M01 Ownership

This triggers automatically on Rust ownership errors like E0382 or E0597 and pushes you to ask design questions before reaching for clone(). Instead of just fixing the compiler error, it maps each error code to a fundamental question: who should own this data, is the scope boundary right, should mutation happen elsewhere. The trace up/trace down framework is smart, connecting ownership issues to domain modeling (m09) or resource patterns (m02) when quick fixes fail three times. Best part is the error-to-design-question table that reframes "borrowed value does not live long enough" as "is the scope boundary correct?" It won't teach you ownership from scratch, but it will stop you from cargo cult cloning everything.

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last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add actionbook/rust-skills --skill m01-ownership --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

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

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