Rust Cursor Rules: AI-Powered Development Best Practices

Cursor rules for Rust development enforcing ownership patterns, type safety, async/await practices, and clean code principles with AI assistance for production-ready code.

Overview

Professional cursor rules for Rust development that enforce modern standards and best practices. These rules help AI assistants generate safe, efficient, and maintainable Rust code with proper context and documentation.

Note:

Enforces memory safety through ownership patterns, type safety with strong typing, async/await best practices, and error handling with custom types for production-ready development.

Rules Configuration

---
description: Enforces best practices for Rust development, focusing on context-aware code generation, modern patterns, and maintainable architecture. Provides comprehensive guidelines for writing clean, efficient, and secure Rust code with proper context.
globs: **/*.{rs,toml}
---
# Rust Best Practices

You are an expert in Rust programming and related technologies.
You understand modern Rust development practices, architectural patterns, and the importance of providing complete context in code generation.

### Context-Aware Code Generation
- Always provide complete module context including imports and module declarations
- Include relevant configuration files (Cargo.toml, Cargo.lock) when generating projects
- Generate complete function signatures with proper parameters, return types, and lifetimes
- Include comprehensive documentation comments explaining the purpose, parameters, and return values
- Provide context about the module's role in the larger system architecture
- Follow proper module organization and crate structure

### Code Style and Structure
- Follow Rust style guide and clean code principles
- Structure code in logical modules following domain-driven design
- Implement proper separation of concerns (handlers, services, repositories)
- Use modern Rust features (async/await, const generics, pattern matching) appropriately
- Maintain consistent code formatting using rustfmt
- Use proper trait design and composition
- Implement proper error handling with custom error types
- Use proper logging with structured data

### Type System and Ownership
- Use proper type definitions and traits
- Implement proper ownership patterns
- Use proper borrowing and lifetimes
- Implement proper smart pointers
- Use proper type conversions
- Implement proper generics and associated types
- Use proper type safety patterns
- Implement proper trait bounds

### Testing and Quality
- Write comprehensive unit tests with proper test context
- Include integration tests for critical paths
- Use proper test organization with test modules
- Implement proper test helpers and utilities
- Include performance tests for critical components
- Maintain high test coverage for core business logic
- Use proper test data factories
- Implement proper test doubles
- Use proper test organization with test attributes

### Security and Performance
- Implement proper input validation and sanitization
- Use secure authentication and token management
- Configure proper CORS and CSRF protection
- Implement rate limiting and request validation
- Use proper caching strategies
- Optimize memory usage and allocations
- Implement proper error handling and logging
- Use proper data validation and sanitization
- Implement proper access control

### API Design
- Follow RESTful principles with proper HTTP methods
- Use proper status codes and error responses
- Implement proper versioning strategies
- Document APIs using OpenAPI/Swagger
- Include proper request/response validation
- Implement proper pagination and filtering
- Use proper serialization and deserialization
- Implement proper rate limiting
- Use proper API authentication

### Concurrency and Parallelism
- Use proper async/await patterns
- Implement proper thread management
- Use proper synchronization primitives
- Implement proper message passing
- Use proper thread pools
- Implement proper error handling in async code
- Use proper resource cleanup
- Implement proper backpressure
- Use proper concurrent data structures

### Build and Deployment
- Use proper Cargo features and dependencies
- Implement proper CI/CD pipelines
- Use Docker for containerization
- Configure proper environment variables
- Implement proper logging and monitoring
- Use proper deployment strategies
- Implement proper backup strategies
- Use proper monitoring tools
- Implement proper error tracking

Key Features

🔒

Memory Safety

Ownership and borrowing patterns enforced at compile time with zero-cost abstractions

Type Safety

Strong static typing with generics, traits, and comprehensive error handling

🔄

Async/Await Support

Modern async/await patterns with Tokio runtime and proper error handling

📦

Rich Type System

Enums, traits, and pattern matching for expressive and reliable code

Testing Built-In

Integrated testing framework with unit tests, integration tests, and doc tests

🚀

Performance Optimized

Zero-cost abstractions with full control over memory layout and execution

Installation

1

Choose Your IDE

Select the appropriate file path based on your development environment.

2

Create the Rules File

Create the cursor rules file in your project:

Create file: .cursor/rules/rust.mdc

3

Add the Rules Configuration

Copy the rules configuration above into your newly created file.

4

Start Coding

Your AI assistant will now follow Rust best practices automatically.

Code Example

//! User service module for handling user-related operations.
//! Provides methods for user management and authentication.

use std::error::Error;
use std::fmt;
use std::sync::Arc;
use tokio::sync::Mutex;
use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
use tracing::{info, error};

/// Custom error type for user service operations.
#[derive(Debug)]
pub struct UserServiceError {
    message: String,
    source: Option<Box<dyn Error + Send + Sync>>,
}

impl fmt::Display for UserServiceError {
    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
        write!(f, "UserServiceError: {}", self.message)
    }
}

impl Error for UserServiceError {
    fn source(&self) -> Option<&(dyn Error + 'static)> {
        self.source.as_ref().map(|e| e.as_ref() as &dyn Error)
    }
}

/// User service for handling user-related operations.
#[derive(Debug)]
pub struct UserService {
    api_client: Arc<dyn ApiClient>,
    cache: Arc<Mutex<dyn Cache>>,
}

impl UserService {
    /// Creates a new UserService instance.
    pub fn new(api_client: Arc<dyn ApiClient>, cache: Arc<Mutex<dyn Cache>>) -> Self {
        Self { api_client, cache }
    }

    /// Finds a user by their email address.
    ///
    /// # Arguments
    ///
    /// * `email` - The email address to search for
    ///
    /// # Returns
    ///
    /// Returns a Result containing the user if found, or an error if the operation fails.
    pub async fn find_user_by_email(&self, email: &str) -> Result<Option<User>, UserServiceError> {
        // Check cache first
        if let Some(cached_user) = self.check_cache(email).await? {
            return Ok(Some(cached_user));
        }

        // Fetch from API
        match self.api_client.get_user(email).await {
            Ok(Some(user)) => {
                // Cache the result
                if let Err(e) = self.cache_user(&user).await {
                    error!("Failed to cache user: {}", e);
                }
                Ok(Some(user))
            }
            Ok(None) => Ok(None),
            Err(e) => Err(UserServiceError {
                message: format!("Failed to find user by email: {}", e),
                source: Some(Box::new(e)),
            }),
        }
    }

    async fn check_cache(&self, email: &str) -> Result<Option<User>, UserServiceError> {
        let mut cache = self.cache.lock().await;
        match cache.get(&format!("user:{}", email)).await {
            Ok(Some(data)) => {
                info!("Cache hit for user: {}", email);
                serde_json::from_str(&data).map_err(|e| UserServiceError {
                    message: format!("Failed to deserialize cached user: {}", e),
                    source: Some(Box::new(e)),
                })
            }
            Ok(None) => Ok(None),
            Err(e) => Err(UserServiceError {
                message: format!("Cache error: {}", e),
                source: Some(Box::new(e)),
            }),
        }
    }

    async fn cache_user(&self, user: &User) -> Result<(), UserServiceError> {
        let mut cache = self.cache.lock().await;
        let data = serde_json::to_string(user).map_err(|e| UserServiceError {
            message: format!("Failed to serialize user: {}", e),
            source: Some(Box::new(e)),
        })?;

        cache.set(&format!("user:{}", user.email), &data).await.map_err(|e| UserServiceError {
            message: format!("Failed to cache user: {}", e),
            source: Some(Box::new(e)),
        })
    }
}

#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
    use super::*;
    use async_trait::async_trait;
    use mockall::predicate::*;
    use mockall::mock;

    mock! {
        pub ApiClient {
            fn get_user(&self, email: &str) -> Result<Option<User>, Box<dyn Error + Send + Sync>>;
        }
    }

    mock! {
        pub Cache {
            fn get(&mut self, key: &str) -> Result<Option<String>, Box<dyn Error + Send + Sync>>;
            fn set(&mut self, key: &str, value: &str) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error + Send + Sync>>;
        }
    }

    #[tokio::test]
    async fn test_find_user_by_email_cache_hit() {
        // Setup
        let mut mock_api = MockApiClient::new();
        let mut mock_cache = MockCache::new();

        let user = User {
            id: 1,
            email: "[email protected]".to_string(),
        };

        mock_cache.expect_get()
            .with(eq("user:[email protected]"))
            .returning(move |_| Ok(Some(serde_json::to_string(&user).unwrap())));

        let service = UserService::new(
            Arc::new(mock_api),
            Arc::new(Mutex::new(mock_cache)),
        );

        // Execute
        let result = service.find_user_by_email("[email protected]").await;

        // Verify
        assert!(result.is_ok());
        assert_eq!(result.unwrap(), Some(user));
    }

    #[tokio::test]
    async fn test_find_user_by_email_api_success() {
        // Setup
        let mut mock_api = MockApiClient::new();
        let mut mock_cache = MockCache::new();

        let user = User {
            id: 1,
            email: "[email protected]".to_string(),
        };

        mock_cache.expect_get()
            .with(eq("user:[email protected]"))
            .returning(|_| Ok(None));

        mock_api.expect_get_user()
            .with(eq("[email protected]"))
            .returning(move |_| Ok(Some(user.clone())));

        mock_cache.expect_set()
            .with(eq("user:[email protected]"), eq(serde_json::to_string(&user).unwrap()))
            .returning(|_, _| Ok(()));

        let service = UserService::new(
            Arc::new(mock_api),
            Arc::new(Mutex::new(mock_cache)),
        );

        // Execute
        let result = service.find_user_by_email("[email protected]").await;

        // Verify
        assert!(result.is_ok());
        assert_eq!(result.unwrap(), Some(user));
    }
}

Use Cases

Systems Programming

Low-level systems with memory safety guarantees and zero-cost abstractions

High-Performance Services

Web servers and microservices with excellent performance characteristics

Async Applications

Concurrent applications leveraging async/await for efficient resource usage

CLI Tools

Fast, reliable command-line tools with minimal dependencies

Standards Reference

StandardDescriptionEnforcement
Rust Style GuideConsistent formatting and naming conventionsrustfmt + clippy
Type SafetyStrong static typing with generics and traitsRequired for all code
OwnershipProper memory management through compile-time checksEnforced by compiler
Error HandlingCustom error types with Result typesRequired for fallible operations
TestingIntegrated unit and integration testsGenerated with code
Async PatternsProper async/await and concurrency patternsEnforced via reviews

Note:

Combine these rules with clippy for linting and cargo-check for continuous validation to maintain code quality.

Best Practices

Code Organization

  • Modules organize functionality by domain
  • Traits define shared behavior
  • Types encode invariants in the type system
  • Tests live alongside implementation

Type Safety

  • Use the type system to prevent bugs
  • Prefer enum types over strings for variants
  • Implement proper traits for behavior
  • Use newtype pattern for semantic clarity

Async Programming

  • Use Tokio runtime for async tasks
  • Properly propagate errors in async code
  • Avoid blocking operations in async contexts
  • Use channels for inter-task communication

Error Handling

  • Create custom error types for your domain
  • Implement proper Display and Error traits
  • Use Result type for fallible operations
  • Avoid unwrap in library code

Explore other language-specific cursor rules and frameworks:

Note:

These rules work with any Rust project but are optimized for async/await patterns with frameworks like Tokio and Actix. Adjust concurrency sections for your specific runtime.