Looking for contributors

The goals below are looking for a contributor to do the implementation work. The goal summaries include details of the expected time commitment and work duration. If you might be interested in helping with a goal, please join the rust-lang Zulip and post a message in the #project-goals/2026-workshop channel: tell us a bit about yourself, and mention us (the goals team) in that message, like Hello @T-goals!. You could also write to the goals team at goals-team@rust-lang.org! We would love to help you learn more about it.

Prototype a new set of Cargo “plumbing” commands

Ed Page (point of contact)

1. Refactor Cargo to allow hacks in proposed cargo-plumbing commands to be removed (cargo-plumbing#82).
2. Round out proposed commands (issues)
3. Finalize the message formats (cargo-plumbing#18)

Needs contributor: This goal needs contributors to refactor Cargo internals, implement remaining plumbing commands, optimize performance, and iterate on output schemas. The work is primarily in rust-lang/cargo and crate-ci/cargo-plumbing. Estimated time commitment: TBD.

Ergonomic ref-counting

Niko Matsakis (point of contact), Takayuki Maeda, Santiago Pastorino, Niko Matsakis (lang champion)

Implement and prototype two foundational improvements for ergonomic ref-counting: (1) a Share trait that semantically identifies types where cloning creates an alias to the same underlying value, and (2) move expressions (move($expr)) that allow precise control over what closures capture and when. These changes lay groundwork for future ergonomic improvements while delivering immediate value, with prototypes targeted for summer 2026.

Needs contributor: This is a medium complexity problem. Niko Matsakis would like to mentor this goal with either an experienced contributor or a cohort of folks who know Rust but not the compiler. It is estimated that the goal will take about 6 months to implement for a cohort with minimal compiler hacking experience.

Finish the libtest json output experiment

Ed Page (point of contact)

Finish the libtest json experiment.

Implement Open Rust Namespace Support

Ed Page (point of contact)

Navigate the cross-team design work to get RFC 3243 implemented.

Needs contributor: This goal needs contributors to help complete the implementations in Cargo, rustc, and crates.io. The work spans multiple repositories and involves cross-team coordination. Estimated time commitment: TBD.

Stabilize public/private dependencies

Ed Page (point of contact), Vadim Petrochenkov (compiler champion)

Implement and stabilize the MVP of public dependencies described in RFC #3516. Public dependencies allow crates to declare dependencies whose types are meant to be exposed in the public API.

Needs contributor: This goal needs a contributor to work with the compiler team on identifying and implementing the minimal lint subset needed for stabilization. The work spans rustc (lint implementation) and Cargo (dependency metadata). Estimated time commitment: TBD.

Prepare TAIT + RTN for stabilization

TC (point of contact), Niko Matsakis, TC (lang champion), lcnr (types champion)

Prepare TAIT (type alias impl trait) and return type notation (RTN) for stabilization together, giving Rust a coherent story for naming and bounding previously unnameable and unboundable types. TAIT lets users name opaque types like closures, async blocks, and complex iterators without boxing. RTN enables bounds like T::method(..): Send, solving the “Send bound” problem and unblocking widespread use of async fn in traits. This goal also extends RTN to async closures via a new RFC. Full stabilization is blocked on the next-gen trait solver work and is intended to happen late this year.

Needs contributor: The majority of the impl work for TAIT and RTN has been done however the syntactic design for RTN and async closures is incomplete. We’re seeking someone willing to help work on the RFC and explore the design space as well as to finalize impl details.

Stabilize Cargo SBOM precursor

Sergey Davidoff (point of contact), Weihang Lo (cargo champion)

Progress towards an MVP version of Cargo SBOM support by resolving known issues in Cargo’s SBOM precursor feature and finalizing the RFC.

Needs contributor: This goal needs contributors to help with testing, resolving known issues in Cargo’s SBOM precursor, and converting downstream tooling like cargo-cyclonedx. The work is primarily in the rust-lang/cargo repository. Estimated time commitment: TBD.