How to Use Cargo Aliases and Custom Commands

You define Cargo aliases and custom commands in the [alias] section of your .cargo/config.toml file. Add an entry mapping your desired command name to a cargo subcommand with its arguments.

# .cargo/config.toml
[alias]
test = "test --lib"
build = "build --release"

Now you can run cargo test to execute cargo test --lib and cargo build to execute cargo build --release.

Cargo aliases let you create short, custom shortcuts for long commands you type often. Instead of remembering complex flags, you define a simple name in a settings file that runs the full command for you. It is like creating a custom button on your keyboard that executes a specific sequence of actions.