Fill the gap between "cargo install" and "cargo build --release"

[crlf0710]

Currently we can use "cargo install" to install an executable. And we can use "cargo build" to build the artifact. There should be a third command that deploys the executable artifact to $CARGO_HOME/bin and let cargo install manage them.

[joshtriplett]

It feels like this request went directly to having a particular solution in mind, rather than describing the problem you're trying to solve. Could you please explain what problem you're trying to solve here?

[crlf0710]

Sure~ Case 1 When we develop a binary crate for our own use; Case 2 When we use other's binary crate but does some patching and hacking ourselves, we modify the code, run cargo run --release and made sure it works ok. Now we're happy with the code and want to install the built artifacts to our systems' "~/.cargo/bin" directory. If we do a git install, everything will be built from scratch - works but can be really slow.

So, the best approach could be copying the built artifacts to that directory. Currently i do this manually, but I wish this could be covered by some use of cargo.

[raftario]

This is a feature I thought about too and I'd be interested in working on it. Would a new --install flag added to the build command make sense ?

[Huanzo]

You can use the the install subcommand to install a local crate without recompiling it with the --path flag.

cargo install --path . inside your project root should install the current binary crate without recompilation.

[weihanglo]

I feel like this comment from Huanzo should do the trick. Things need to beware is that cargo install defaults to do a --release build whereas cargo build using dev profile. See Cargo Guide: Profiles.

There should be nearly no recompile if their compiler flags and the profile matche. Sometimes a mismatch happens though. I would suggest finding what contributes to the mismatch and fix it first.

[epage]

Considering that cargo install seems to be able to do the trick, I'm going to close this. If there is a reason for us to reconsider this, let us know!