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Workspace Configuration

Glass uses Cargo’s workspace feature to manage 200+ crates: 
[workspace]
resolver = "2"
members = [
    "crates/acp_tools",
    "crates/editor",
    "crates/workspace",
    # ... 200+ crates
    "extensions/glsl",
    "extensions/html",
    "tooling/perf",
    "tooling/xtask",
]
default-members = ["crates/zed"]

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Workspace Resolver

Glass uses Cargo resolver version 2, which provides better dependency resolution and feature unification.

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Build Profiles

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Development Profile

[profile.dev]
split-debuginfo = "unpacked"
incremental = true
codegen-units = 16
Characteristics:
  • Fast incremental compilation
  • Unpacked debug info for faster linking
  • 16 codegen units for parallelism
  • Optimized proc-macros (see below)

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Development Build Override

[profile.dev.build-override]
codegen-units = 16
split-debuginfo = "unpacked"
debug = true
This configuration ensures build scripts compile with similar settings, preventing duplicate compilation of ~400 crates.

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Release Profile

[profile.release]
debug = "limited"
lto = "thin"
codegen-units = 1
Optimizations:
  • Thin LTO - Link-time optimization across crates
  • Single codegen unit - Maximum optimization
  • Limited debug info - For crash reports
Exception for main binary: 
[profile.release.package]
zed = { codegen-units = 16 }
The main zed binary uses 16 codegen units to speed up final linking.

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Release-Fast Profile

[profile.release-fast]
inherits = "release"
debug = "full"
lto = false
codegen-units = 16
Used for faster release builds during development with full debug symbols.

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Proc-Macro Optimization

GPUI macros are heavily used during compilation:
[profile.dev.package]
gpui_macros = { opt-level = 3 }
derive_refineable = { opt-level = 3 }
Compiling at opt-level 3 significantly speeds up macro expansion.

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Critical Dependency Optimization

Certain dependencies are optimized even in debug builds: 
[profile.dev.package]
# Layout engine
taffy = { opt-level = 3 }

# Graphics
resvg = { opt-level = 3 }

# WASM runtime
wasmtime = { opt-level = 3 }

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Single-File Crate Optimization

Small crates compile faster with a single codegen unit: 
[profile.dev.package]
activity_indicator = { codegen-units = 1 }
assets = { codegen-units = 1 }
breadcrumbs = { codegen-units = 1 }
collections = { codegen-units = 1 }
command_palette = { codegen-units = 1 }
feature_flags = { codegen-units = 1 }
file_icons = { codegen-units = 1 }
# ... many more
This helps make full workspace builds faster.

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Build Scripts

Several crates use build scripts for code generation:

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Protocol Buffer Generation

crates/proto/build.rs
  • Generates Rust code from .proto files
  • Uses prost-build
  • Creates RPC message types

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Language Server Types

crates/language/build.rs
  • May generate language-specific bindings
  • Processes language definitions

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Extension API

crates/extension_api/build.rs
  • Generates WASM interface types
  • Creates extension API bindings

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Platform-Specific

crates/native_platforms/src/apple/build.rs
  • macOS and iOS specific generation
  • Objective-C bindings

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Platform Targets

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macOS

[package.metadata.bundle-stable]
icon = ["resources/[email protected]", "resources/app-icon.png"]
identifier = "dev.glass.Glass"
name = "Glass"
osx_minimum_system_version = "10.15.7"
osx_info_plist_exts = ["resources/info/*"]
osx_url_schemes = ["glass", "http", "https"]

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Windows

[target.'cfg(target_os = "windows")'.build-dependencies]
winresource = "0.1"
Windows builds include resource compilation for icons and manifests.

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Linux

No special build configuration required. Dependencies: 
[target.'cfg(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "freebsd"))'.dependencies]
ashpd.workspace = true

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Build Scripts

Glass provides helper scripts in the script/ directory:

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script/cargo

Wraps cargo with additional functionality:
  • Custom build flags
  • Environment setup
  • Platform-specific configuration

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script/clippy

Runs Clippy with workspace settings: 
./script/clippy

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Platform Bundling

  • script/bundle-mac - Create macOS .app bundle
  • script/bundle-linux - Create Linux AppImage/packages
  • script/bundle-windows.ps1 - Create Windows installer

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Dependency Patches

Glass patches certain dependencies: 
[patch.crates-io]
async-task = { git = "https://github.com/smol-rs/async-task.git", rev = "..." }
notify = { git = "https://github.com/zed-industries/notify.git", rev = "..." }
windows-capture = { git = "https://github.com/zed-industries/windows-capture.git", rev = "..." }
calloop = { git = "https://github.com/zed-industries/calloop" }
These forks contain:
  • Bug fixes
  • Performance improvements
  • Features not yet in upstream

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GPUI Development

For local GPUI development, uncomment the patch section: 
# [patch.'https://github.com/Obsydian-HQ/gpui.git']
# collections = { path = "../../Obsydian-HQ/gpui/crates/collections" }
# gpui = { path = "../../Obsydian-HQ/gpui/crates/gpui" }
# gpui_macros = { path = "../../Obsydian-HQ/gpui/crates/gpui_macros" }
# ... etc
This allows developing GPUI and Glass simultaneously.

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Lints Configuration

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Rust Lints

[workspace.lints.rust]
unexpected_cfgs = { level = "allow" }

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Clippy Lints

[workspace.lints.clippy]
dbg_macro = "deny"
todo = "deny"
declare_interior_mutable_const = "deny"
redundant_clone = "deny"
disallowed_methods = "deny"

# Style rules are allowed
style = { level = "allow", priority = -1 }
Allowed Clippy Lints:
  • type_complexity - Complex types are common in GPUI
  • too_many_arguments - Borrow checker constraints
  • large_enum_variant - Performance impact is minimal
  • single_range_in_vec_init - Common pattern for text ranges

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License Compliance

Glass uses cargo-about for license verification: 
# Check licenses
cargo about generate about.hbs > LICENSE.html
Configuration in script/licenses/zed-licenses.toml: 
accepted = [
    "MIT",
    "Apache-2.0",
    "BSD-3-Clause",
    # ... etc
]
All workspace crates must specify publish = false or have a valid license. CI checks this automatically.

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Build Commands

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Development Build

cargo build
# or
./script/cargo build

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Release Build

cargo build --release

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Release-Fast Build

cargo build --profile release-fast

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Running Tests

cargo test
# or specific crate
cargo test -p editor

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Building Specific Crates

cargo build -p zed
cargo build -p gpui --features test-support

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Compilation Performance

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Parallel Compilation

  • Development: 16 codegen units per crate
  • Release: 1 codegen unit (except zed binary)
  • Build scripts: Mirrored configuration

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Incremental Compilation

Enabled in development profile:
  • Caches compilation artifacts
  • Significantly speeds up rebuilds
  • Disabled in release for maximum optimization
Used in release builds:
  • Cross-crate inlining
  • Dead code elimination
  • Faster than full LTO

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Build Artifacts

Build output locations:
  • target/debug/ - Development builds
  • target/release/ - Release builds
  • target/release-fast/ - Fast release builds

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Binary Locations

  • target/debug/zed - Main application
  • target/debug/cli - CLI tool
  • target/debug/zed_visual_test_runner - Visual tests (with feature)

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