TRUST is a retro TUI IDE for Rust projects inspired by classic blue-screen DOS development environments.

Status: experimental nostalgia project. It edits files, browses Rust projects, and runs Cargo commands.

Screenshots

Building and running "Hello World" in TRUST.

Starting a project	Running a console program

TRUST can build TRUST.

TRUST Editor	Running Tests

FAQ

Why?
Because Rust deserves a blue-screen IDE from the olden days and someone had to do this.

Does it save my files?
Yes. Use F2 or Ctrl+S. TRUST marks dirty buffers with * in the editor title. Still, this is more of a fun project so use at your own risk.

Is this affiliated with any classic DOS IDE vendor?
No. TRUST is an independent nostalgia project inspired by classic DOS development environments.

Run

cargo run -- /path/to/rust/project

If no path is supplied, TRUST opens the current directory.

Keys

• F1: help
• F2 / Ctrl+S: save
• F3 / Ctrl+O: open selected file
• Backspace: go to the parent directory in the project pane
• F4 / Tab / Ctrl+F: cycle focus
• F5 / Ctrl+R: cargo run
• F7: cargo check
• F8 / Ctrl+T: cargo test
• F9 / Ctrl+B: cargo build
• F10: open the menu bar
• Ctrl+C: copy selected text
• Ctrl+V: paste clipboard text
• Ctrl+X: cut selected text
• Esc / Ctrl+Q: quit
• Alt+X: delete line
• Alt+U: duplicate line
• Shift+Navigation: select text

Menus

• F10 opens the menu bar.
• Left/right arrows switch menus.
• Up/down arrows move through a dropdown.
• Enter activates the highlighted menu item.
• Esc closes the menu.
• Mouse clicks on the menu bar and dropdown items work too.
• File > New asks for a filename and creates it in the current project pane directory.
• Project > New project opens the Cargo project dialog with parent directory, project name, and bin / lib selector.
• Window switches between panes and contains the former focus option.

Mouse

• Click inside the editor to move the cursor.
• Drag inside the editor to select text.
• Click inside the project pane to open editable files or navigate directories.
• Click inside any pane to focus it.
• Drag the vertical divider between project and editor panes to resize them.
• Drag the top border of the compiler/message pane to resize it.
• Scroll inside the project, editor, or message pane to move through content.

The project pane lists directories plus editable Rust and Cargo-related files such as .rs, .toml, and .lock, while skipping .git, target, and common editor/build directories. Compiler output is captured in the bottom pane.