Rust project goals 2026

Summary

We are in the process of assembling the goal slate.

This is a draft for the eventual RFC proposing the 2026 goals.

Motivation

The 2026 goal slate consists of 45 project goals. In comparison to prior rounds, we have changed to annual goals rather than six-month goal periods. Annuals goals give us more time to discuss and organize.

Why we set goals

Goals serve multiple purposes.

For would-be contributors, goals are Rust’s front door. If you want to improve Rust - whether that’s a new language feature, better tooling, or fixing a long-standing pain point - the goal process is how you turn that idea into reality. When you propose a goal and teams accept it, you get more than approval. You get a champion from the relevant team who will mentor you, help you navigate the project, and ensure your work gets the review attention it needs. Goals are a contract: you commit to doing the work, the project commits to supporting you.

For users, goals serve as a roadmap, giving you an early picture of what work we expect to get done this year.

For Rust maintainers, goals help to surface interactions across teams. They aid in coordination because people know what work others are aiming to do and where they may need to offer support.

Goals are proposed by contributors and accepted by teams

As an open-source project, Rust’s goal process works differently than a company’s. In a company, leadership sets goals and assigns employees to execute them. Rust doesn’t have employees - we have contributors who volunteer their time and energy. So in our process, goals begin with the contributor: the person (or company) that wants to do the work.

Contributors propose goals; Rust teams accept them. When you propose a goal, you’re saying you’re prepared to invest the time to make it happen. When a team accepts, they’re committing to support that work - doing reviews, engaging in RFC discussions, and providing the guidance needed to land it in Rust.

How these goals were selected

Goal proposals were accepted during the month of January. Many of the goals are continuing goals that are carried over from the previous year, but others goal are new.

In February, an alpha version of this RFC is reviewed with teams. Teams vet the goals to determine if they are realistic and to make sure that goal have champions from the team. A champion is a Rust team member that can will mentor and guide the contributor as they do their work. Champions keep up with progress on the goal, help the champion figure out technical challenges, and also help the contributor to navigate the Rust team(s). Champions also field questions from others in the project who want to understand the goal.

How to follow along with a goal’s progress

Once the Goals RFC is accepted, you can follow along with the progress on a goal in a few different ways:

• Each goal has a tracking issue. Goal contributors and champions are expected to post regular updates. These updates are also posted to Zulip in the #project-goals channel.
• Regular blog posts cover major happenings in goals.