Crate workspace_tools 

Universal workspace-relative path resolution for Rust projects

This crate provides consistent, reliable path management regardless of execution context or working directory. It solves common path resolution issues in software projects by leveraging cargo’s environment variable injection system.

problem solved

• execution context dependency : paths break when code runs from different directories
• environment inconsistency : different developers have different working directory habits
• testing fragility : tests fail when run from different locations
• ci/cd brittleness : automated systems may execute from unexpected directories

quick start

1. Configure cargo in workspace root .cargo/config.toml :

[env]
WORKSPACE_PATH = { value = ".", relative = true }

2. Use in your code :

use workspace_tools::{ workspace, WorkspaceError };

// get workspace instance
let ws = workspace()?;

// resolve workspace-relative paths
let config_path = ws.config_dir().join( "app.toml" );
let data_path = ws.data_dir().join( "cache.db" );

features

• glob : enables pattern-based resource discovery
• secrets : provides secure configuration file handling utilities
• secure : enables memory-safe secret handling with the secrecy crate
• serde : provides configuration loading with serde support
• validation : enables configuration validation with JSON Schema

security best practices

when using the secure feature for secret management :

• secrets are wrapped in SecretString types that prevent accidental exposure
• debug output automatically redacts secret values
• secrets require explicit expose_secret() calls for access
• use the SecretInjectable trait for automatic configuration injection
• validate secret strength with validate_secret() method
• secrets are zeroized from memory when dropped

Structs

CargoMetadata

cargo metadata information for workspace

CargoPackage

information about a cargo package within a workspace

Workspace

workspace path resolver providing centralized access to workspace-relative paths

WorkspaceDeserializer

workspace-aware serde deserializer

WorkspacePath

custom serde field for workspace-relative paths

Enums

WorkspaceError

workspace path resolution errors

Traits

ConfigMerge

trait for configuration types that can be merged

SecretInjectable

trait for types that support automatic secret injection

Functions

workspace

convenience function to get workspace instance

Type Aliases

Result

result type for workspace operations