how to write a readme for a rust crate from the source code

Have Atlas enumerate the module's public API with the lsp tool's documentSymbol operation, read each implementation, and check real usage with codebase_search. Atlas then writes the README with the write tool, quoting real signatures and the real Cargo.toml dependency line, and verifies every sample with cargo test.

can an ai write rust documentation without making things up

Atlas writes docs from source rather than memory. documentSymbol enumerates the real exported surface, so no export is invented, read supplies the actual behavior, and every code sample is executed with bash before it ships. Because every claim comes from a file Atlas just read, the doc is traceable rather than plausible.

how do I find all public exports of a rust module

Use the lsp tool's documentSymbol operation through Atlas. rust-analyzer returns every pub fn, pub struct, pub enum, pub trait, and pub use re-export, including types surfaced from private child modules, which is exactly the set hand-enumeration gets wrong.

should readme code samples be tested in rust

Yes. cargo test compiles and runs Rust doc examples, so a sample that no longer matches the API fails the build instead of misleading readers. Atlas verifies every sample by running it with bash, on the principle that a sample which was never executed is a liability.

how do I keep readmes consistent across a cargo workspace

Have Atlas grep the workspace for an existing README.md and mirror its heading structure and tone. Sibling crates usually share a shape, a description, an Installation section with the exact Cargo.toml line, a Usage block, and a features list, and matching it keeps the new README from reading as an outlier.

can atlas index a private rust crate without sending code to a server

Yes. Atlas can build its code index with local Ollama embeddings, keeping code off third-party servers. codebase_search then works over your private cargo workspace locally, which matters when the crate you are documenting is not public.

does atlas show me the readme before it writes it

Atlas computes a unified diff for every file edit and surfaces it for approval before writing, so a new README.md is shown in full in the permission prompt before the file is created. Atlas also snapshots file changes as git patches, so the README can be rolled back.

what does atlas need to document a rust project

Run atlas in a crate with a Cargo.toml. Atlas reads your modules, traits, and cargo workspace from there, and pairs with Rust to work through the borrow checker, cargo, and clippy lints while documenting the API as it stands.

Document a module with a README in Rust with Atlas (2026)

Atlas documents a Rust module by writing from source, not from memory. The lsp tool's documentSymbol operation enumerates the module's real exported surface, every pub fn, pub struct, and pub trait in src/lib.rs or the module's mod.rs, so no export is missed and none is invented. Atlas then reads each implementation, uses codebase_search to see how callers actually use the API in practice, greps for an existing README in the cargo workspace to match its heading structure, and writes the file with the write tool quoting real signatures and real paths. Every code sample is then verified by running it with cargo test, because a sample that was never executed is a liability.

How do you generate a README for a Rust module from the actual code?

Atlas writes a Rust README from source rather than from memory, using 3 tools in order: the lsp tool's documentSymbol operation enumerates the real exported surface of src/lib.rs, read supplies the behavior behind each pub item, and write emits the README, so every claim traces back to a file Atlas just opened.

The failure mode of every README is drift: the doc describes a function that was renamed in 2024 and an option that was removed in 2025. Atlas attacks that by refusing to write from recall. The six Atlas tools this workflow uses are lsp, read, codebase_search, grep, write, and bash, and the ordering matters. documentSymbol first, because the exported surface is the skeleton of the document. Reading the impls second, because behavior cannot be inferred from a signature. codebase_search third, because how a crate is actually used differs from how its author imagined. Only then does Atlas write. Because every claim comes from a file Atlas just read, the doc is traceable rather than plausible.

How does Atlas enumerate a Rust module's public API?

Atlas calls the lsp tool's documentSymbol operation on the Rust module, so rust-analyzer returns the real symbol list, 5 kinds of export included: pub fn, pub struct, pub enum, pub trait, and re-export. No export is missed, and, just as importantly, no export is invented that does not exist in src/lib.rs.

Rust's visibility rules make hand-enumeration unreliable. A type can be pub in its defining module yet unreachable from outside the crate because its parent mod is private. A pub use re-export in src/lib.rs can surface a type whose definition lives three modules down. A trait can be public while its only impl is pub(crate). Guessing at any of this produces a README that documents an API nobody can call. The lsp tool's documentSymbol operation asks rust-analyzer, which knows. Atlas indexes code by AST declarations using tree-sitter, not blind line windows, so when Atlas then reads those symbols it gets whole declarations, the full fn signature with its generics and where clause, rather than an arbitrary slice of lines.

Why does Atlas use codebase_search to see how a Rust crate is really used?

Atlas runs codebase_search to find how callers actually use each export, because a Rust function's signature does not tell you its intended usage pattern. Atlas fuses 2 retrieval methods, semantic and keyword, with reciprocal rank fusion, so real call patterns surface even when the caller names differ from the API's.

A README that only restates signatures is a worse rustdoc. What a reader needs is the shape of real usage: that this Builder is always finished with .build()?, that this iterator adaptor is nearly always followed by .collect::<Result<Vec<_>, _>>(), that this Config is loaded once in main.rs and passed by reference thereafter. codebase_search finds those patterns by meaning across the cargo workspace, including in tests/ and examples/, which are frequently the best-documented usage in a Rust crate. Atlas can build its code index with local Ollama embeddings, keeping code off third-party servers, which matters when the crate being documented is private. The result is a README whose examples match how the crate is used, not how it could theoretically be used.

How do you match an existing README's format instead of inventing one?

Atlas greps the cargo workspace for an existing README to copy its heading structure and tone rather than inventing a new format. In a workspace with 12 crates, a README that uses different headings from its siblings reads as an outlier even when its content is correct.

Rust workspaces develop conventions. Sibling crates tend to share a shape: a one-line description, a badge row, an Installation section quoting the exact Cargo.toml dependency line, a Usage section with a fenced rust block, a Features section listing the cargo feature flags, and a link to docs.rs. Atlas greps for those README.md files, reads the closest sibling, and mirrors the structure. Consistency here is not cosmetic. A reader scanning a workspace wants the dependency line in the same place every time. Atlas ships a TUI theme system and a diff-first workflow, so when write produces the README, Atlas computes a unified diff and surfaces it for approval before writing, and you see the structure before it lands on disk.

How do you verify the code samples in a Rust README actually run?

Atlas verifies every code sample by running it with the bash tool, which is step 5 of the documented docs workflow, because a sample that was never executed is a liability. In Rust the strongest form of this is cargo test, which compiles and runs doc examples, so a stale README sample becomes a build failure rather than a silent lie.

Rust is unusually well set up for this. Documentation examples are compiled and executed by cargo test, which means a README sample that no longer matches the API does not quietly mislead a reader, it breaks the build. Atlas takes the same discipline to the README: after write emits the file, Atlas runs the samples through bash and confirms they compile and produce the claimed output. Run rustfmt on any sample code so it matches the crate's rustfmt.toml, and let cargo clippy catch idioms the sample should not be teaching, like an .unwrap() in an example that a newcomer will copy verbatim. A verified sample is documentation. An unverified one is a guess with a fence around it.

How does Atlas review the README before it writes it?

Atlas computes a unified diff for every file edit and surfaces it for approval before writing, so a new README.md next to Cargo.toml is shown in full before it exists. Every Atlas tool call is also gated against 3 rule types, allow, ask, and deny, before it runs.

Documentation is the one artifact where a plausible-sounding fabrication does the most damage, because nobody compiles a paragraph. Atlas's guardrails are therefore structural. The write tool shows the complete diff of the new README.md in the permission prompt before the file is created. Every bash run, including cargo test, is permission-gated. Atlas snapshots file changes as git patches so a README can be diffed and rolled back. And Atlas drafts a plan in a read-only plan agent and asks before switching to a build agent, so the enumeration and reading phases, documentSymbol over src/lib.rs and codebase_search across the workspace, happen with no write capability at all.

Step by step

01Run atlas in a crate with a Cargo.toml so Atlas can read your modules, traits, and cargo workspace.
02Enumerate the module's public API with the lsp tool's documentSymbol operation so no pub fn, pub struct, or re-export in src/lib.rs is missed or invented.
03Read the implementation of each export with the read tool, so the README describes behavior rather than restating signatures.
04Use codebase_search to find how callers actually use the crate in practice, including in tests/ and examples/.
05Grep the cargo workspace for an existing README.md to match its heading structure and tone rather than inventing a new format.
06Write the README with the write tool, quoting real fn signatures, the real Cargo.toml dependency line, and real file paths.
07Verify every code sample by running it with bash; cargo test compiles and runs doc examples, so a stale sample fails loudly.
08Run rustfmt on the sample code so it matches the crate's rustfmt.toml, then review the unified diff before the README lands.

Frequently asked questions

how to write a readme for a rust crate from the source code: Have Atlas enumerate the module's public API with the lsp tool's documentSymbol operation, read each implementation, and check real usage with codebase_search. Atlas then writes the README with the write tool, quoting real signatures and the real Cargo.toml dependency line, and verifies every sample with cargo test.
can an ai write rust documentation without making things up: Atlas writes docs from source rather than memory. documentSymbol enumerates the real exported surface, so no export is invented, read supplies the actual behavior, and every code sample is executed with bash before it ships. Because every claim comes from a file Atlas just read, the doc is traceable rather than plausible.
how do I find all public exports of a rust module: Use the lsp tool's documentSymbol operation through Atlas. rust-analyzer returns every pub fn, pub struct, pub enum, pub trait, and pub use re-export, including types surfaced from private child modules, which is exactly the set hand-enumeration gets wrong.
should readme code samples be tested in rust: Yes. cargo test compiles and runs Rust doc examples, so a sample that no longer matches the API fails the build instead of misleading readers. Atlas verifies every sample by running it with bash, on the principle that a sample which was never executed is a liability.
how do I keep readmes consistent across a cargo workspace: Have Atlas grep the workspace for an existing README.md and mirror its heading structure and tone. Sibling crates usually share a shape, a description, an Installation section with the exact Cargo.toml line, a Usage block, and a features list, and matching it keeps the new README from reading as an outlier.
can atlas index a private rust crate without sending code to a server: Yes. Atlas can build its code index with local Ollama embeddings, keeping code off third-party servers. codebase_search then works over your private cargo workspace locally, which matters when the crate you are documenting is not public.
does atlas show me the readme before it writes it: Atlas computes a unified diff for every file edit and surfaces it for approval before writing, so a new README.md is shown in full in the permission prompt before the file is created. Atlas also snapshots file changes as git patches, so the README can be rolled back.
what does atlas need to document a rust project: Run atlas in a crate with a Cargo.toml. Atlas reads your modules, traits, and cargo workspace from there, and pairs with Rust to work through the borrow checker, cargo, and clippy lints while documenting the API as it stands.

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