Cargo Scripts for VS Code

A Visual Studio Code extension that helps Rust developers run Cargo scripts directly from the sidebar - similar to npm scripts in package.json.

✨ Features

• 🚀 Auto-detects .cargo/config.toml and Cargo.toml configurations
• ⚡ One-click script execution via sidebar
• 🐛 Debug cargo scripts via CodeLLDB
• 🔍 Auto-reload on config changes

🛠 Installation

1. Open VS Code Extensions Marketplace
2. Search for Cargo Scripts or taiyuuki.vscode-cargo-scripts
3. Click Install
4. Reload the editor

Or install via command line:

code --install-extension taiyuuki.vscode-cargo-scripts

🚦 Usage

Define your scripts in either .cargo/config.toml or Cargo.toml.

[alias] in .cargo/config.toml (Recommended)

Refer to The Cargo Book for details about the [alias] section.

Example configuration:

[alias]
r  = "run --release"
b = "build --release"
t = ["test", "--", "--nocapture"]

The scripts will appear in the CARGO SCRIPTS sidebar. Click the ▶️ icon next to any script to execute it.

Cargo.toml Configuration

Add a [package.metadata.scripts] or [workspace.metadata.scripts] section (for workspace projects).

Important notes:

1. Commands must be full command-line strings (include cargo prefix)
2. Workspace configuration takes precedence over package configuration

Example:

[package.metadata.scripts]
run = "cargo run"
build = "cargo build --release"
test = "cargo test -- --nocapture"

# For workspace projects
[workspace.metadata.scripts]
lint = "cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings"

🐛 Debugging

Click the debug icon next to any script in the sidebar (or the Debug CodeLens above the script definition) to start a debug session.

Requirements:

1. The script must be a cargo command that launches a target (run, test, bench, ...). Non-cargo commands and subcommands such as check, clippy or watch cannot be debugged.
2. The CodeLLDB extension must be installed — the debug actions are hidden until it is.

For test and bench scripts, targets are built with --no-run first, and the chosen test executable is launched directly — if several test targets exist, you will be asked which one to debug.