rust-debugging

Q: How do I install rust-debugging?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill rust-debugging in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/rust-debugging/ (personal) or .claude/skills/rust-debugging/ (project).

by mohitmishra786Backend & APIs

Rust debugging skill for systems programming. Use when debugging Rust binaries with GDB or LLDB, enabling Rust pretty-printers, interpreting panics and backtraces, debugging async/await with tokio-console, stepping through nostd code, or using dbg! and tracing macros effectively. Activates on queries about rust-gdb, rust-lldb, RUSTBACKTRACE, Rust panics, debugging async Rust, tokio-console, or pretty-printers.

Installs: 552
Last 24h: —
Trending rank: —
Security: Not audited

Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill rust-debugging

01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads rust-debugging automatically when relevant.
03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

Rust Debugging

Purpose

Guide agents through debugging Rust programs: GDB/LLDB with Rust pretty-printers, backtrace configuration, panic triage, async debugging with tokio-console, and #[no_std] debugging strategies.

Triggers

"How do I use GDB/LLDB to debug a Rust binary?"
"How do I get a full backtrace from a Rust panic?"
"How do I debug async Rust / Tokio?"
"Rust pretty-printers aren't working in GDB"
"How do I debug a Rust panic in production?"
"How do I use dbg! and tracing in Rust?"

Workflow

1. Build for debugging

# Debug build (default) — full debug info, no optimization
cargo build

# Release with debug info (for profiling real workloads)
cargo build --release --profile release-with-debug
# Or configure in Cargo.toml:
# [profile.release-with-debug]
# inherits = "release"
# debug = true

# Run directly
cargo run
cargo run -- arg1 arg2

2. GDB with Rust pretty-printers

# Use rust-gdb wrapper (sets up pretty-printers automatically)
rust-gdb target/debug/myapp

# Or set up manually in ~/.gdbinit:
# python
# import subprocess, sys
# ...

Common GDB session for Rust:

# Basic
(gdb) break main
(gdb) run arg1 arg2
(gdb) next           # step over
(gdb) step           # step into
(gdb) continue

# Rust-aware inspection
(gdb) print my_string     # Shows String content via pretty-printer
(gdb) print my_vec        # Shows Vec elements
(gdb) print my_option     # Shows Some(value) or None
(gdb) info locals

# Break on panic
(gdb) break rust_panic
(gdb) break core::panicking::panic

# Backtrace
(gdb) bt              # Short backtrace
(gdb) bt full         # Full with locals

3. LLDB with Rust pretty-printers

# Use rust-lldb wrapper
rust-lldb target/debug/myapp

# Manual setup
lldb target/debug/myapp
(lldb) command script import /path/to/rust/lib/rustlib/etc/lldb_lookup.py
(lldb) command source /path/to/rust/lib/rustlib/etc/lldb_commands

Common LLDB session:

(lldb) b main::main
(lldb) r arg1 arg2
(lldb) n              # next (step over)
(lldb) s              # step into
(lldb) c              # continue
(lldb) frame variable # show locals
(lldb) p my_string    # print variable with pretty-printer
(lldb) bt             # backtrace
(lldb) bt all         # all threads

4. Backtrace configuration

# Short backtrace (default on panic)
RUST_BACKTRACE=1 ./myapp

# Full backtrace with all frames
RUST_BACKTRACE=full ./myapp

# With symbols (requires debug build or separate debug info)
RUST_BACKTRACE=full ./target/debug/myapp

# Capture backtrace programmatically
use std::backtrace::Backtrace;
let bt = Backtrace::capture();
eprintln!("{bt}");

For release binaries, keep debug symbols in a separate file:

# Build release with debug info
cargo build --release
objcopy --only-keep-debug target/release/myapp target/release/myapp.debug
strip --strip-debug target/release/myapp
objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=target/release/myapp.debug target/release/myapp

5. Panic triage

// Set a custom panic hook for structured logging
use std::panic;

panic::set_hook(Box::new(|info| {
    let backtrace = std::backtrace::Backtrace::force_capture();
    eprintln!("PANIC: {info}");
    eprintln!("{backtrace}");
    // Log to file, send to Sentry, etc.
}));

Common panic patterns:

Panic message	Likely cause
`index out of bounds: the len is N but the index is M`	Array/vec OOB access
`called Option::unwrap() on a None value`	Unwrap on None
`called Result::unwrap() on an Err value`	Unwrap on error
`attempt to subtract with overflow`	Integer underflow (debug build)
`assertion failed`	Failed `assert!` or `assert_eq!`
`stack overflow`	Infinite recursion

Use panic = "abort" in release to get a crash dump instead of unwind.

6. The dbg! macro

// dbg! prints file, line, value and returns the value
let result = dbg!(some_computation(x));
// prints: [src/main.rs:15] some_computation(x) = 42

// Chain multiple values
let (a, b) = dbg!((compute_a(), compute_b()));

// Inspect inside iterator chains
let sum: i32 = (0..10)
    .filter(|x| dbg!(x % 2 == 0))
    .map(|x| dbg!(x * x))
    .sum();

7. Structured logging with tracing

[dependencies]
tracing = "0.1"
tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3", features = ["env-filter"] }

use tracing::{debug, error, info, instrument, warn};

#[instrument]  // Auto-traces function entry/exit with arguments
fn process(id: u64, data: &str) -> Result<(), Error> {
    debug!("Processing item");
    info!(item_id = id, "Started processing");

    if data.is_empty() {
        warn!(item_id = id, "Empty data");
        return Err(Error::EmptyData);
    }

    error!(item_id = id, err = ?some_result, "Failed");
    Ok(())
}

// Initialize in main
tracing_subscriber::fmt()
    .with_env_filter("myapp=debug,warn")
    .init();

# Control log levels at runtime
RUST_LOG=debug ./myapp
RUST_LOG=myapp::module=trace,warn ./myapp

8. Async debugging with tokio-console

[dependencies]
console-subscriber = "0.3"
tokio = { version = "1", features = ["full", "tracing"] }

// In main
console_subscriber::init();

# Install and run tokio-console
cargo install tokio-console
tokio-console  # Connects to running Rust process at port 6669

tokio-console shows: task states, waker activity, blocked tasks, poll durations.

For GDB/LLDB command reference and pretty-printer setup, see references/rust-gdb-pretty-printers.md.

Related skills

Use skills/rust/rustc-basics for debug info flags and build configuration
Use skills/debuggers/gdb for GDB fundamentals
Use skills/debuggers/lldb for LLDB fundamentals
Use skills/rust/rust-sanitizers-miri for memory safety and undefined behaviour

FAQ

What does the rust-debugging skill do?

How do I install rust-debugging?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill rust-debugging in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/rust-debugging/ (personal) or .claude/skills/rust-debugging/ (project).

Which AI agents can use rust-debugging?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is rust-debugging safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains rust-debugging?

It is published by mohitmishra786 in mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills. It has 552 recorded installs.