Components in Rust

Rust has first-class support for the component model via the cargo component tool. It is a cargo subcommand for creating WebAssembly components using Rust as the component's implementation language.

Installing cargo component

To install cargo component, run:

cargo install cargo-component

You can find more details about cargo component in its crates.io page.

Building a Component with cargo component

Create a Rust library that implements the add function in the example world. First scaffold a project:

$ cargo component new add --lib && cd add

Note that cargo component generates the necessary bindings as a module called bindings.

Next, update wit/world.wit to match add.wit and modify the component package reference to change the package name to example. The component section of Cargo.toml should look like the following:

[package.metadata.component]
package = "component:example"

cargo component will generate bindings for the world specified in a package's Cargo.toml. In particular, it will create a Guest trait that a component should implement. Since our example world has no interfaces, the trait lives directly under the bindings module. Implement the Guest trait in add/src/lib.rs such that it satisfied the example world, adding an add function. It should look similar to the following:

mod bindings;

use bindings::Guest;

struct Component;

impl Guest for Component {
    fn add(x: i32, y: i32) -> i32 {
        x + y
    }
}

Now, use cargo component to build the component, being sure to optimize with a release build.

$ cargo component build --release

You can use wasm-tools component wit to output the WIT package of the component:

$ wasm-tools component wit target/wasm32-wasip1/release/add.wasm
package root:component;

world root {
  export add: func(x: s32, y: s32) -> s32;
}

Running a Component from Rust Applications

To verify that our component works, lets run it from a Rust application that knows how to run a component targeting the example world.

The application uses wasmtime crates to generate Rust bindings, bring in WASI worlds, and execute the component.

$ cd examples/example-host
$ cargo run --release -- 1 2 ../add/target/wasm32-wasip1/release/add.wasm
1 + 2 = 3

Exporting an interface with cargo component

The sample add.wit file exports a function. However, you'll often prefer to export an interface, either to comply with an existing specification or to capture a set of functions and types that tend to go together. For example, to implement the following world:

package docs:adder@0.1.0;

interface add {
    add: func(a: u32, b: u32) -> u32;
}

world adder {
    export add;
}

you would write the following Rust code:

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
mod bindings;
// Separating out the interface puts it in a sub-module
use bindings::exports::docs::adder::add::Guest;

struct Component;

impl Guest for Component {
    fn add(a: u32, b: u32) -> u32 {
        a + b
    }
}
}

Importing an interface with cargo component

The world file (wit/world.wit) generated for you by cargo component new --lib doesn't specify any imports.

cargo component build, by default, uses the Rust wasm32-wasi target, and therefore automatically imports any required WASI interfaces - no action is needed from you to import these. This section is about importing custom WIT interfaces from library components.

If your component consumes other components, you can edit the world.wit file to import their interfaces.

For example, suppose you have created and built an adder component as explained in the exporting an interface section and want to use that component in a calculator component. Here is a partial example world for a calculator that imports the add interface:

// in the 'calculator' project

// wit/world.wit
package docs:calculator;

interface calculate {
    eval-expression: func(expr: string) -> u32;
}

world calculator {
    export calculate;
    import docs:adder/add@0.1.0;
}

Referencing the package to import

Because the docs:adder package is in a different project, we must first tell cargo component how to find it. To do this, add the following to the Cargo.toml file:

[package.metadata.component.target.dependencies]
"docs:adder" = { path = "../adder/wit" }  # directory containing the WIT package

Note that the path is to the adder project's WIT directory, not to the world.wit file. A WIT package may be spread across multiple files in the same directory; cargo component will look at all the files.

Calling the import from Rust

Now the declaration of add in the adder's WIT file is visible to the calculator project. To invoke the imported add interface from the calculate implementation:

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
// src/lib.rs
mod bindings;

use bindings::exports::docs::calculator::calculate::Guest;

// Bring the imported add function into scope
use bindings::docs::calculator::add::add;

struct Component;

impl Guest for Component {
    fn eval_expression(expr: String) -> u32 {
        // Cleverly parse `expr` into values and operations, and evaluate
        // them meticulously.
        add(123, 456)
    }
}
}

Fulfilling the import

When you build this using cargo component build, the add interface remains imported. The calculator has taken a dependency on the add interface, but has not linked the adder implementation of that interface - this is not like referencing the adder crate. (Indeed, calculator could import the add interface even if there was no Rust project implementing the WIT file.) You can see this by running wasm-tools component wit to view the calculator's world:

# Do a release build to prune unused imports (e.g. WASI)
$ cargo component build --release

$ wasm-tools component wit ./target/wasm32-wasip1/release/calculator.wasm
package root:component;

world root {
  import docs:adder/add@0.1.0;

  export docs:calculator/calculate@0.1.0;
}

As the import is unfulfilled, the calculator.wasm component could not run by itself in its current form. To fulfill the add import, so that only calculate is exported, you would need to compose the calculator.wasm with some exports-add.wasm into a single, self-contained component.

Creating a command component with cargo component

A command is a component with a specific export that allows it to be executed directly by wasmtime (or other wasi:cli hosts). In Rust terms, it's the equivalent of an application (bin) package with a main function, instead of a library crate (lib) package.

To create a command with cargo component, run:

cargo component new <name>

Unlike library components, this does not have the --lib flag. You will see that the created project is different too:

  • It doesn't contain a .wit file. cargo component build will automatically export the wasi:cli/run interface for Rust bin packages, and hook it up to main.
  • Because there's no .wit file, Cargo.toml doesn't contain a package.metadata.component.target section.
  • The Rust file is called main.rs instead of lib.rs, and contains a main function instead of an interface implementation.

You can write Rust in this project, just as you normally would, including importing your own or third-party crates.

All the crates that make up your project are linked together at build time, and compiled to a single Wasm component. In this case, all the linking is happening at the Rust level: no WITs or component composition is involved. Only if you import Wasm interfaces do WIT and composition come into play.

To run your command component:

cargo component build
wasmtime run ./target/wasm32-wasip1/debug/<name>.wasm

WARNING: If your program prints to standard out or error, you may not see the printed output! Some versions of wasmtime have a bug where they don't flush output streams before exiting. To work around this, add a std::thread::sleep() with a 10 millisecond delay before exiting main.

Importing an interface into a command component

As mentioned above, cargo component build doesn't generate a WIT file for a command component. If you want to import a Wasm interface, though, you'll need to create a WIT file and a world, plus reference the packages containing your imports:

  1. Add a wit/world.wit to your project, and write a WIT world that imports the interface(s) you want to use. For example:

    package docs:app;

world app {
    import docs:calculator/calculate@0.1.0;
}

    cargo component sometimes fails to find packages if versions are not set explicitly. For example, if the calculator WIT declares package docs:calculator rather than docs:calculator@0.1.0, then you may get an error even though cargo component build automatically versions the binary export.

  2. Edit Cargo.toml to tell cargo component about the new WIT file:

    [package.metadata.component.target]
path = "wit"

    (This entry is created automatically for library components but not for command components.)

  3. Edit Cargo.toml to tell cargo component where to find external package WITs:

    [package.metadata.component.target.dependencies]
"docs:calculator" = { path = "../calculator/wit" }
"docs:adder" = { path = "../adder/wit" }

    If the external package refers to other packages, you need to provide the paths to them as well.

  4. Use the imported interface in your Rust code:

    use bindings::docs::calculator::calculate::eval_expression;

fn main() {
    let result = eval_expression("1 + 1");
    println!("1 + 1 = {result}");
}

  5. Compose the command component with the .wasm components that implement the imports.

  6. Run the composed component:

    $ wasmtime run ./my-composed-command.wasm
1 + 1 = 579  # might need to go back and do some work on the calculator implementation

Using user-defined types

User-defined types map to Rust types as follows.

WIT typeRust binding
recordstruct with public fields corresponding to the record fields
variantenum with cases corresponding to the variant cases
enumenum with cases corresponding to the enum cases, with no data attached
resourceSee below
flagsOpaque type supporting bit flag operations, with constants for flag values

For example, consider the following WIT:

interface types {
    enum operation {
        add,
        sub,
        mul,
        div
    }

    record expression {
        left: u32,
        operation: operation,
        right: u32
    }

    eval: func(expr: expression) -> u32;
}

When exported from a component, this could be implemented as:

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
impl Guest for Implementation {
    fn eval(expr: Expression) -> u32 {
        // Record fields become public fields on a struct
        let (l, r) = (expr.left, expr.right);
        match expr.operation {
            // Enum becomes an enum with only unit cases
            Operation::Add => l + r,
            Operation::Sub => l - r,
            Operation::Mul => l * r,
            Operation::Div => l / r,
        }
    }
}
}

Using resources

Resources are handles to entities that live outside the component, for example in a host, or in a different component.

Example

In this section, our example resource will be a Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) calculator. (Engineers of a certain vintage will remember this from handheld calculators of the 1970s.) A RPN calculator is a stateful entity: a consumer pushes operands and operations onto a stack maintained within the calculator, then evaluates the stack to produce a value. The resource in WIT looks like this:

package docs:rpn@0.1.0;

interface types {
    enum operation {
        add,
        sub,
        mul,
        div
    }

    resource engine {
        constructor();
        push-operand: func(operand: u32);
        push-operation: func(operation: operation);
        execute: func() -> u32;
    }
}

world calculator {
    export types;
}

Implementing and exporting a resource in a component

To implement the calculator using cargo component:

  1. Create a library component as shown in previous sections, with the WIT given above.

  2. Define a Rust struct to represent the calculator state:

    #![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
use std::cell::RefCell;

struct CalcEngine {
    stack: RefCell<Vec<u32>>,
}
}

    Why is the stack wrapped in a RefCell? As we will see, the generated Rust trait for the calculator engine has immutable references to self. But our implementation of that trait will need to mutate the stack. So we need a type that allows for interior mutability, such as RefCell<T> or Arc<RwLock<T>>.

  3. The generated bindings (bindings.rs) for an exported resource include a trait named GuestX, where X is the resource name. (You may need to run cargo component build to regenerate the bindings after updating the WIT.) For the calculator engine resource, the trait is GuestEngine. Implement this trait on the struct from step 2:

    #![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
use bindings::exports::docs::rpn::types::{GuestEngine, Operation};

impl GuestEngine for CalcEngine {
    fn new() -> Self {
        CalcEngine {
            stack: RefCell::new(vec![])
        }
    }

    fn push_operand(&self, operand: u32) {
        self.stack.borrow_mut().push(operand);
    }

    fn push_operation(&self, operation: Operation) {
        let mut stack = self.stack.borrow_mut();
        let right = stack.pop().unwrap(); // TODO: error handling!
        let left = stack.pop().unwrap();
        let result = match operation {
            Operation::Add => left + right,
            Operation::Sub => left - right,
            Operation::Mul => left * right,
            Operation::Div => left / right,
        };
        stack.push(result);
    }

    fn execute(&self) -> u32 {
        self.stack.borrow_mut().pop().unwrap() // TODO: error handling!
    }
}
}

  4. We now have a working calculator type which implements the engine contract, but we must still connect that type to the engine resource type. This is done by implementing the generated Guest trait. For this WIT, the Guest trait contains nothing except an associated type. You can use an empty struct to implement the Guest trait on. Set the associated type for the resource - in our case, Engine - to the type which implements the resource trait - in our case, the CalcEngine struct which implements GuestEngine. Then use the export! macro to export the mapping:

    #![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
struct Implementation;
impl Guest for Implementation {
    type Engine = CalcEngine;
}

bindings::export!(Implementation with_types_in bindings);
}

This completes the implementation of the calculator engine resource. Run cargo component build to create a component .wasm file.

Importing and consuming a resource in a component

To use the calculator engine in another component, that component must import the resource.

  1. Create a command component as shown in previous sections.

  2. Add a wit/world.wit to your project, and write a WIT world that imports the RPN calculator types:

    package docs:rpn-cmd;

world app {
    import docs:rpn/types@0.1.0;
}

  3. Edit Cargo.toml to tell cargo component about the new WIT file and the external RPN package file:

    [package.metadata.component]
package = "docs:rpn-cmd"

[package.metadata.component.target]
path = "wit"

[package.metadata.component.target.dependencies]
"docs:rpn" = { path = "../wit" } # or wherever your resource WIT is

  4. The resource now appears in the generated bindings as a struct, with appropriate associated functions. Use these to construct a test app:

    #[allow(warnings)]
mod bindings;
use bindings::docs::rpn::types::{Engine, Operation};

fn main() {
    let calc = Engine::new();
    calc.push_operand(1);
    calc.push_operand(2);
    calc.push_operation(Operation::Add);
    let sum = calc.execute();
    println!("{sum}");
}

You can now build the command component and compose it with the .wasm component that implements the resource.. You can then run the composed command with wasmtime run.

Implementing and exporting a resource implementation in a host

If you are hosting a Wasm runtime, you can export a resource from your host for guests to consume. Hosting a runtime is outside the scope of this book, so we will give only a broad outline here. This is specific to the Wasmtime runtime; other runtimes may express things differently.

  1. Use wasmtime::component::bindgen! to specify the WIT you are a host for:

    #![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
wasmtime::component::bindgen!({
    path: "../wit"
});
}

  2. Tell bindgen! how you will represent the resource in the host via the with field. This can be any Rust type. For example, the RPN engine could be represented by a CalcEngine struct:

    #![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
wasmtime::component::bindgen!({
    path: "../wit",
    with: {
        "docs:rpn/types/engine": CalcEngine,
    }
});
}

    If you don't specify the host representation for a resource, it defaults to an empty enum. This is rarely useful as resources are usually stateful.

  3. If the representation type isn't a built-in type, define it:

    #![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
struct CalcEngine { /* ... */ }
}

  4. As a host, you will already be implementing a Host trait. You will now need to implement a HostX trait (where X is the resource name) on the same type as the Host trait:

    #![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
impl docs::rpn::types::HostEngine for MyHost {
    fn new(&mut self) -> wasmtime::component::Resource<docs::rpn::types::Engine> { /* ... */ }
    fn push_operand(&mut self, self_: wasmtime::component::Resource<docs::rpn::types::Engine>) { /* ... */ }
    // etc.
}
}

    Important: You implement this on the 'overall' host type, not on the resource representation! Therefore, the self reference in these functions is to the 'overall' host type. For instance methods of the resource, the instance is identified by a second parameter (self_), of type wasmtime::component::Resource.

  5. Add a wasmtime::component::ResourceTable to the host:

    #![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
struct MyHost {
    calcs: wasmtime::component::ResourceTable,
}
}

  6. In your resource method implementations, use this table to store and access instances of the resource representation:

    #![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
impl docs::rpn::types::HostEngine for MyHost {
    fn new(&mut self) -> wasmtime::component::Resource<docs::rpn::types::Engine> {
        self.calcs.push(CalcEngine::new()).unwrap() // TODO: error handling
    }
    fn push_operand(&mut self, self_: wasmtime::component::Resource<docs::rpn::types::Engine>) {
        let calc_engine = self.calcs.get(&self_).unwrap();
        // calc_engine is a CalcEngine - call its functions
    }
    // etc.
}
}