# rust-lang/api-guidelines

Rust API guidelines

Repository: https://github.com/rust-lang/api-guidelines
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/rust-lang-api-guidelines
Homepage: https://rust-lang.github.io/api-guidelines/
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: rust
Last push: 2025-07-08T04:54:07+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 46/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 30, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3495, "days_push": 421, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1346, forks 121 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:27.410712+00:00)

## What it is
The official Rust API guidelines, a set of recommendations from the Rust library team on designing and presenting idiomatic Rust APIs. It is published as a book with a concise checklist plus detailed topical chapters.

## Use cases
- design idiomatic rust crate apis
- review a rust library for api consistency
- learn rust api naming conventions
- checklist for publishing a rust crate
- make my rust library interoperate well with the ecosystem

## When to choose
- you are authoring or reviewing a Rust crate and want idiomatic, interoperable API design guidance
- you want an authoritative checklist maintained by the Rust library team

## When to avoid
- you need executable lint rules rather than prose guidelines (use clippy instead)
- you are designing APIs in languages other than Rust

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: active
- function: documentation
- domain: programming-languages, developer-tools, documentation
- platform: rust
- tags: api-design, guidelines, rust-library-team, best-practices, idiomatic-rust

## Member repositories
- rust-lang/api-guidelines (main) score 46

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:27.410712+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:42:42.858342+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/rust-lang/api-guidelines (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:27.410712+00:00, sha fb1567bed8c1)
  - homepage: https://rust-lang.github.io/api-guidelines/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:02:12.173681+00:00, sha b941b302fb04)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.