How to install m01-ownership
npx skills add https://github.com/zhanghandong/rust-skills --skill m01-ownershipFull instructions (SKILL.md)
Source of truth, from zhanghandong/rust-skills.
name: m01-ownership description: "CRITICAL: Use for ownership/borrow/lifetime issues. Triggers: E0382, E0597, E0506, E0507, E0515, E0716, E0106, value moved, borrowed value does not live long enough, cannot move out of, use of moved value, ownership, borrow, lifetime, 'a, 'static, move, clone, Copy, 所有权, 借用, 生命周期" user-invocable: false
Ownership & Lifetimes
Layer 1: Language Mechanics
Core Question
Who should own this data, and for how long?
Before fixing ownership errors, understand the data's role:
- Is it shared or exclusive?
- Is it short-lived or long-lived?
- Is it transformed or just read?
Error → Design Question
| Error | Don't Just Say | Ask Instead |
|---|---|---|
| E0382 | "Clone it" | Who should own this data? |
| E0597 | "Extend lifetime" | Is the scope boundary correct? |
| E0506 | "End borrow first" | Should mutation happen elsewhere? |
| E0507 | "Clone before move" | Why are we moving from a reference? |
| E0515 | "Return owned" | Should caller own the data? |
| E0716 | "Bind to variable" | Why is this temporary? |
| E0106 | "Add 'a" | What is the actual lifetime relationship? |
Thinking Prompt
Before fixing an ownership error, ask:
-
What is this data's domain role?
- Entity (unique identity) → owned
- Value Object (interchangeable) → clone/copy OK
- Temporary (computation result) → maybe restructure
-
Is the ownership design intentional?
- By design → work within constraints
- Accidental → consider redesign
-
Fix symptom or redesign?
- If Strike 3 (3rd attempt) → escalate to Layer 2
Trace Up ↑
When errors persist, trace to design layer:
E0382 (moved value)
↑ Ask: What design choice led to this ownership pattern?
↑ Check: m09-domain (is this Entity or Value Object?)
↑ Check: domain-* (what constraints apply?)
| Persistent Error | Trace To | Question |
|---|---|---|
| E0382 repeated | m02-resource | Should use Arc/Rc for sharing? |
| E0597 repeated | m09-domain | Is scope boundary at right place? |
| E0506/E0507 | m03-mutability | Should use interior mutability? |
Trace Down ↓
From design decisions to implementation:
"Data needs to be shared immutably"
↓ Use: Arc<T> (multi-thread) or Rc<T> (single-thread)
"Data needs exclusive ownership"
↓ Use: move semantics, take ownership
"Data is read-only view"
↓ Use: &T (immutable borrow)
Quick Reference
| Pattern | Ownership | Cost | Use When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move | Transfer | Zero | Caller doesn't need data |
&T | Borrow | Zero | Read-only access |
&mut T | Exclusive borrow | Zero | Need to modify |
clone() | Duplicate | Alloc + copy | Actually need a copy |
Rc<T> | Shared (single) | Ref count | Single-thread sharing |
Arc<T> | Shared (multi) | Atomic ref count | Multi-thread sharing |
Cow<T> | Clone-on-write | Alloc if mutated | Might modify |
Error Code Reference
| Error | Cause | Quick Fix |
|---|---|---|
| E0382 | Value moved | Clone, reference, or redesign ownership |
| E0597 | Reference outlives owner | Extend owner scope or restructure |
| E0506 | Assign while borrowed | End borrow before mutation |
| E0507 | Move out of borrowed | Clone or use reference |
| E0515 | Return local reference | Return owned value |
| E0716 | Temporary dropped | Bind to variable |
| E0106 | Missing lifetime | Add 'a annotation |
Anti-Patterns
| Anti-Pattern | Why Bad | Better |
|---|---|---|
.clone() everywhere | Hides design issues | Design ownership properly |
| Fight borrow checker | Increases complexity | Work with the compiler |
'static for everything | Restricts flexibility | Use appropriate lifetimes |
Leak with Box::leak | Memory leak | Proper lifetime design |
Related Skills
| When | See |
|---|---|
| Need smart pointers | m02-resource |
| Need interior mutability | m03-mutability |
| Data is domain entity | m09-domain |
| Learning ownership concepts | m14-mental-model |
Related skills
More from zhanghandong/rust-skills and the wider catalog.
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Use when reviewing code for anti-patterns. Keywords: anti-pattern, common mistake, pitfall, code smell, bad practice, code review, is this an anti-pattern, better way to do this, common mistake to avoid, why is this bad, idiomatic way, beginner mistake, fighting borrow checker, clone everywhere, unwrap in production, should I refactor, 反模式, 常见错误, 代码异味, 最佳实践, 地道写法
coding-guidelines
Use when asking about Rust code style or best practices. Keywords: naming, formatting, comment, clippy, rustfmt, lint, code style, best practice, P.NAM, G.FMT, code review, naming convention, variable naming, function naming, type naming, 命名规范, 代码风格, 格式化, 最佳实践, 代码审查, 怎么命名
m10-performance
CRITICAL: Use for performance optimization. Triggers: performance, optimization, benchmark, profiling, flamegraph, criterion, slow, fast, allocation, cache, SIMD, make it faster, 性能优化, 基准测试
m07-concurrency
CRITICAL: Use for concurrency/async. Triggers: E0277 Send Sync, cannot be sent between threads, thread, spawn, channel, mpsc, Mutex, RwLock, Atomic, async, await, Future, tokio, deadlock, race condition, 并发, 线程, 异步, 死锁
m06-error-handling
CRITICAL: Use for error handling. Triggers: Result, Option, Error, ?, unwrap, expect, panic, anyhow, thiserror, when to panic vs return Result, custom error, error propagation, 错误处理, Result 用法, 什么时候用 panic
rust-refactor-helper
Safe Rust refactoring with LSP analysis. Triggers on: /refactor, rename symbol, move function, extract, 重构, 重命名, 提取函数, 安全重构