cargUI - The Complete Rust Development Interface for VS Code

A comprehensive VS Code extension that transforms your Rust development workflow. cargUI provides a unified visual interface for Cargo, Rustup, project organization, and code analysis—all accessible from your sidebar.

🎯 What is cargUI?

cargUI started as a simple GUI for Cargo commands, but has evolved into a complete Rust development companion covering:

• 🎨 Project Organization - Smart detection, module visualization, target management
• ⚙️ Cargo Integration - Visual interface for all Cargo commands and features
• 🦀 Rust Toolchain - Rustup integration and toolchain management
• 📦 Workspace Support - Intelligent multi-crate workspace handling
• 🔍 Code Intelligence - Module health indicators, dependency tracking
• 📸 Configuration - Snapshots for different development scenarios

Why cargUI?

Stop typing terminal commands. Start working visually:

✅ Click to build, run, test with precise configurations
✅ See project structure, modules, targets, and dependencies
✅ Detect unregistered files and missing declarations automatically
✅ Switch between development scenarios with snapshots
✅ Track dependency versions and module health in real-time
✅ Manage Rust toolchains without memorizing rustup commands

🚀 Quick Start

1. Install the extension from VS Code Marketplace
2. Open any Rust project with Cargo.toml
3. Find the Cargo tree view in your Explorer sidebar
4. Check a target → Click Build/Run/Test

Example: Check "main" + "serde" feature → Click Run

→ cargo run --bin main --features serde

✨ Feature Overview

🏗️ Project Organization & Intelligence

⚙️ Cargo Command Integration

[features]
default = ["json"]
json = ["serde_json"]
async = ["tokio"]
database = ["sqlx"]

cargo build --features json,async,database
cargo test --features json

🦀 Rust Toolchain Management

📦 Workspace Support

[workspace]
members = ["cli", "api", "core", "utils"]

# Context: core, Checked: core only
cargo build --package core

# Context: api, Checked: api + core
cargo build --package api --package core

# All Members selected
cargo build --workspace

🛠️ Additional Features

cargo run --bin server -- --verbose --port 8080

RUST_BACKTRACE=1 RUST_LOG=debug cargo run

cargo build --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo test --nocapture
cargo doc --document-private-items --open

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

macOS

• Cmd+K Alt+1 - Run
• Cmd+K Alt+2 - Build
• Cmd+K Alt+3 - Check
• Cmd+K Alt+4 - Test
• Cmd+K Alt+5 - Format (rustfmt)
• Cmd+K Alt+6 - Clean
• Cmd+K Alt+7 - Fix (cargo fix)
• Cmd+K Alt+8 - Doc
• Cmd+K Alt+9 - Update
• Cmd+Delete - Delete selected item

Windows/Linux

• Ctrl+K Alt+1-9 - Same as macOS
• Ctrl+Delete - Delete selected item

🎓 Common Workflows

Single Crate Development

1. Check "main" target
2. Enable "database" and "logging" features
3. Set mode to Debug
4. Click Run
5. Save as "dev" snapshot

Result: cargo run --bin main --features database,logging

Multi-Crate Workspace

1. Click "api" label (set context)
2. Check "api" + "shared" checkboxes
3. Enable features
4. Click Build

Result: cargo build --package api --package shared --features ...

Testing with Logging

1. Check test: "integration_tests"
2. Add env var: RUST_LOG=debug
3. Check the env var
4. Click Test

Result: RUST_LOG=debug cargo test --test integration_tests

Watch Mode Development

1. Check your main target
2. Click "Watch: Inactive"
3. Select "check"
4. Edit code → instant feedback!

📦 Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X)
3. Search "cargUI"
4. Click Install

From Source

git clone https://github.com/xCORViSx/cargUI.git
cd cargUI
npm install
npm run compile
# Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host

🎨 Tree View Structure

📂 Cargo
├── 🔧 Mode: Debug                [Click to toggle]
├── ⚡ Watch: Inactive            [Click to configure]
├── 🦀 Rust: stable 1.75.0       [Rustup status]
│
├── 📁 WORKSPACE MEMBERS          [Multi-crate only]
│   ├── All Members               [Click: --workspace]
│   ├── ☑ api ✓ Selected         [Label=context | Box=build]
│   └── ☐ core
│
├── 🗂️ MODULES                   [Code structure]
│   ├── 🟢 auth (pub)            [Public, documented]
│   ├── 🔵 api (pub)             [Public]
│   ├── 🟡 utils                 [Missing docs]
│   └── 🟠 helper                [Undeclared]
│
├── 📦 DEPENDENCIES               [Version tracking]
│   ├── Production
│   │   ├── 🟢 serde 1.0.195    [Latest]
│   │   └── 🟡 tokio 1.35.0     [1.36.0 available]
│   └── Dev
│       └── 🔵 criterion 0.5.1   [Local]
│
├── 📸 SNAPSHOTS (dev)            [Active: dev]
│   ├── ★ dev                    [Bold=active]
│   └── production
│       [+] Create  [↻] Reset
│
├── 📦 TARGETS
│   ├── Binaries
│   │   ├── ☑ main
│   │   └── ☐ cli-tool
│   ├── Examples
│   ├── Tests
│   └── ⚠️ Unknowns (2)         [Need classification]
│       ├── 🔴 stray_file
│       └── 🔴 old_test
│       [Toggle All]
│
├── ⚙️ FEATURES
│   ├── ☑ json
│   ├── ☐ async
│   └── ☐ database
│       [Toggle All]
│
├── 🔧 ARGUMENTS
│   ├── ☑ --verbose
│   └── ☐ --port 8080
│       [+] Add  [↻] Reset
│
├── 🌍 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
│   ├── ☑ RUST_BACKTRACE=1
│   └── ☐ RUST_LOG=debug
│       [+] Add  [↻] Reset
│
└── 🖥️ CUSTOM COMMANDS
    ├── Clippy Lint
    ├── Update All
    └── Tree Dependencies
        [+] Add  [↻] Reset

[Build] [Run] [Test] [Check] [Clean] [Fix] [Fmt] [Doc]

🔧 Configuration

Settings auto-initialize in .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "cargui.arguments": ["--verbose"],
  "cargui.environmentVariables": ["RUST_BACKTRACE=1"],
  "cargui.snapshots": [
    {
      "name": "dev",
      "mode": "debug",
      "targets": ["main"],
      "features": ["json", "async"]
    }
  ],
  "cargui.customCommands": [
    { "name": "Clippy", "command": "cargo clippy" }
  ]
}

Persistence:

• ✅ Snapshots persist
• ✅ Active snapshot persists
• ❌ Build mode resets to Debug (use snapshots!)
• ❌ Individual checkboxes don't persist

💡 Tip: Use snapshots as your persistence mechanism!

🐛 Troubleshooting

Q: Extension doesn't appear
A: Open a Rust project with Cargo.toml

Q: Targets not showing
A: Check Cargo.toml for [[bin]], [[example]] sections

Q: Watch mode fails
A: Install cargo-watch: cargo install cargo-watch

Q: Modules not detected
A: Ensure src/lib.rs or src/main.rs exists

Q: Dependencies not updating
A: Refresh the tree view (click refresh icon)

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Development Setup

git clone https://github.com/xCORViSx/cargUI.git
cd cargUI
npm install
npm run watch    # Auto-compile
# Press F5 to test

Project Structure

cargUI/
├── src/
│   ├── extension.ts              # Main entry point
│   ├── cargoTreeProvider.ts      # Tree view provider
│   ├── smartDetection.ts         # Smart detection
│   ├── moduleDetection.ts        # Module analysis
│   ├── cargoDiscovery.ts         # Target discovery
│   ├── cratesIo.ts              # Version checking
│   └── ... (15+ focused modules)
├── cargui-demo/                  # Test workspace
└── package.json

🚀 Project Status

Version 1.0.0 - Feature Complete!

All planned features have been implemented:

✅ Smart detection for unregistered targets ✅ Module visualization with health indicators ✅ Dependency version tracking ✅ Rustup integration ✅ Rust edition selector ✅ Hierarchical organization (categories/subcategories) ✅ Mixed organization (categorized + uncategorized items) ✅ Click-to-view in Cargo.toml ✅ Inline action buttons ✅ Full workspace support ✅ Watch mode integration ✅ Snapshot system

This extension is now production-ready and feature-complete for comprehensive Rust development workflows.

📝 Release Notes

v1.0.0 - Stable Release (October 2025)

🎉 Feature Complete - Production Ready!

🎨 Project Organization:

• ✅ Smart Detection for unregistered targets and undeclared features
• ✅ Module visualization with color-coded health indicators
• ✅ Dependency version tracking with crates.io integration
• ✅ File organization with auto-move to conventional directories
• ✅ Intelligent module filtering (no false positives)

⚙️ Cargo & Rust:

• ✅ Full workspace support with context switching
• ✅ Rustup integration (toolchain display)
• ✅ Rust edition selector for easy edition management
• ✅ Target color coding for health status
• ✅ Drag & drop target reclassification
• ✅ Auto-created default snapshots

🔧 Improvements:

• ✅ Workspace-aware detection across members
• ✅ One-click Cargo.toml updates
• ✅ Enhanced tooltips with rich information
• ✅ Better icon system (context-aware)

v0.1.0 - Initial Release

• Target discovery and management
• Feature flag toggles
• Snapshots system
• Watch mode integration
• Custom commands

📄 License

MIT License - See LICENSE file

🔗 Links

• GitHub Repository
• VS Code Marketplace
• Issue Tracker
• Contributing Guide

Made with ❤️ for the Rust community

From simple cargo commands to complete Rust development—all in your sidebar.

Created by: Tradell
Developed by: Claude Sonnet 4.5 thru GitHub Copilot