bacon

bacon is a background Rust code checker. It watches for file changes and continuously runs cargo check, cargo clippy, or cargo test in a TUI.

Installation

# Via cargo
cargo install --locked bacon

# macOS
brew install bacon

Usage

# Start bacon with default job (build)
just watch

# Or run directly with a specific job
bacon check    # Fast type checking
bacon clippy   # Lints
bacon test     # Run tests
bacon doc      # Build docs

Keybindings

Key	Action
`c`	Switch to check job
`b`	Switch to build job
`t`	Switch to test job
`l`	Switch to clippy job
`d`	Switch to doc job
`f`	Switch to fmt job
`p`	Switch to proto generation
`q`	Quit
`w`	Toggle wrap
`Esc`	Back / clear

Available Jobs

Core Jobs

Job	Command
`check`	`cargo check --lib --bins`
`build`	`cargo build --lib --bins --release`
`test`	`cargo test --lib`
`clippy`	`cargo clippy --lib --bins -- -D warnings`
`doc`	`cargo doc --lib --no-deps`
`fmt`	`cargo fmt`

Example-Specific Jobs

Watch individual example crates:

Job	Package
`ex-cart`	cart aggregate
`ex-customer`	customer aggregate
`ex-fulfillment`	fulfillment aggregate
`ex-inventory`	inventory-svc aggregate
`ex-order`	order aggregate
`ex-product`	product aggregate
`ex-proj-accounting`	accounting projector
`ex-proj-web`	web projector
`ex-proj-logging`	logging projector
`ex-saga-cancel`	cancellation saga
`ex-saga-fulfill`	fulfillment saga
`ex-saga-loyalty`	loyalty-earn saga
`ex-e2e`	e2e tests

Language-Specific Jobs

Job	Description
`ex-rust`	Full Rust workspace check
`ex-go`	Go examples build
`ex-python`	Python examples lint

Proto Generation Jobs

Job	Description
`proto`	Generate all language protos
`proto-rust`	Generate Rust protos only
`proto-python`	Generate Python protos only
`proto-go`	Generate Go protos only

Binary Build Jobs

Job	Binary
`bin-aggregate`	angzarr-aggregate
`bin-saga`	angzarr-saga
`bin-projector`	angzarr-projector
`bin-gateway`	angzarr-gateway
`bin-stream`	angzarr-stream
`bin-event-projector`	angzarr-event-projector

Configuration

Configuration is in bacon.toml at the project root. Jobs define:

command - The command to run
need_stdout - Whether to capture stdout (true for tests)
on_change_strategy - How to handle file changes (kill_then_restart)
watch - Optional custom watch paths (defaults to Rust sources)

Next Steps

just — Command runner integration
Getting Started — Full development workflow