features`	Active feature set for analysis
`linkedProjects`	Workspace member selection
`inlayHints`	Type/lifetime hints (optional)

Hook Strategies

pre-commit - fast fmt + clippy on staged Rust
pre-push - full cargo test (slower)
mise/direnv - auto rustup toolchain on cd

Gotchas

rust-analyzer wrong toolchain - spurious errors. Fix: rust-toolchain.toml in repo root; reload RA.
Format on save without rustfmt component - silent failure. Fix: rustup component add rustfmt.
Clippy hook on every commit - slow on large workspaces. Fix: scope to changed crates with cargo clippy -p scripts.
Nightly fmt in stable project - inconsistent formatting. Fix: use stable 1.97.0 rustfmt only unless team chooses nightly.
Skipping hooks with --no-verify - defeats purpose. Fix: culture + CI backstop; allow only emergencies.

Alternatives

Alternative	Use When	Don't Use When
`lefthook` / `husky`	Polyglot repos	Simple Rust-only
CI only	Solo hacker prototype	Teams with PR volume
`cargo watch -x check`	Long coding sessions	Replacing fmt on save

FAQs

VS Code vs Cursor setup?

Same rust-analyzer extension and settings.json keys.

How select workspace crate in RA?

rust-analyzer.linkedProjects or Cargo: Open Cargo.toml picks crate context.

pre-commit on Windows?

language: system hooks need cargo on PATH; use same rust-toolchain.toml.

Format imports on save?

rustfmt handles imports; enable formatOnSave only.

Clippy fix on save?

Not default; run cargo clippy --fix manually with review.

How share settings?

Commit .vscode/settings.json with team defaults; optional personal overrides gitignored.

rust-analyzer slow?

Exclude target/ from file watcher; use cargo clean if metadata corrupt; split large workspace.

Mise vs rustup?

Both pin toolchain; rust-toolchain.toml is canonical for rustup; mise can read it.

Hook only staged files?

Rust fmt/clippy are crate-wide; full workspace check is safer for type errors across files.

EditorConfig with rustfmt?

EditorConfig for non-Rust files; rustfmt.toml owns Rust formatting.

rustfmt - formatting rules
Clippy - lint diagnostics
Linting in CI - server-side gates
Toolchain Setup Checklist - onboarding

Stack versions: This page was written for Rust 1.97.0 (edition 2024), Tokio 1.x, Axum 0.8, serde 1.0, sqlx 0.8, clap 4, and Polars 0.46+.

Recipe

// .vscode/settings.json
{
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "rust-analyzer.check.command": "clippy",
  "rust-analyzer.rustfmt.extraArgs": ["+nightly"]
}

# .pre-commit-config.yaml
repos:
  - repo: local
    hooks:
      - id: cargo-fmt
        entry: cargo fmt --all -- --check
        language: system
        pass_filenames: false
      - id: cargo-clippy
        entry: cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings
        language: system
        pass_filenames: false

When to reach for this: Onboarding developers and reducing CI churn from style-only failures.

Working Example

# rust-toolchain.toml
[toolchain]
channel = "1.97.0"
components = ["rustfmt", "clippy"]

rustup component add rustfmt clippy
pre-commit install

What this demonstrates:

Pinned toolchain matches CI Rust 1.97.0
rust-analyzer uses clippy for inline diagnostics
pre-commit runs same checks as CI subset
components ensures fmt/clippy available offline

Deep Dive

rust-analyzer Essentials

Setting	Effect
`check.command = "clippy"`	Inline clippy hints
`cargo.features`	Active feature set for analysis
`linkedProjects`	Workspace member selection
`inlayHints`	Type/lifetime hints (optional)

Hook Strategies

pre-commit - fast fmt + clippy on staged Rust
pre-push - full cargo test (slower)
mise/direnv - auto rustup toolchain on cd

Gotchas

rust-analyzer wrong toolchain - spurious errors. Fix: rust-toolchain.toml in repo root; reload RA.
Format on save without rustfmt component - silent failure. Fix: rustup component add rustfmt.
Clippy hook on every commit - slow on large workspaces. Fix: scope to changed crates with cargo clippy -p scripts.
Nightly fmt in stable project - inconsistent formatting. Fix: use stable 1.97.0 rustfmt only unless team chooses nightly.
Skipping hooks with --no-verify - defeats purpose. Fix: culture + CI backstop; allow only emergencies.

Alternatives

Alternative	Use When	Don't Use When
`lefthook` / `husky`	Polyglot repos	Simple Rust-only
CI only	Solo hacker prototype	Teams with PR volume
`cargo watch -x check`	Long coding sessions	Replacing fmt on save

FAQs

VS Code vs Cursor setup?

Same rust-analyzer extension and settings.json keys.

How select workspace crate in RA?

rust-analyzer.linkedProjects or Cargo: Open Cargo.toml picks crate context.

pre-commit on Windows?

language: system hooks need cargo on PATH; use same rust-toolchain.toml.

Format imports on save?

rustfmt handles imports; enable formatOnSave only.

Clippy fix on save?

Not default; run cargo clippy --fix manually with review.

How share settings?

Commit .vscode/settings.json with team defaults; optional personal overrides gitignored.

rust-analyzer slow?

Exclude target/ from file watcher; use cargo clean if metadata corrupt; split large workspace.

Mise vs rustup?

Both pin toolchain; rust-toolchain.toml is canonical for rustup; mise can read it.

Hook only staged files?

Rust fmt/clippy are crate-wide; full workspace check is safer for type errors across files.

EditorConfig with rustfmt?

EditorConfig for non-Rust files; rustfmt.toml owns Rust formatting.

rustfmt - formatting rules
Clippy - lint diagnostics
Linting in CI - server-side gates
Toolchain Setup Checklist - onboarding

Stack versions: This page was written for Rust 1.97.0 (edition 2024), Tokio 1.x, Axum 0.8, serde 1.0, sqlx 0.8, clap 4, and Polars 0.46+.

Pre-commit & Editor Setup

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Pre-commit & Editor Setup