QuickRust documentation

Environment variables

The environment variables QuickRust reads, the ones it sets for the Cargo it runs and for the programs Cargo starts, and the ones that are internal to it.

In this section

Read by QuickRust

QuickRust’s own

Variable Effect
QRUST_HOME QuickRust’s home directory; default ~/.qrust
QRUST_MODE, QRUST_OUTPUT, QRUST_REPORT, QRUST_NESTED, … configuration keys, one variable per key; the full list is in Configuration

Every other variable whose name starts with QRUST_ is an error, except the internal variables.

Toolchain and build

Variable Effect
RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN selects the toolchain, after a +toolchain argument and before a toolchain file (Configuration); a toolchain name or an absolute toolchain directory
CARGO_TARGET_DIR, CARGO_BUILD_TARGET_DIR a target directory the user chose: used as it is instead of the workspace’s directory in QuickRust’s cache, unless its value equals QRUST_MANAGED_TARGET_DIR (set by an enclosing QuickRust)
RUSTC_WRAPPER, CARGO_BUILD_RUSTC_WRAPPER a rustc wrapper the user configured (also read from build.rustc-wrapper in Cargo’s configuration): kept, and run inside qrust-rustc-wrapper. With one present, the artifact cache, the parallel frontend, the linker and early cut-off are off, and sccache is not chained
RUSTC_WORKSPACE_WRAPPER left to Cargo, which applies it inside the wrapper chain
RUSTC, RUSTDOC a compiler or rustdoc the user chose: left as it is; otherwise QuickRust sets them to the toolchain’s
RUSTC_BOOTSTRAP when set by the user, no fast-mode setting that needs -Z flags applies (parallel frontend, linker, relinking)
CARGO_INCREMENTAL when set, wins over incremental.local-dev and incremental.ci
CARGO_PROFILE_* a profile setting the user made: the fast-mode setting it concerns is left alone (Fast mode)
CARGO_INSTALL_ROOT an error for qrust install without --root
CARGO_HOME read by qrust setup to find Cargo’s home to import from (default ~/.cargo); never used for builds, which use ~/.qrust/cargo (qrust doctor notes when it is set)

CI detection

A command runs in CI when one of CI, GITHUB_ACTIONS, GITLAB_CI, BUILDKITE, JENKINS_URL, TF_BUILD, TEAMCITY_VERSION is set to a value other than empty, false or 0. CI selects incremental.ci, is recorded in run reports, and turns off the background toolchain update.

Terminal

Variable Effect
NO_COLOR (not empty) no colour in anything QuickRust writes
CARGO_TERM_COLOR never: no colour; always: colour on QuickRust’s tagged lines even when they do not go to a terminal
COLUMNS the terminal width when it cannot be asked from the terminal (default 100)

Whether a command’s output is rendered depends on stderr being a terminal (Output).

Set for the Cargo QuickRust runs

Every command runs the toolchain’s Cargo with these variables. Cargo passes them on to build scripts, external subcommands, cargo run programs and tests.

Variable Value
CARGO_HOME ~/.qrust/cargo
RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN the selected toolchain’s id (1.99.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu), so that a nested cargo or rustc uses the same toolchain
RUSTC, RUSTDOC the toolchain’s rustc and rustdoc, unless the user set them to something else
PATH ~/.qrust/bin first, then the inherited PATH, then the toolchain’s bin
LD_LIBRARY_PATH (Linux), DYLD_FALLBACK_LIBRARY_PATH (macOS) the toolchain’s lib first, then the inherited value
CARGO_CACHE_AUTO_CLEAN_FREQUENCY never: Cargo does not delete downloaded crates on its own; QuickRust’s cache manages that space
CARGO ~/.qrust/bin/cargo, so that a nested build through $CARGO runs through QuickRust (except under qrust upstream, and with a linked toolchain)
CARGO_TARGET_DIR, CARGO_BUILD_BUILD_DIR the workspace’s directory in QuickRust’s cache (qrust path), unless the user chose a target directory
CARGO_INCREMENTAL 1 or 0 when incremental.* is on or off (and the user did not set it)

In a recorded build command, also:

Variable Value
RUSTC_WRAPPER qrust-rustc-wrapper

+toolchain is consumed by QuickRust and does not reach Cargo. The fast-mode profile settings and the terminal settings (term.progress.*, term.unicode, term.color) reach Cargo as --config arguments, never as environment variables, so they do not reach build scripts, nested Cargo or programs.

Set for compiler processes

qrust-rustc-wrapper runs rustc (or QuickRust’s compiler driver) for the units Cargo schedules with:

Variable Value
RUSTC_BOOTSTRAP 1, when a fast-mode setting that needs -Z flags applies to the unit; on a stable or beta compiler together with -Zallow-features=, so that #![feature] stays rejected. Never for build scripts or the compiler probes they run, and never when the user set RUSTC_BOOTSTRAP

Internal variables

QuickRust sets these for its own processes. They are not configuration, and setting them by hand is unsupported.

Variable Purpose
QRUST_SESSION_ID the session a nested command belongs to
QRUST_EVENT_DIR where the rustc wrapper records its events
QRUST_INNER_WRAPPER the user’s wrapper (or sccache) the rustc wrapper runs inside it
QRUST_WRAPPER_FAIL open or closed: whether a chained cache may be skipped when it cannot start
QRUST_EXEC_GUARD recursion detection
QRUST_ENGINE the toolchain directory QuickRust set RUSTC, RUSTDOC and PATH for, so that a nested QuickRust can tell its own settings from the user’s
QRUST_MANAGED_TARGET_DIR marks CARGO_TARGET_DIR and CARGO_BUILD_BUILD_DIR as set by QuickRust
QRUST_DRIVER_INTERFACE_HASH, QRUST_DRIVER_KEEP_OBJECTS, QRUST_DRIVER_READY_FD between the rustc wrapper and QuickRust’s compiler driver

Recorded in run reports

With security.persist-environment = "allowlist" (the default), a run record keeps the values of these variables when set: RUSTFLAGS, CARGO_ENCODED_RUSTFLAGS, RUSTDOCFLAGS, CARGO_ENCODED_RUSTDOCFLAGS, CARGO_INCREMENTAL, CARGO_BUILD_TARGET, CARGO_TARGET_DIR, CARGO_BUILD_TARGET_DIR, CARGO_BUILD_BUILD_DIR, CARGO_BUILD_JOBS, CARGO_BUILD_RUSTFLAGS, RUSTC, RUSTC_WRAPPER, RUSTC_WORKSPACE_WRAPPER, CARGO_BUILD_RUSTC_WRAPPER, RUSTUP_TOOLCHAIN, RUSTC_BOOTSTRAP, CC, CXX, AR, CFLAGS, CXXFLAGS, LDFLAGS, MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET, SDKROOT, PKG_CONFIG_PATH, CI, CARGO_NET_OFFLINE, CARGO_HOME, MAKEFLAGS, and every CARGO_PROFILE_*, CARGO_TARGET_*, CARGO_UNSTABLE_* and SCCACHE_* variable. Variables whose names look like credentials are recorded as set, with the value <redacted> (Security). security.persist-environment = "none" records none.