Contributing to Rust

Thank you for your interest in contributing to Rust! There are many ways to contribute and we appreciate all of them.

The best way to get started is by asking for help in the #new members Zulip stream. We have a lot of documentation below on how to get started on your own, but the Zulip stream is the best place to ask for help.

Documentation for contributing to the compiler or tooling is located in the Guide to Rustc Development, commonly known as the rustc-dev-guide. Documentation for the standard library in the Standard library developers Guide, commonly known as the std-dev-guide.

Making changes to subtrees and submodules

For submodules, changes need to be made against the repository corresponding to the submodule, and not the main rust-lang/rust repository.

For subtrees, prefer sending a PR against the subtree's repository if it does not need to be made against the main rust-lang/rust repository (e.g. a rustc-dev-guide change that does not accompany a compiler change).

About the rustc-dev-guide

The rustc-dev-guide is meant to help document how rustc –the Rust compiler– works, as well as to help new contributors get involved in rustc development. It is recommended that you read and understand the rustc-dev-guide before making a contribution. This guide talks about the different bots in the Rust ecosystem, the Rust development tools, bootstrapping, the compiler architecture, source code representation, and more.

Getting help

There are many ways you can get help when you're stuck. Rust has many platforms for this: internals, rust-zulip, and rust-discord. It is recommended to ask for help on the rust-zulip, but any of these platforms are great ways to seek help and even find a mentor! You can learn more about asking questions and getting help in the Asking Questions chapter of the rustc-dev-guide.

Bug reports

Did a compiler error message tell you to come here? If you want to create an ICE report, refer to this section and open an issue.

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