Cargo Targets - The Cargo Book

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# Cargo Targets

Cargo packages consist of targets which correspond to source files which can be compiled into a crate. Packages can have library, binary, example, test, and benchmark targets. The list of targets can be configured in the `Cargo.toml` manifest, often inferred automatically by the directory layout of the source files.

See Configuring a target below for details on configuring the settings for a target.

## Library

The library target defines a “library” that can be used and linked by other libraries and executables. The filename defaults to `src/lib.rs`, and the name of the library defaults to the name of the package, with any dashes replaced with underscores. A package can have only one library. The settings for the library can be customized in the `[lib]` table in `Cargo.toml`.

    # Example of customizing the library in Cargo.toml.
    [lib]
    crate-type = ["cdylib"]
    bench = false

## Binaries

Binary targets are executable programs that can be run after being compiled. A binary’s source can be `src/main.rs` and/or stored in the `src/bin/` directory. For `src/main.rs`, the default binary name is the package name. The settings for each binary can be customized in the`[[bin]]` tables in `Cargo.toml`.

Binaries can use the public API of the package’s library. They are also linked with the `[dependencies]` defined in `Cargo.toml`.

You can run individual binaries with the `cargo run` command with the `--bin <bin-name>` option. `cargo install` can be used to copy the executable to a common location.

    # Example of customizing binaries in Cargo.toml.
    [[bin]]
    name = "cool-tool"
    test = false
    bench = false

    [[bin]]
    name = "frobnicator"
    required-features = ["frobnicate"]

## Examples

Files located under the `examples` directory are example uses of the functionality provided by the library. When compiled, they are placed in the `target/debug/examples` directory.

Examples can use the public API of the package’s library. They are also linked with the `[dependencies]` and `[dev-dependencies]` defined in `Cargo.toml`.

By default, examples are executable binaries (with a `main()` function). You can specify the `crate-type` field to make an example be compiled as a library:

    [[example]]
    name = "foo"
    crate-type = ["staticlib"]

You can run individual executable examples with the `cargo run` command with the `--example <example-name>` option. Library examples can be built with `cargo build` with the `--example <example-name>` option. `cargo install` with the `--example <example-name>` option can be used to copy executable binaries to a common location. Examples are compiled by `cargo test` by default to protect them from bit-rotting. Set the `test` field to `true` if you have `#[test]` functions in the example that you want to run with `cargo test`.

## Tests

There are two styles of tests within a Cargo project:

- Unit tests which are functions marked with the `#[test]` attribute located within your library or binaries (or any target enabled with the `test` field). These tests have access to private APIs located within the target they are defined in.
- Integration tests which is a separate executable binary, also containing `#[test]` functions, which is linked with the project’s library and has access to its public API.

Tests are run with the `cargo test` command. By default, Cargo and `rustc` use the libtest harness which is responsible for collecting functions annotated with the `#[test]` attribute and executing them in parallel, reporting the success and failure of each test. See the `harness` field if you want to use a different harness or test strategy.

> Note: There is another special style of test in Cargo: documentation tests. They are handled by `rustdoc` and have a slightly different execution model. For more information, please see `cargo test`.

### Integration tests

Files located under the `tests` directory are integration tests. When you run `cargo test`, Cargo will compile each of these files as a separate crate, and execute them.

Integration tests can use the public API of the package’s library. They are also linked with the `[dependencies]` and `[dev-dependencies]` defined in `Cargo.toml`.

If you want to share code among multiple integration tests, you can place it in a separate module such as `tests/common/mod.rs` and then put `mod common;` in each test to import it.

Each integration test results in a separate executable binary, and `cargo test` will run them serially. In some cases this can be inefficient, as it can take longer to compile, and may not make full use of multiple CPUs when running the tests. If you have a lot of integration tests, you may want to consider creating a single integration test, and split the tests into multiple modules. The libtest harness will automatically find all of the `#[test]` annotated functions and run them in parallel. You can pass module names to `cargo test` to only run the tests within that module.

Binary targets are automatically built if there is an integration test. This allows an integration test to execute the binary to exercise and test its behavior. The `CARGO_BIN_EXE_<name>` environment variable is set when the integration test is built and run so that it can use the `env` macro or `var` function to locate the executable.

## Benchmarks

Benchmarks provide a way to test the performance of your code using the `cargo bench` command. They follow the same structure as tests, with each benchmark function annotated with the `#[bench]` attribute. Similarly to tests:

- Benchmarks are placed in the `benches` directory.
- Benchmark functions defined in libraries and binaries have access to the private API within the target they are defined in. Benchmarks in the `benches` directory may use the public API.
- The `bench` field can be used to define which targets are benchmarked by default.
- The `harness` field can be used to disable the built-in harness.

> Note: The `#[bench]` attribute is currently unstable and only available on the nightly channel. There are some packages available on crates.io that may help with running benchmarks on the stable channel, such as Criterion.

## Configuring a target

All of the `[lib]`, `[[bin]]`, `[[example]]`, `[[test]]`, and `[[bench]]` sections in `Cargo.toml` support similar configuration for specifying how a target should be built. The double-bracket sections like `[[bin]]` are array-of-table of TOML, which means you can write more than one `[[bin]]` section to make several executables in your crate. You can only specify one library, so `[lib]` is a normal TOML table.

The following is an overview of the TOML settings for each target, with each field described in detail below.

    [lib]
    name = "foo"           # The name of the target.
    path = "src/lib.rs"    # The source file of the target.
    test = true            # Is tested by default.
    doctest = true         # Documentation examples are tested by default.
    bench = true           # Is benchmarked by default.
    doc = true             # Is documented by default.
    proc-macro = false     # Set to `true` for a proc-macro library.
    harness = true         # Use libtest harness.
    crate-type = ["lib"]   # The crate types to generate.
    required-features = [] # Features required to build this target (N/A for lib).

### The `name` field

The `name` field specifies the name of the target, which corresponds to the filename of the artifact that will be generated. For a library, this is the crate name that dependencies will use to reference it.

For the library target, this defaults to the name of the package , with any dashes replaced with underscores. For the default binary (`src/main.rs`), it also defaults to the name of the package, with no replacement for dashes. For auto discovered targets, it defaults to the directory or file name.

This is required for all targets except `[lib]`.

### The `path` field

The `path` field specifies where the source for the crate is located, relative to the `Cargo.toml` file.

If not specified, the inferred path is used based on the target name.

### The `test` field

The `test` field indicates whether or not the target is tested by default by `cargo test`. The default is `true` for lib, bins, and tests.

> Note: Examples are built by `cargo test` by default to ensure they continue to compile, but they are not tested by default. Setting `test = true` for an example will also build it as a test and run any `#[test]` functions defined in the example.

### The `doctest` field

The `doctest` field indicates whether or not documentation examples are tested by default by `cargo test`. This is only relevant for libraries, it has no effect on other sections. The default is `true` for the library.

### The `bench` field

The `bench` field indicates whether or not the target is benchmarked by default by `cargo bench`. The default is `true` for lib, bins, and benchmarks.

### The `doc` field

The `doc` field indicates whether or not the target is included in the documentation generated by `cargo doc` by default. The default is `true` for libraries and binaries.

> Note: The binary will be skipped if its name is the same as the lib target.

### The `plugin` field

This option is deprecated and unused.

### The `proc-macro` field

The `proc-macro` field indicates that the library is a procedural macro (reference). This is only valid for the `[lib]` target.

### The `harness` field

The `harness` field indicates that the `--test` flag will be passed to `rustc` which will automatically include the libtest library which is the driver for collecting and running tests marked with the `#[test]` attribute or benchmarks with the `#[bench]` attribute. The default is `true` for all targets.

If set to `false`, then you are responsible for defining a `main()` function to run tests and benchmarks.

Tests have the `cfg(test)` conditional expression enabled whether or not the harness is enabled.

### The `crate-type` field

The `crate-type` field defines the crate types that will be generated by the target. It is an array of strings, allowing you to specify multiple crate types for a single target. This can only be specified for libraries and examples. Binaries, tests, and benchmarks are always the “bin” crate type. The defaults are:

Target | Crate Type
--- | ---
Normal library | `"lib"`
Proc-macro library | `"proc-macro"`
Example | `"bin"`

The available options are `bin`, `lib`, `rlib`, `dylib`, `cdylib`, `staticlib`, and `proc-macro`. You can read more about the different crate types in the Rust Reference Manual.

### The `required-features` field

The `required-features` field specifies which features the target needs in order to be built. If any of the required features are not enabled, the target will be skipped. This is only relevant for the `[[bin]]`, `[[bench]]`, `[[test]]`, and `[[example]]` sections, it has no effect on `[lib]`.

    [features]
    # ...
    postgres = []
    sqlite = []
    tools = []

    [[bin]]
    name = "my-pg-tool"
    required-features = ["postgres", "tools"]

### The `edition` field

The `edition` field defines the Rust edition the target will use. If not specified, it defaults to the `edition` field for the `[package]`.

> Note: This field is deprecated and will be removed in a future Edition

## Target auto-discovery

By default, Cargo automatically determines the targets to build based on the layout of the files on the filesystem. The target configuration tables, such as `[lib]`, `[[bin]]`, `[[test]]`, `[[bench]]`, or `[[example]]`, can be used to add additional targets that don’t follow the standard directory layout.

The automatic target discovery can be disabled so that only manually configured targets will be built. Setting the keys `autolib`, `autobins`, `autoexamples`, `autotests`, or `autobenches` to `false` in the `[package]` section will disable auto-discovery of the corresponding target type.

    [package]
    # ...
    autolib = false
    autobins = false
    autoexamples = false
    autotests = false
    autobenches = false

Disabling automatic discovery should only be needed for specialized situations. For example, if you have a library where you want a module named `bin`, this would present a problem because Cargo would usually attempt to compile anything in the `bin` directory as an executable. Here is a sample layout of this scenario:

    ├── Cargo.toml
    └── src
        ├── lib.rs
        └── bin
            └── mod.rs

To prevent Cargo from inferring `src/bin/mod.rs` as an executable, set `autobins = false` in `Cargo.toml` to disable auto-discovery:

    [package]
    # …
    autobins = false

> Note: For packages with the 2015 edition, the default for auto-discovery is `false` if at least one target is manually defined in `Cargo.toml`. Beginning with the 2018 edition, the default is always `true`.

> MSRV: Respected as of 1.27 for `autobins`, `autoexamples`, `autotests`, and `autobenches`

> MSRV: Respected as of 1.83 for `autolib`