Checking conditional configurations

rustc supports checking that every reachable¹ #[cfg] matches a list of the expected config names and values.

This can help with verifying that the crate is correctly handling conditional compilation for different target platforms or features. It ensures that the cfg settings are consistent between what is intended and what is used, helping to catch potential bugs or errors early in the development process.

In order to accomplish that goal, rustc accepts the --check-cfg flag, which specifies whether to check conditions and how to check them.

Note: For interacting with this through Cargo, see Cargo Specifics page.

Specifying expected names and values

To specify expected names and values, the check cfg specification provides the cfg(...) option which enables specifying for an expected config name and it's expected values.

Note: No implicit expectation is added when using --cfg. Users are expected to pass all expected names and values using the check cfg specification.

It has this basic form:

rustc --check-cfg 'cfg(name, values("value1", "value2", ... "valueN"))'

where name is a bare identifier (has no quotes) and each "value" term is a quoted literal string. name specifies the name of the condition, such as feature or my_cfg. "value" specify one of the value of that condition name.

When the cfg(...) option is specified, rustc will check every¹:

• #[cfg(name = "value")] attribute
• #[cfg_attr(name = "value")] attribute
• #[link(name = "a", cfg(name = "value"))] attribute
• cfg!(name = "value") macro call

The command line --cfg arguments are currently NOT checked but may very well be checked in the future.

rustc will check that the "value" specified is present in the list of expected values. If "value" is not in it, then rustc will report an unexpected_cfgs lint diagnostic. The default diagnostic level for this lint is Warn.

To check for the none value (ie #[cfg(foo)]) one can use the none() predicate inside values(): values(none()). It can be followed or preceded by any number of "value".

To enable checking of values, but to provide an none/empty set of expected values (i.e. expect #[cfg(name)]), use these forms:

rustc --check-cfg 'cfg(name)'
rustc --check-cfg 'cfg(name, values(none()))'

To enable checking of name but not values, use one of these forms:

• No expected values (will lint on every value of name):

  bashCopy

  rustc --check-cfg 'cfg(name, values())'
  

• Unknown expected values (will never lint on value of name):

  bashCopy

  rustc --check-cfg 'cfg(name, values(any()))'
  

To avoid repeating the same set of values, use this form:

rustc --check-cfg 'cfg(name1, ..., nameN, values("value1", "value2", ... "valueN"))'

To enable checking without specifying any names or values, use this form:

rustc --check-cfg 'cfg()'

The --check-cfg cfg(...) option can be repeated, both for the same condition name and for different names. If it is repeated for the same condition name, then the sets of values for that condition are merged together (precedence is given to values(any())).

To help out an equivalence table between --cfg arguments and --check-cfg is available down below.

Well known names and values

rustc maintains a list of well-known names and their corresponding values in order to avoid the need to specify them manually.

Well known names and values are implicitly added as long as at least one --check-cfg argument is present.

As of 2026-05-15T, the list of known names is as follows:

• clippy
• debug_assertions
• doc
• doctest
• fmt_debug
• miri
• overflow_checks
• panic
• proc_macro
• relocation_model
• rustfmt
• sanitize
• sanitizer_cfi_generalize_pointers
• sanitizer_cfi_normalize_integers
• target_abi
• target_arch
• target_endian
• target_env
• target_family
• target_object_format
• target_feature
• target_has_atomic
• target_has_atomic_primitive_alignment
• target_has_atomic_load_store
• target_os
• target_pointer_width
• target_thread_local
• target_vendor
• ub_checks
• contract_checks
• unix
• windows

Starting with 1.85.0, the test cfg is considered to be a "userspace" config despite being also set by rustc and should be managed by the build system itself.

Like with values(any()), well known names checking can be disabled by passing cfg(any()) as argument to --check-cfg.

Equivalence table with --cfg

This table describe the equivalence between a --cfg argument to a --check-cfg argument.

Examples

Example: Cargo-like feature example

Consider this command line:

rustc --check-cfg 'cfg(feature, values("lion", "zebra"))' \
      --cfg 'feature="lion"' example.rs

This command line indicates that this crate has two features: lion and zebra. The lion feature is enabled, while the zebra feature is disabled.

#[cfg(feature = "lion")]     // This condition is expected, as "lion" is an
                             // expected value of `feature`
fn tame_lion(lion: Lion) {}

#[cfg(feature = "zebra")]    // This condition is expected, as "zebra" is an expected
                             // value of `feature` but the condition will evaluate
                             // to false since only --cfg feature="lion" was passed
fn ride_zebra(z: Zebra) {}

#[cfg(feature = "platypus")] // This condition is UNEXPECTED, as "platypus" is NOT
                             // an expected value of `feature` and will cause a
                             // the compiler to emit the `unexpected_cfgs` lint
fn poke_platypus() {}

#[cfg(feechure = "lion")]    // This condition is UNEXPECTED, as 'feechure' is NOT
                             // a expected condition name, no `cfg(feechure, ...)`
                             // was passed in `--check-cfg`
fn tame_lion() {}

#[cfg(windows = "unix")]     // This condition is UNEXPECTED, as the well known
                             // 'windows' cfg doesn't expect any values
fn tame_windows() {}

Example: Multiple names and values

rustc --check-cfg 'cfg(is_embedded, has_feathers)' \
      --check-cfg 'cfg(feature, values("zapping", "lasers"))' \
      --cfg has_feathers --cfg 'feature="zapping"'

#[cfg(is_embedded)]         // This condition is expected, as 'is_embedded' was
                            // provided in --check-cfg and doesn't take any value
fn do_embedded() {}

#[cfg(has_feathers)]        // This condition is expected, as 'has_feathers' was
                            // provided in --check-cfg and doesn't take any value
fn do_features() {}

#[cfg(has_mumble_frotz)]    // This condition is UNEXPECTED, as 'has_mumble_frotz'
                            // was NEVER provided in any --check-cfg arguments
fn do_mumble_frotz() {}

#[cfg(feature = "lasers")]  // This condition is expected, as "lasers" is an
                            // expected value of `feature`
fn shoot_lasers() {}

#[cfg(feature = "monkeys")] // This condition is UNEXPECTED, as "monkeys" is NOT
                            // an expected value of `feature`
fn write_shakespeare() {}

Example: Condition names without values

rustc --check-cfg 'cfg(is_embedded, has_feathers, values(any()))' \
      --cfg has_feathers

#[cfg(is_embedded)]      // This condition is expected, as 'is_embedded' was
                         // provided in --check-cfg as condition name
fn do_embedded() {}

#[cfg(has_feathers)]     // This condition is expected, as "has_feathers" was
                         // provided in --check-cfg as condition name
fn do_features() {}

#[cfg(has_feathers = "zapping")] // This condition is expected, as "has_feathers"
                                 // was provided and because *any* values is
                                 // expected for 'has_feathers' no
                                 // warning is emitted for the value "zapping"
fn do_zapping() {}

#[cfg(has_mumble_frotz)] // This condition is UNEXPECTED, as 'has_mumble_frotz'
                         // was not provided in any --check-cfg arguments
fn do_mumble_frotz() {}