Cargo Backend

The cargo backend installs Rust command-line applications from crates.io or a Git repository. It can use published binaries through cargo-binstall or build the crate with Cargo. Application dependencies belong in your Cargo.toml.

The code for this is inside the mise repository at ./src/backend/cargo.rs.

Dependencies

Install Rust/Cargo for source builds. A working linker and any native libraries required by the crate must also be available. Prebuilt installs can avoid the compilation step; see Settings for cargo-binstall selection and fallback.

Usage

Declare Rust and eza together in the current project:

mise use rust@stable cargo:eza
mise exec -- eza --version

This records both tools in mise.toml:

[tools]
rust = "stable"
"cargo:eza" = "latest"

Add -g to mise use for global configuration. Run mise ls-remote cargo:eza to choose a release, or pin a version with mise use cargo:eza@VERSION, replacing VERSION with a listed release.

Using Git

You can also install a package from a Git repository. This lets you install a particular tag, branch, or commit revision. Replace the repository and uppercase placeholders below; quote the complete tool argument:

# Install a specific tag
mise use 'cargo:https://github.com/username/demo@tag:TAG'

# Install the latest from a branch
mise use 'cargo:https://github.com/username/demo@branch:BRANCH'

# Install a specific commit revision
mise use 'cargo:https://github.com/username/demo@rev:COMMIT'

This runs cargo install with the corresponding Git options.

Settings

Set these with mise settings set [VARIABLE]=[VALUE] or by setting the environment variable listed.

Some Cargo settings are only meaningful when mise runs cargo install. If cargo-binstall installs a prebuilt binary, Cargo build settings and cargo install behavior do not affect that artifact. Set cargo.binstall = false when you need Cargo settings to control the install.

When mise uses external cargo-binstall, it disables cargo-binstall's compile strategy. If cargo-binstall reports that no prebuilt artifact is available (exit code 94), mise runs cargo install itself. Other cargo-binstall errors do not trigger this fallback. When cargo.binstall_only = true, Cargo tools without an explicit Git source must be installed by cargo-binstall: mise does not fall back to cargo install, and options that require cargo install produce an error. Explicit Git sources are unaffected because they always use cargo install --git and are never eligible for cargo-binstall.

By default, mise disables external cargo-binstall's use of the third-party cargo-quickinstall artifact host. This is separate from crate-author GitHub releases and artifacts declared in package.metadata.binstall. Together with the always-disabled compile strategy, the default external cargo-binstall flag is --disable-strategies compile,quick-install. Set cargo.binstall_quickinstall = true to allow quick-install; mise then passes --disable-strategies compile. This setting does not affect mise's native cargo.binstall_native path, which does not use quickinstall. Set cargo.binstall = false to disable binstall entirely.

Tool Options

The following tool-options are available for the cargo backend—these go in [tools] in mise.toml.

When cargo-binstall is available, mise uses it for registry installs unless a tool option needs cargo install to build from source.

For options that do not skip cargo-binstall, mise disables cargo-binstall's compile strategy and runs cargo install itself only when cargo-binstall exits with code 94 to report that no prebuilt artifact is available.

mise records the effective features, default-features, bin, crate, and locked values with each installed Cargo version. Changing any of these options reinstalls the same version instead of reusing a binary built or selected with different options. Feature names are normalized, so changing their order or switching between a string and an array does not trigger an unnecessary reinstall.

install_env

Set environment variables for the cargo install or cargo-binstall command:

[tools]
"cargo:eza" = { version = "latest", install_env = { CARGO_NET_GIT_FETCH_WITH_CLI = "true" } }

features

Enable crate features (passed as cargo install --features):

[tools]
"cargo:sqlx-cli" = { version = "latest", features = ["postgres", "rustls"] }

This option requires cargo install; mise skips cargo-binstall when it is set.

default-features

Disable default features (passed as cargo install --no-default-features):

[tools]
"cargo:cargo-edit" = { version = "latest", default-features = false }

Setting this to false requires cargo install; mise skips cargo-binstall in that case.

bin

Select the CLI bin name to install when multiple are available (passed as cargo install --bin):

[tools]
"cargo:https://github.com/username/demo" = { version = "tag:v1.0.0", bin = "demo" }

This option is supported by cargo-binstall, so it does not cause mise to skip cargo-binstall.

crate

Select the crate name to install when multiple are available (passed as cargo install --git=<repo> <crate>):

[tools]
"cargo:https://github.com/username/demo" = { version = "tag:v1.0.0", crate = "demo" }

This option does not cause mise to skip cargo-binstall when applicable. Git installs already use cargo install.

locked

Use Cargo.lock (passes cargo install --locked) when building the CLI. This is the default; pass false to disable it:

[tools]
"cargo:https://github.com/username/demo" = { version = "tag:v1.0.0", locked = false }

This option does not cause mise to skip cargo-binstall; it affects mise's cargo install fallback when cargo-binstall reports that no prebuilt artifact is available.

Troubleshooting

• Compilation or linker failure: check the first Cargo error and the crate's native build requirements. Selecting features forces a source build.
• No executable found: the package must publish a binary target; use bin or crate when selecting from a workspace.
• Unexpected prebuilt binary: inspect the binstall settings. Set cargo.binstall = false when you need a local build with Cargo's configuration.

The locked tool option uses the crate's Cargo.lock while building. It is separate from mise.lock, which records the version of the CLI installed by mise.