Agent skill

Rust Build Times

by mohitmishra786 in mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills

Rust build time optimization skill for reducing slow compilation.

MITAuto-check: notesDevelopment

Install Rust Build Times

skills CLI
$ npx skills add mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill rust-build-times -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills rust-build-times --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/rust/rust-build-times .claude/skills/rust-build-times && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
rust-build-times
GitHub stars
252
Token cost
~1.7k tokens
SKILL.md length
306 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
138
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Rust build time optimization skill for reducing slow compilation.

  • Works in 7 steps: Diagnose with cargo-timings → sccache — compilation caching for Rust → Cranelift codegen backend → …
  • Using cargo-timings to profile builds
  • SKILL.md covers Purpose, Triggers, Workflow and Related skills
  • Calls cargo and apt-get; needs AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

What it does

Rust Build Times is an agent skill from mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills. Rust build time optimization skill for reducing slow compilation. Use when using cargo-timings to profile builds, configuring sccache for Rust, using the Cranelift backend, splitting workspaces for parallelism, choosing between thin LTO and fat LTO, or using the mold linker with Rust. Activates on queries about slow Rust compilation, cargo-timings, sccache Rust, cranelift backend, Rust workspace splitting, LTO tradeoffs, or mold linker with Rust.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.7k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Development. It works with Rust. The repository describes itself as: A curated suite of AI agent skills for systems and low-level programming with C/C++, Rust, and Zig toolchains, covering compilers, debuggers, profilers, build systems…. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Using cargo-timings to profile builds
  • Configuring sccache for Rust
  • Using the Cranelift backend
  • Splitting workspaces for parallelism

Example prompts

  • “/rust-build-times”

Requirements

  • A credential in AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

Workflow steps

7 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Diagnose with cargo-timings
  2. sccache — compilation caching for Rust
  3. Cranelift codegen backend
  4. Workspace splitting for parallelism
  5. LTO configuration
  6. Fast linkers
  7. Other quick wins

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit bdc5847. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • cargo
    • apt-get

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

    • AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
    • AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Rust Build Times loads about 1.7k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 117 tokens; SKILL.md has 306 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~117
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.7k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

  • NoteRuns commands with sudoSKILL.md:175
    sudo apt-get install mold

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills at commit bdc5847, republished under its MIT licence (© mohitmishra786). 306 words, ~1,704 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/rust-build-times/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
rust-build-times
description
Rust build time optimization skill for reducing slow compilation. Use when using cargo-timings to profile builds, configuring sccache for Rust, using the Cranelift backend, splitting workspaces for parallelism, choosing between thin LTO and fat LTO, or using the mold linker with Rust. Activates on queries about slow Rust compilation, cargo-timings, sccache Rust, cranelift backend, Rust workspace splitting, LTO tradeoffs, or mold linker with Rust.

Rust Build Times

Purpose

Guide agents through diagnosing and improving Rust compilation speed: cargo-timings for build profiling, sccache for caching, the Cranelift codegen backend for faster dev builds, workspace crate splitting, LTO configuration trade-offs, and fast linkers (mold/lld).

Triggers

  • "My Rust project takes too long to compile"
  • "How do I profile which crates are slow to build?"
  • "How do I set up sccache for Rust?"
  • "What is the Cranelift backend and how does it help?"
  • "Should I use thin LTO or fat LTO?"
  • "How do I use the mold linker with Rust?"

Workflow

1. Diagnose with cargo-timings
bash
# Build with timing report
cargo build --timings

# Opens build/cargo-timings/cargo-timing.html
# Shows: crate compilation timeline, parallelism, bottlenecks

# For release builds
cargo build --release --timings

# Key things to look for in the timing report:
# - Long sequential chains (no parallelism)
# - Individual crates taking > 10s (candidates for optimization)
# - Proc-macro crates blocking everything downstream
bash
# cargo-llvm-lines — count LLVM IR lines per function (monomorphization)
cargo install cargo-llvm-lines
cargo llvm-lines --release | head -20
# Shows functions generating the most LLVM IR (template explosion)
2. sccache — compilation caching for Rust
bash
# Install
cargo install sccache
# or: brew install sccache

# Configure for Rust builds
export RUSTC_WRAPPER=sccache

# Add to .cargo/config.toml (project or global)
# ~/.cargo/config.toml
[build]
rustc-wrapper = "sccache"

# Check cache stats
sccache --show-stats

# S3 backend for CI teams
export SCCACHE_BUCKET=my-rust-cache
export SCCACHE_REGION=us-east-1
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=xxx
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=yyy
sccache --start-server

# GitHub Actions with sccache
# - uses: mozilla-actions/sccache-action@v0.0.4
3. Cranelift codegen backend

Cranelift is a fast codegen backend (vs LLVM) — produces slower code but compiles much faster. Ideal for development builds:

bash
# Install nightly (Cranelift requires nightly for now)
rustup toolchain install nightly
rustup component add rustc-codegen-cranelift-preview --toolchain nightly

# Use Cranelift for dev builds only
# .cargo/config.toml
[unstable]
codegen-backend = true

[profile.dev]
codegen-backend = "cranelift"
bash
# Use per-build
CARGO_PROFILE_DEV_CODEGEN_BACKEND=cranelift \
RUSTFLAGS="-Zunstable-options" \
cargo +nightly build

Cranelift vs LLVM trade-off:

  • Dev builds: 20–40% faster compilation with Cranelift
  • Runtime performance: LLVM-compiled code is faster (Cranelift skips many optimizations)
  • Release builds: always use LLVM
4. Workspace splitting for parallelism

A single large crate compiles sequentially. Split into smaller crates to enable Cargo parallelism:

toml
# Before: one giant crate
[package]
name = "monolith"    # everything in one crate = sequential compile

# After: workspace with parallel crates
[workspace]
members = [
    "core",          # compiled in parallel
    "networking",    # no deps on ui → parallel with ui
    "ui",            # no deps on networking → parallel
    "server",        # depends on core + networking
    "cli",           # depends on core + ui
]
bash
# Visualize dependency graph
cargo tree | head -30
cargo tree --graph | dot -Tsvg > deps.svg   # visual graph

# Check how many crates compile in parallel
cargo build -j$(nproc) --timings    # maximize parallelism

Rules for effective workspace splitting:

  • Break circular dependencies first
  • Separate proc-macros into their own crate (they block everything)
  • Keep frequently-changed code isolated (less invalidation)
5. LTO configuration

LTO improves runtime performance but increases link time:

toml
# Cargo.toml profile configuration
[profile.release]
lto = "thin"         # thin LTO: good performance, much faster than "fat"
codegen-units = 1    # needed for best optimization (but disables parallelism)

[profile.release-fast]
inherits = "release"
lto = "fat"          # full LTO: maximum performance, very slow link

[profile.dev]
lto = "off"          # never use LTO in dev (compilation speed)
codegen-units = 16   # maximize parallel codegen in dev

LTO comparison:

SettingLink timeRuntime perfUse when
lto = falseFastBaselineDev builds
lto = "thin"Moderate+5–15%Most release builds
lto = "fat"Slow+15–30%Maximum performance
codegen-units = 1SlowestBestWith LTO for release
6. Fast linkers

The linker is often the bottleneck for large Rust projects:

bash
# mold — fastest general-purpose linker (Linux)
sudo apt-get install mold

# .cargo/config.toml
[target.x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu]
linker = "clang"
rustflags = ["-C", "link-arg=-fuse-ld=mold"]

# Or use cargo-zigbuild (uses zig cc as linker)
cargo install cargo-zigbuild
cargo zigbuild --release

# lld — LLVM's linker (faster than GNU ld, available everywhere)
# .cargo/config.toml
[target.x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu]
rustflags = ["-C", "link-arg=-fuse-ld=lld"]

# On macOS: zld or the default lld
[target.x86_64-apple-darwin]
rustflags = ["-C", "link-arg=-fuse-ld=/usr/local/bin/zld"]

Linker speed comparison (large project, typical):

  • GNU ld: baseline
  • lld: ~2× faster
  • mold: ~5–10× faster
  • gold: ~1.5× faster
7. Other quick wins
bash
# Reduce debug info level (faster but less debuggable)
# Cargo.toml
[profile.dev]
debug = 1           # 0=off, 1=line tables, 2=full (default)
# debug=1 saves 20-40% on debug build time

# Split debug info (reduces linker input)
[profile.dev]
split-debuginfo = "unpacked"   # macOS: equivalent of gsplit-dwarf

# Disable incremental compilation (sometimes faster for full rebuilds)
CARGO_INCREMENTAL=0 cargo build

# Reduce proc-macro compile time (pin heavy proc-macro deps)
# Heavy proc-macros: serde, tokio, axum — keep versions stable
  • Use skills/rust/cargo-workflows for Cargo workspace and profile configuration
  • Use skills/build-systems/build-acceleration for C/C++ equivalent build acceleration
  • Use skills/debuggers/dwarf-debug-format for debug info size/split-dwarf tradeoffs
  • Use skills/binaries/linkers-lto for LTO internals

© mohitmishra786, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/rust/rust-build-times of mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit bdc5847

Compare with similar skills

Rust Build Times next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

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OpenLogi macOS Permissions TriageAprilNEA/OpenLogi23k—~2.5kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0
Rust Best Practicesfarm-fe/farm5.6k3 repos~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
RTK Rust Design Patternsrtk-ai/rtk83k—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Release Skillsnexmoe/eve4213 repos~3.3kAutomated safety check: PassNone

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Rust Build Times

What does Rust Build Times do?

Rust build time optimization skill for reducing slow compilation. Rust Build Times is an agent skill from mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills. Rust build time optimization skill for reducing slow compilation.

When should I use Rust Build Times?

Rust Build Times fits situations like: using cargo-timings to profile builds; configuring sccache for Rust; using the Cranelift backend; splitting workspaces for parallelism.

How do I install Rust Build Times in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill rust-build-times -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/rust/rust-build-times in mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills) into .claude/skills/rust-build-times in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Rust Build Times in Codex?

Run `npx skills add mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill rust-build-times -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/rust/rust-build-times in mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills) into .agents/skills/rust-build-times in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Rust Build Times in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill rust-build-times -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/rust-build-times, .gemini/skills/rust-build-times, .github/skills/rust-build-times and .opencode/skills/rust-build-times in your project.

What does Rust Build Times need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Rust Build Times needs the command-line tools its instructions call (cargo and apt-get) and credentials named AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY. Our summary lists: A credential in AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY.

Does Rust Build Times access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Rust Build Times safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (runs commands with sudo), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Rust Build Times use?

Rust Build Times is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Rust Build Times use?

About 1.7k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 6.8k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Rust Build Times?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Rust Build Times: Migrate Core Code to Submodules (tinyhumansai/openhuman, 42k stars), OpenLogi macOS Permissions Triage (AprilNEA/OpenLogi, 23k stars), Rust Best Practices (farm-fe/farm, 5.6k stars) and RTK Rust Design Patterns (rtk-ai/rtk, 83k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Rust Build Times?

mohitmishra786 (a GitHub user) maintains it in mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills, which has 252 GitHub stars. The repository holds 138 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on June 27, 2026.

Source: mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.