The cargo locate-project command allows users to print the full path to the Cargo.toml manifest of the current project. This is useful when working with Rust projects and needing to locate the project’s manifest file.

Use case 1: Print the full path to the Cargo.toml manifest

Code:

cargo locate-project

Motivation: This use case provides a simple way to obtain the full path to the Cargo.toml manifest file for the current project.

Explanation: The command cargo locate-project is used without any additional arguments. It automatically detects the current project and prints the full path to its Cargo.toml manifest file.

Example Output:

/path/to/project/Cargo.toml

Use case 2: Print the project path in the specified format

Code:

cargo locate-project --message-format plain|json

Motivation: This use case allows users to obtain the project path in a specific format, either plain text or JSON. This can be helpful when needing to parse the output programmatically.

Explanation: The --message-format argument is used to specify the desired format for the project path output. It can be set to either plain or json. If not specified, the default format is plain.

Example Output (plain format):

/path/to/project/Cargo.toml

Example Output (JSON format):

{
  "root": "/path/to/project",
  "root_manifest": "/path/to/project/Cargo.toml"
}

Use case 3: Print the Cargo.toml manifest located at the root of the workspace

Code:

cargo locate-project --workspace

Motivation: This use case is useful when working with Rust workspaces and needing to obtain the Cargo.toml manifest file located at the root of the workspace, rather than the current workspace member.

Explanation: The --workspace argument is used to specify that the Cargo.toml manifest file at the root of the workspace should be located instead of the current workspace member’s manifest.

Example Output:

/path/to/workspace/Cargo.toml

Conclusion:

The cargo locate-project command is a helpful tool for locating the Cargo.toml manifest file of a Rust project. It provides flexible options for formatting the output and works seamlessly with Rust workspaces as well.