The Rust plugin equips IntelliJIDEA with full-fledged Rust support. This guide overviews the basic procedures to get you started. You can find more information about the supported features in RustRover documentation.
Install Rust plugin
Launch IntelliJIDEA. On the Welcome screen, click Plugins.
If you already have a project opened, go to Settings (Ctrl+Alt+S) | Plugins.
Select the Marketplace tab and search for the Rust plugin.
Click Install and wait for the download to complete.
Restart the IDE if prompted.
The plugin will be activated automatically. To double-check it is active, navigate to Help | Register and select Rust in the left-hand pane.
To develop in Rust, you need several basic tools: a compiler, a package manager, a formatter, and so on. A set of these tools is referred to as a toolchain. You will also need the Rust Standard Library.
If you have already opened a project and the Rust toolchain is missing, you will see a notification banner right above the editor:
Click Set up toolchain.
Alternatively, open IDE settings (Ctrl+Alt+S) and select Languages & Frameworks | Rust.
If the Rust toolchain is not detected, Toolchain version will display N/A. Click the Install Rustup button – IntelliJIDEA will attempt to install both the toolchain and the standard library.
Once the installation is complete, IntelliJIDEA will automatically detect its location, populating the Toolchain version and the Standard library path.
Click OK to apply the settings.
Open or create a Rust project
You have three options to start working on a Rust project.
Create a new Cargo project
Launch IntelliJIDEA.
Do one of the following:
Click New Project on the Welcome screen.
Select File | New | Project from the main menu.
(Available in the new UI) Click the Project widget in the main window header and select New Project.
In the left-hand pane, make sure Rust is selected.
Specify the project location and name.
Specify the location of the Rust toolchain and standard library.
If the toolchain and standard library are installed, IntelliJIDEA will detect them automatically. Otherwise, you will be suggested to download Rustup.
Select the desired project template and click Create.
Open a local Cargo project
In the main menu, go to File | Open. In the file chooser, select the directory containing the root Cargo.toml file (or Cargo.toml itself) and click Open:
In the dialog that opens, select Open as project.
When opening the project for the first time, IntelliJIDEA will prompt you to confirm that you consider it safe.
Click Trust Project if you are certain the project poses no threats and you would like to enable all IDE features. If you have any doubts, select Preview in Safe Mode. For more information, refer to Project security.
Clone a repository from VCS
In the main menu, go to File | New | Project from Version Control or click Get from VCS on the Welcome screen.
Specify the repository URL and the destination directory. Click Clone:
Explore the workspace and features
The plugin's feature set is designed to simplify the Rust development process. Let's take a closer look at what it has to offer.
Syntax highlighting and code reference
To help you quickly read and understand Rust code, the plugin provides highlighting, Inlay hints, macro expansion, quick access to documentation, and more.
Here are some shortcuts you may find useful:
Action | |
|---|---|
Expand macro | Alt+Enter |
Go to declaration | Ctrl+Click |
Get type info | Ctrl+Shift+P |
Quick documentation | Ctrl+Q |
Quick definition | Ctrl+Shift+I |
For more information, refer to RustRover documentation.
Code analysis and error reporting
To help you fight errors and inconsistencies in code, the plugin offers built-in inspections and integrates with external linters.
For a summary of all detected problems, use the Inspections widget in the upper-right corner of the editor. To see the details, click the widget and refer to the Problems tool window (or select View | Tool Windows | Problems):
For more information, refer to Code inspections and External linters in RustRover documentation.
Formatting
You can easily format your code using either the IDE's built-in formatter (enabled by default) or Rustfmt.
Enable (or disable) Rustfmt instead of the built-in formatter
Open settings by pressing Ctrl+Alt+S and navigate to Languages & Frameworks | Rust | Rustfmt.
To enable Rustfmt, set the Use Rustfmt instead of built-in formatter checkbox. To disable Rustfmt, clear the checkbox.
Click OK to apply the changes.
Reformat a file
Open the file you want to reformat in the editor.
Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L or select Code | Reformat File.
In the Reformat File dialog, select additional options if necessary and click Run.
For more information, refer to Reformat code and Rustfmt.
The Cargo tool window
The Cargo tool window is designed to help you with Cargo tasks. By default, it is pinned to the tool windows bar. You can show or hide it by clicking the window indicator on the sidebar (alternatively, select View | Tool Windows | Cargo).
For more information, refer to RustRover documentation.
Sharing code in Playground
You can share your code in Rust Playground without leaving the editor.
Select the code fragment you'd like to share (otherwise, the IDE will copy the whole file).
Right-click and choose Rust | Share in Playground.
IntelliJIDEA will create a GitHub Gist and display a notification popup with a link to the playground.
For more features, refer to RustRover documentation.
Build and run
Use the Build action to compile your code and Run to execute it. There are several ways to perform these actions:
Build/run Rust code
To build or run a particular target, open the Cargo tool window (View | Tool Windows | Cargo) and double-click the target.
To run from a particular entry point, locate it in the editor, click
in the gutter, and select Run: To run a particular file or module, open the Project view, right-click the necessary file or module, and select Run:
If you want to build or run code using a predefined configuration (with custom parameters and settings), select it in the switcher on the main toolbar and:
click
to build (Ctrl+F9)click
to run (Shift+F10)
You can always build/run using a Cargo command.
in the gutter, and select 
to build (Ctrl+F9)
For more information, refer to RustRover documentation.
Debug
Rust plugin provides a full-fledged debugger – with breakpoints, variable monitoring, stepping, memory and disassembly views, and other handy features.
Start a debug session
To start debugging from a particular entry point, locate it in the editor, click
in the gutter, and select Debug: To debug code using a predefined configuration (with custom parameters and settings), select it in the configuration switcher on the main toolbar and click
: You can always start a debug session by running a Cargo command.
: 
For more information, refer to Start the debugger session.
Learn how to perform basic debugging actions from these guides:
Setting breakpoints
Using watches
Stepping through
Viewing memory and disassembly code representation
For more information, refer to RustRover documentation.
Test
You will likely support your code with tests, doctests, and/or benchmarks. Here are a few quick ways to run them:
Run test(s), doctest(s), or benchmark(s)
To run a single test or doctest, open it in the editor, click
in the gutter, and select Run:To run a test/benchmark target, open the Cargo tool window (View | Tool Windows | Cargo) and double-click the target:
You can always run tests using a Cargo command.
The Run tool window will open, automatically displaying the results:
For more information, refer to RustRover documentation.
Run with code coverage
The plugin provides code coverage analysis for Rust code.
Run with Code Coverage
To get code coverage statistics, do one of the following:
Locate the desired entry point, click
in the gutter, and select Run with Coverage: Locate the necessary file in Project view, right-click, and select Run with Coverage:
If you want to run a predefined configuration (with custom parameters and settings), select it in the switcher on the main toolbar, then press
and select Run with Coverage:
and select 
The Coverage tool window (View | Tool Windows | Coverage) will open, automatically displaying the results:
For more information, refer to Code coverage.
To learn more about Rust support, refer to RustRover documentation or contact our support team.
Rust plugin vs. RustRover
Differences in the feature set
RustRover | CLion+Rust plugin | IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate+Rust plugin | |
|---|---|---|---|
Debugger | For Linux, both LLDB and GDB are available. For macOS, only LLDB is available. For Windows, LLDB is supported for MSVC, GDB is supported for GNU. Learn more | For Windows and Linux, both LLDB and GDB are available. For macOS, only LLDB is available. Allows to debug on-chip | For Windows and Linux, both LLDB and GDB are available (Native Debugging Support free plugin required). For macOS, only LLDB is available. |
Profiler | Available on macOS, Linux, and WSL | Available on macOS, Linux, and WSL |
|
Valgrind Memcheck |
| Available on Linux, WSL, and macOS (10.12 or later) |
|
Database support | Via paid plugin |
|
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Language support
RustRover | CLion+Rust plugin | IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate+Rust plugin | |
|---|---|---|---|
Rust |
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Java, Groovy, Kotlin |
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C/C++, Objective С/С++ |
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Python | Via free plugin |
|
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JavaScript, TypeScript | Only basic JavaScript & TypeScript support |
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HTML, CSS |
|
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Sass, SCSS, Less | Via Sass and Less free plugins |
|
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XML, JSON, YAML, XSLT, XPath |
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Markdown |
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Last modified: 24 June 2024
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