cargo-upkeep
Unified Rust project maintenance CLI.
One install, one interface, unified output for common maintenance tasks like dependency updates, security audits, and project health scoring.
Status
Work in progress.
Installation
From crates.io
Using cargo-binstall
Requires cargo-binstall (https://github.com/cargo-bins/cargo-binstall):
From install script
Installs the binary and Claude Code skills:
|
Binary only (skip skills):
SKIP_SKILLS=1 |
From source (requires Rust 1.70+)
Usage
Direct binary invocation also works:
Global flags:
detect
Detect project configuration (edition, workspace, features).
deps
Report outdated dependencies with semver classification.
deps --security requires Cargo.lock. If it's missing, generate one with:
update_type follows cargo's compatibility rule rather than raw semver field
comparison: the leftmost non-zero component is the one that carries breakage.
| Current | Latest | update_type |
Why |
|---|---|---|---|
1.2.3 |
2.0.0 |
major |
major differs |
1.2.3 |
1.3.0 |
minor |
compatible feature bump |
1.2.3 |
1.2.4 |
patch |
compatible fix |
0.8.5 |
0.10.2 |
major |
for 0.x the minor carries breakage |
0.8.1 |
0.8.5 |
patch |
compatible within 0.8 |
0.0.1 |
0.0.2 |
major |
nothing is compatible under 0.0.z |
So a 0.x dependency moving to a new minor is reported major, because cargo
will not take that upgrade without a manifest change.
Entries are grouped by (name, current) and sorted by that pair. Each entry's
members array names the workspace members that declared it, sorted and
deduplicated; for a single-crate project it holds that crate's own name. A
workspace whose members resolve one crate to semver-incompatible versions
therefore produces one entry per resolved version:
When members declare different requirement strings that resolve to the same
version, required and alias come from a single representative edge: the one
with the smallest (member, required, alias) tuple. The member name is the first
key, so entries are attributed to the first member in sorted order; ties on the
member are broken by byte order on the requirement string, not by semver. So
for one member declaring both =0.2.100 and ^0.1, =0.2.100 wins — = is
0x3D and ^ is 0x5E. If a group spans several dependency kinds,
dependency_type follows the precedence normal > build > dev.
Each entry under security.packages carries the same members array, so a
vulnerable version is attributed to the members that actually resolved to it.
audit
Scan for RustSec advisories.
Scope: advisories are matched only against dependencies resolved from crates.io. Path, git, vendored, and alternate-registry dependencies are skipped. This is upstream
rustsecbehaviour as of 0.33, which avoids false positives from local crates whose names collide with advisory crates. The same scope applies todeps --securityand to thequalitygrade.
quality
Generate a project health grade with breakdown.
tree
Enhanced dependency tree output.
unused
Detect unused dependencies using cargo-machete.
Requires cargo-machete to be installed:
unsafe-code
Analyze unsafe code usage in dependencies using cargo-geiger.
Requires cargo-geiger to be installed:
Claude Code skills
Use the companion Claude Code skills for guided workflows:
/upkeep-rs-deps:skills/upkeep-rs-deps/SKILL.md/upkeep-rs-audit:skills/upkeep-rs-audit/SKILL.md/upkeep-rs-quality:skills/upkeep-rs-quality/SKILL.md
Comparison
| Tool | Focus | Where cargo-upkeep fits |
|---|---|---|
| cargo-audit | RustSec vulnerability scanning | cargo upkeep audit wraps advisory scanning with unified output |
| cargo-outdated | Outdated dependencies | cargo upkeep deps reports with semver classification |
Rate limiting
Crates.io requests are serialized and rate-limited to roughly one request per second. Large dependency sets will take at least one second per crate, plus network time.
Test tooling
- Some integration tests use
httpmock(dev dependency only) for crates.io client behavior. - Full test coverage for
unusedandunsafe-coderequirescargo-macheteandcargo-geiger.
Optional tooling installs:
Contributing
- Create or pick up a task in
bd. - Keep changes focused and add tests for new behavior.
- Run
cargo fmt,cargo clippy, andcargo testbefore submitting.
Changelog
See CHANGELOG.md for release history.
This project uses Conventional Commits and git-cliff for automated changelog generation.
License and credits
MIT licensed. See LICENSE.
Inspired by the JS/TS upkeep project and the Rust maintenance tool ecosystem.