Development workflow

The day-to-day cycle for working on fd.

1. Set up

git clone https://github.com/sharkdp/fd
cd fd

You need a Rust toolchain with rustfmt and clippy and at least version 1.90.0 (declared in Cargo.toml as rust-version). Any newer stable will also work for development; the MSRV is only enforced by the dedicated min_version CI job.

2. Pick a branch name and start a topic branch

git checkout -b fix/handle-empty-pattern

The maintainers do not enforce a strict branch-name convention, but the historical pattern in merged PRs is fix/..., feature/..., or simply a descriptive slug.

3. Build and iterate

cargo build               # debug
cargo build --release     # what users get, with LTO and codegen-units = 1

# Run the binary you just built
./target/debug/fd README

# Or run via cargo (preserves args):
cargo run -- README -e md

Cargo.toml defines a special debugging profile that inherits from dev but turns on full debug info:

[profile.debugging]
inherits = "dev"
debug = true

Use it when you need richer backtraces or want to attach gdb/lldb:

cargo build --profile debugging

4. Verify locally

Before pushing, run the same three checks CI runs:

cargo fmt -- --check
cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -Dwarnings
cargo test --all-features

rustfmt.toml is intentionally minimal (one setting). The clippy bar is zero warnings on all features, so resolve them rather than allowing them.

5. Update the changelog

For user-visible changes, edit the Unreleased section of CHANGELOG.md and add a bullet under Features, Bugfixes, or Changes:

- Add `--ignore-parent` option to override `--no-ignore-parent`, see #1958 (@tmccombs)

Skip this for typo fixes in docs.

6. Open the PR

• Title and description should explain the why, not just the what.
• If you used an AI assistant, say so in the description (see CONTRIBUTING.md).
• Reference the related issue with Fixes #N so it auto-closes when the PR merges.

7. CI

.github/workflows/CICD.yml runs:

Job	Purpose
crate_metadata	Pulls the version, MSRV, and homepage out of Cargo.toml.
ensure_cargo_fmt	cargo fmt -- --check.
lint_check	cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -Dwarnings.
min_version	Builds and tests against the declared MSRV (currently 1.90.0).
test	The full integration test suite across the build matrix.
Release jobs	Triggered on tags; build per-target archives and Debian packages.

If a single target fails (for example, an obscure cross-compilation issue), the maintainers may still accept the PR — but a green CI is the goal.

8. Review and merge

The repo enforces standard GitHub PR review. Active maintainers (see maintainers) typically merge using GitHub's "Squash and merge" or "Rebase and merge" — the master branch history shows mostly merge commits, suggesting "Create a merge commit" is also in use.

Cross-compilation and release artifacts

Cross.toml configures cross images for non-native targets. For local cross-compiles:

cargo install cross
cross build --release --target x86_64-unknown-linux-musl

Releases are tagged with vX.Y.Z and produce per-target archives via the release workflow.