Cargo Backend

The cargo backend installs Rust command-line applications from crates.io or a Git repository. It can use published binaries through cargo-binstall or build the crate with Cargo. Application dependencies belong in your Cargo.toml.

The code for this is inside the mise repository at ./src/backend/cargo.rs.

Dependencies

Install Rust/Cargo for source builds. A working linker and any native libraries required by the crate must also be available. Prebuilt installs can avoid the compilation step; see Settings for cargo-binstall selection and fallback.

Usage

Declare Rust and eza together in the current project:

mise use rust@stable cargo:eza
mise exec -- eza --version

This records both tools in mise.toml:

[tools]
rust = "stable"
"cargo:eza" = "latest"

Add -g to mise use for global configuration. Run mise ls-remote cargo:eza to choose a release, or pin a version with mise use cargo:eza@VERSION, replacing VERSION with a listed release.

Using Git

You can also install a package from a Git repository. This lets you install a particular tag, branch, or commit revision. Replace the repository and uppercase placeholders below; quote the complete tool argument:

# Install a specific tag
mise use 'cargo:https://github.com/username/demo@tag:TAG'

# Install the latest from a branch
mise use 'cargo:https://github.com/username/demo@branch:BRANCH'

# Install a specific commit revision
mise use 'cargo:https://github.com/username/demo@rev:COMMIT'

This runs cargo install with the corresponding Git options.

Settings

Set these with mise settings set [VARIABLE]=[VALUE] or by setting the environment variable listed.

Some Cargo settings are only meaningful when mise runs cargo install. If cargo-binstall installs a prebuilt binary, Cargo build settings and cargo install behavior do not affect that artifact. Set cargo.binstall = false when you need Cargo settings to control the install.

When mise uses external cargo-binstall, it disables cargo-binstall's compile strategy. If cargo-binstall reports that no prebuilt artifact is available (exit code 94), mise runs cargo install itself. Other cargo-binstall errors do not trigger this fallback. When cargo.binstall_only = true, Cargo tools without an explicit Git source must be installed by cargo-binstall: mise does not fall back to cargo install, and options that require cargo install produce an error. Explicit Git sources are unaffected because they always use cargo install --git and are never eligible for cargo-binstall.

By default, mise disables external cargo-binstall's use of the third-party cargo-quickinstall artifact host. This is separate from crate-author GitHub releases and artifacts declared in package.metadata.binstall. Together with the always-disabled compile strategy, the default external cargo-binstall flag is --disable-strategies compile,quick-install. Set cargo.binstall_quickinstall = true to allow quick-install; mise then passes --disable-strategies compile. This setting does not affect mise's native cargo.binstall_native path, which does not use quickinstall. Set cargo.binstall = false to disable binstall entirely.

cargo.binstall

• Type: boolean
• Env: MISE_CARGO_BINSTALL
• Default: true

If true, mise will use cargo binstall instead of cargo install if cargo-binstall is installed and on PATH. This makes installing CLIs with cargo much faster by downloading precompiled binaries.

When cargo-binstall installs a prebuilt binary, Cargo build settings and cargo install behavior do not affect the downloaded artifact. Set cargo.binstall = false to force cargo install when you need Cargo settings to control the install.

When mise invokes external cargo-binstall, it disables cargo-binstall's compile strategy. If cargo-binstall reports that no prebuilt artifact is available (exit code 94), mise runs cargo install itself. Other cargo-binstall errors do not trigger this fallback. When cargo.binstall_only = true, Cargo tools without an explicit Git source must be installed by cargo-binstall: mise does not fall back to cargo install, and options that require cargo install produce an error. Explicit Git sources are unaffected because they always use cargo install --git.

You can install it with mise:

mise use -g cargo-binstall

cargo.binstall_native

• Type: boolean(optional)
• Env: MISE_CARGO_BINSTALL_NATIVE
• Default: None

Controls mise's native cargo binary installer, which downloads precompiled binaries using conventional GitHub release artifact names from the crate's linked repository or package.metadata.binstall from its Cargo.toml when cargo-binstall is not installed.

• If true: Try mise's native cargo binary installer first, fall back to cargo install if unavailable.
• If false: Do not use mise's native cargo binary installer.
• If unset: Native installs are disabled for now. Starting in mise 2027.1.0, mise will warn when a cargo package could have been installed from a native binary artifact. In mise 2027.7.0, unset will default to native binary installs and this setting will become a two-way switch.

Set cargo.binstall = false to force cargo install instead of either cargo-binstall or mise's native cargo binary installer.

This is a best-effort fast path. If neither compatible metadata nor a conventionally named GitHub release artifact is available, or the install uses Cargo build options that would change the resulting binary, mise falls back to cargo install.

cargo.binstall_only

• Type: boolean
• Env: MISE_CARGO_BINSTALL_ONLY
• Default: false

Require cargo-binstall for Cargo tools without an explicit Git source. Fail if no prebuilt binary is available or if tool options require cargo install.

cargo.binstall_quickinstall

• Type: boolean
• Env: MISE_CARGO_BINSTALL_QUICKINSTALL
• Default: false

If true, mise allows the external cargo-binstall binary to use artifacts from the third-party cargo-quickinstall host. These artifacts are separate from crate-author GitHub releases and artifacts declared in package.metadata.binstall.

By default, mise passes --disable-strategies compile,quick-install when invoking the external cargo-binstall binary. The compile strategy is always disabled; setting this to true changes the flag to --disable-strategies compile. This setting does not affect mise's cargo.binstall_native path, which does not use quickinstall.

This only controls external cargo-binstall's quick-install strategy. To disable binstall, set cargo.binstall = false.

cargo.registry_name

• Type: string(optional)
• Env: MISE_CARGO_REGISTRY_NAME
• Default: None

Packages are installed from the official cargo registry.

You can set this to a different registry name if you have a custom feed or want to use a different source.

Please follow the cargo alternative registries documentation to configure your registry.

Tool Options

The following tool-options are available for the cargo backend—these go in [tools] in mise.toml.

When cargo-binstall is available, mise uses it for registry installs unless a tool option needs cargo install to build from source.

For options that do not skip cargo-binstall, mise disables cargo-binstall's compile strategy and runs cargo install itself only when cargo-binstall exits with code 94 to report that no prebuilt artifact is available.

mise records the effective features, default-features, bin, crate, and locked values with each installed Cargo version. Changing any of these options reinstalls the same version instead of reusing a binary built or selected with different options. Feature names are normalized, so changing their order or switching between a string and an array does not trigger an unnecessary reinstall.

Option	cargo-binstall behavior
features	Skips cargo-binstall; requires cargo install --features.
default-features = false	Skips cargo-binstall; requires cargo install --no-default-features.
bin	Passed through to cargo-binstall; does not skip it.
crate	Does not skip cargo-binstall when applicable. Git installs always use cargo install.
locked	Passed through to cargo-binstall; does not skip it.

install_env

Set environment variables for the cargo install or cargo-binstall command:

[tools]
"cargo:eza" = { version = "latest", install_env = { CARGO_NET_GIT_FETCH_WITH_CLI = "true" } }

features

Enable crate features (passed as cargo install --features):

[tools]
"cargo:sqlx-cli" = { version = "latest", features = ["postgres", "rustls"] }

This option requires cargo install; mise skips cargo-binstall when it is set.

default-features

Disable default features (passed as cargo install --no-default-features):

[tools]
"cargo:cargo-edit" = { version = "latest", default-features = false }

Setting this to false requires cargo install; mise skips cargo-binstall in that case.

bin

Select the CLI bin name to install when multiple are available (passed as cargo install --bin):

[tools]
"cargo:https://github.com/username/demo" = { version = "tag:v1.0.0", bin = "demo" }

This option is supported by cargo-binstall, so it does not cause mise to skip cargo-binstall.

crate

Select the crate name to install when multiple are available (passed as cargo install --git=<repo> <crate>):

[tools]
"cargo:https://github.com/username/demo" = { version = "tag:v1.0.0", crate = "demo" }

This option does not cause mise to skip cargo-binstall when applicable. Git installs already use cargo install.

locked

Use Cargo.lock (passes cargo install --locked) when building the CLI. This is the default; pass false to disable it:

[tools]
"cargo:https://github.com/username/demo" = { version = "tag:v1.0.0", locked = false }

This option does not cause mise to skip cargo-binstall; it affects mise's cargo install fallback when cargo-binstall reports that no prebuilt artifact is available.

Troubleshooting

• Compilation or linker failure: check the first Cargo error and the crate's native build requirements. Selecting features forces a source build.
• No executable found: the package must publish a binary target; use bin or crate when selecting from a workspace.
• Unexpected prebuilt binary: inspect the binstall settings. Set cargo.binstall = false when you need a local build with Cargo's configuration.

The locked tool option uses the crate's Cargo.lock while building. It is separate from mise.lock, which records the version of the CLI installed by mise.