Get Started

To build R packages with extendr, you need to have the right tools.

Step 1 Install Rust

Follow the rustup installation instructions to install Rust. Note that the current minimum supported Rust version (msrv) in extendr is 1.64. This is to ensure CRAN compliance. Windows users will also need to install the GNU toolchain as it matches Rtools. This can be done via rustup in the terminal: rustup target add x86_64-pc-windows-gnu.

Step 2 Update R

We recommend using a moderately new version of R (>= 4.2.0). You can get that from CRAN.

Step 3 Install rextendr

The R package {rextendr} provides scaffolding for extendr projects and tools for documenting Rust functions and objects. To install the latest development version, use pak::pak("extendr/rextendr"). Note that rextendr provides a function to check your Rust installation: rextendr::rust_sitrep().

Step 4 Use rust-analyzer

This is optional, but strongly recommended. If you use Visual Studio Code (VS Code) or a similar IDE, the rust-analyzer will provide you type hinting and auto-completion suggestions. It is very helpful!