How to install a Rust binary with Cargo

Cargo can install executable targets from a Rust package into the user's Cargo bin directory, which makes a project CLI available as a normal shell command. The same install mechanism can build published crates, Git sources, and local crate paths, but a local path install keeps the source package and resulting command easy to inspect while developing or testing an internal tool.

The default install root is Cargo's home directory, usually $HOME/.cargo, and Cargo writes executable files under its bin subdirectory. The installed command only resolves by name when that bin directory is on PATH for the active shell.

Start from a shell where cargo already runs and the current package has a binary target. Installing with --path . rebuilds the package in release mode and records it in Cargo's installed-crate list; use a crate name instead of --path . when installing a published command from crates.io.

1. Open a terminal in the Rust package directory that contains the binary target.

   If the package does not exist yet, create one before installing its command.
   Related: How to create a Rust project with Cargo

2. Install the package's binary target into the Cargo install root.

   $ cargo install --path .
     Installing demo-cli v0.1.0 (/home/user/demo-cli)
      Compiling demo-cli v0.1.0 (/home/user/demo-cli)
       Finished `release` profile [optimized] target(s) in 0.27s
     Installing /home/user/.cargo/bin/demo-cli
      Installed package `demo-cli v0.1.0` (executable `demo-cli`)

   Use cargo install <crate> for a published crates.io binary crate. Add --locked when the package publishes a lockfile and Cargo should use that dependency set.

3. Confirm the installed command resolves from the Cargo bin directory.

   $ command -v demo-cli
   /home/user/.cargo/bin/demo-cli

   If the command is not found, add $HOME/.cargo/bin to PATH for the shell that will run the binary.

4. Run the installed command.

   $ demo-cli --version
   demo-cli 0.1.0

5. List the binary in Cargo's installed package registry.

   $ cargo install --list
   demo-cli v0.1.0 (/home/user/demo-cli):
       demo-cli