Rust Best Practices Skill (Apollo GraphQL) for Claude Code: What It Does and How to Install It

Makes your assistant write and review Rust code with the guidance from Apollo GraphQL's Rust best practices handbook.

Installs: 22.1K; on skills.sh
Stars: 123; on GitHub
Files: 9; besides SKILL.md
Updated: Nov 2026; last repo commit

SKILL.md tells the assistant to read the relevant chapters of the handbook, in parallel, before it reviews or writes Rust. It also carries a short quick reference for borrowing, errors, performance, linting, testing, dispatch, type state and docs.

It loads when you write, review, refactor or test Rust code. SKILL.md lists Rust 1.70+ and Cargo, and allows cargo, rustc, rustfmt and clippy through Bash.

Good for

Rust developers who want code reviews that follow one handbook
People refactoring clones, error handling or lints in a Rust project
Teams setting clippy and test conventions

Install rust-best-practices

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the rust-best-practices skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

npx skills add apollographql/skills@rust-best-practices

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Requires Node.js.

Pick one route. The skills CLI route installs only this skill. The plugin route installs the apollo-skills plugin: 15 skill folders in the repo tree (the README table lists 12), an .mcp.json for https://mcp.apollographql.com and a .lsp.json for graphql-lsp. The skill is a folder of Markdown files, so the Claude app ZIP upload works too, but cargo commands only run where you have a shell.

From the project README. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Guide for writing idiomatic Rust code based on Apollo GraphQL's best practices handbook. Use this skill when: (1) writing new Rust code or functions, (2) reviewing or refactoring existing Rust code, (3) deciding between borrowing vs cloning or ownership patterns, (4) implementing error handling with Result types, (5) optimizing Rust code for performance, (6) writing tests or documentation for Rust projects.

Sections in SKILL.md

Best Practices Reference
Quick Reference
Borrowing & Ownership
Error Handling
Performance
Linting
Testing
Generics & Dispatch
Type State Pattern
Documentation

Key facts

Author: Apollo GraphQL (vendor's own repo)
Repo: apollographql/skills
License: MIT (LICENSE, SKILL.md and plugin.json agree)
Installs on skills.sh: 22,070 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars: 123 for the whole apollographql/skills repo (Nov 2, 2026)
Last repo commit: Nov 1, 2026
Audits on skills.sh: Gen Agent Trust Hub: pass, Socket: pass, Snyk: pass
What it includes: 10 files: SKILL.md and 9 chapter files in references/ (counted from the repo tree)
Needs: Rust 1.70 or newer and Cargo (SKILL.md compatibility note)
Part of plugin: apollo-skills (15 skill folders in the repo tree; the README table lists 12)

What it includes

Coding styles and idioms: borrowing vs cloning, Copy, Option and Result, iterators.
Read · Chapter 1: references/chapter_01.md
Clippy and linting: configuration, important lints, workspace lint setup.
Read · Chapter 2: references/chapter_02.md
Performance mindset: profiling, redundant clones, stack vs heap.
Read · Chapter 3: references/chapter_03.md
Error handling: Result vs panic, thiserror vs anyhow, error hierarchies.
Read · Chapter 4: references/chapter_04.md
Automated testing: test naming, one assertion per test, snapshot testing.
Read · Chapter 5: references/chapter_05.md
Generics and dispatch: static vs dynamic dispatch and trait objects.
Read · Chapter 6: references/chapter_06.md
Type state pattern: compile-time state safety and when to use it.
Read · Chapter 7: references/chapter_07.md
Comments vs documentation: when to comment, doc comments, rustdoc.
Read · Chapter 8: references/chapter_08.md
Understanding pointers: thread safety, Send and Sync, pointer types.
Read · Chapter 9: references/chapter_09.md
The quick reference tells the agent to run clippy with -D warnings regularly.
The command in SKILL.md is cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features --locked -- -D warnings.
Runs code · cargo clippy

From the official docs

Permissions

Low risk

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

It can edit your Rust files
SKILL.md allows Write and Edit, and cargo, rustc, rustfmt and clippy through Bash. Review the diff before you commit. github.com
The plugin route adds more than this skill
The repo plugin has 15 skill folders in the tree (the README table lists 12). It also ships a .mcp.json that points to https://mcp.apollographql.com and a .lsp.json that starts graphql-lsp. Use the skills CLI route if you only want Rust advice. github.com

Technical details

Turning on read-only	No read-only mode is documented.
Talks to	https://mcp.apollographql.com (only if you install the whole plugin)
Scopes	Allowed tools: cargo, rustc, rustfmt and clippy through Bash, plus Read, Write, Edit, Glob and Grep Can edit your Rust source files when you ask for a refactor The plugin route adds an HTTP MCP server and a GraphQL language server entry

Questions

What does the rust-best-practices skill do?

It makes your assistant follow Apollo GraphQL's Rust best practices handbook when it writes, reviews or refactors Rust code. It covers borrowing vs cloning, error handling, clippy, performance, testing, dispatch, type state, docs and pointers.

How do I install it?

Use the install box at the top of this page. The README gives a skills CLI command for this one skill and a Claude Code plugin that installs the whole Apollo set.

Does it need an API key?

No key is named in SKILL.md or the README for this skill. SKILL.md lists Rust 1.70 or newer and Cargo as the compatibility note.

Is it safe?

It can edit your Rust files and run cargo, rustc, rustfmt and clippy, which SKILL.md allows. Our advice: use git and review the diff. The plugin route also adds an MCP server entry and a language server entry.

Is it the official Apollo skill?

It sits in Apollo GraphQL's own skills repo and is based on Apollo's Rust Best Practices Handbook. The skill metadata lists apollographql as author.

Is it only for Apollo GraphQL projects?

No. The triggers in SKILL.md are general Rust tasks such as writing, reviewing and testing Rust code. The guidance comes from the Apollo handbook, but nothing in the triggers limits it to GraphQL.

Why does the README link to different reference files?

The README lists style.md, errors.md, performance.md, testing.md and advanced.md. The repo tree and SKILL.md use chapter_01.md to chapter_09.md. The skill folder in the repo holds the chapter files.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: apollographql/skills
Folder: skills/rust-best-practices

apollographql/skills skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 6

apollographql/skills README · github.com
rust-best-practices SKILL.md · github.com
apollographql/skills marketplace.json · github.com
apollographql/skills plugin.json · github.com
apollographql/skills .mcp.json · github.com
apollographql/skills .lsp.json · github.com