fack

Error handling derive macro for Rust. no_std compatible, doesn't allocate.

use fack::prelude::*;

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
#[error("file not found: {path}")]
struct FileError {
    path: String,
}

Installation

[dependencies]
fack = "0.1.0"

What's different from thiserror?

• Actually runs in no_std environments - uses ::core by default, zero heap allocations at runtime
• Control inlining with #[error(inline(...))] - matters for hot paths and code size
• fack-codegen is a standalone library - use it in your own macros or build scripts
• Preserves source spans properly for better IDE integration

If you're writing embedded code or care about allocation-free error handling, this might be useful.

Examples

Basic struct:

use fack::prelude::*;

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
#[error("database error: {msg}")]
struct DbError {
    msg: String,
}

Error chaining:

use fack::prelude::*;

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
#[error("request failed")]
#[error(source(io))]
struct RequestError {
    io: std::io::Error,
    url: String,
}

Enums with variants:

use fack::prelude::*;

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
enum ParseError {
    #[error("invalid syntax at line {line}")]
    Syntax { line: usize },

    #[error("unexpected end of file")]
    Eof,

    #[error(transparent(0))]
    Io(std::io::Error),
}

Auto-conversion with from:

use fack::prelude::*;

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
enum AppError {
    #[error("io error")]
    #[error(from)]
    Io(std::io::Error),

    #[error("parse error")]
    #[error(from)]
    Parse(std::num::ParseIntError),
}

// Now you can use ? with these error types
fn example() -> Result<(), AppError> {
    let _file = std::fs::read("file.txt")?;  // converts io::Error
    let _num: i32 = "123".parse()?;          // converts ParseIntError
    Ok(())
}

Attributes

Format strings - #[error("message")]

Use {field} for named fields, {_0} for tuple fields. Standard format specifiers work.

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
#[error("value {value} out of range {min}..{max}")]
struct RangeError { value: i32, min: i32, max: i32 }

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
#[error("invalid input: {_0:?}")]
struct InputError(String);

Source - #[error(source(field))]

Mark which field contains the underlying error. Enables error chain traversal.

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
#[error("operation failed")]
#[error(source(cause))]
struct OpError {
    cause: std::io::Error,
}

Transparent - #[error(transparent(field))]

Forward display and source to an inner error. Useful for wrapper types.

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
#[error(transparent(0))]
struct Wrapper(std::io::Error);

From - #[error(from)]

Generate From<T> impl for the error type. Requires exactly one field.

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
#[error("wrapped io error")]
#[error(from)]
struct IoWrapper(std::io::Error);

Inline - #[error(inline(strategy))]

Control inlining of generated methods. Options: neutral (default), always, never.

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
#[error(inline(always))]  // force inline for hot paths
#[error("fast error")]
struct HotPathError { code: u32 }

Import - #[error(import(path))]

Override the default ::core import. Use ::std if you need std-specific features.

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
#[error(import(::std))]
#[error("std error")]
struct StdError { msg: String }

Documentation

Full docs at docs.rs/fack.

Workspace structure

This repo has four crates:

• fack - Main crate, re-exports everything
• fack-core - Error trait definition
• fack-macro - Procedural macro implementation
• fack-codegen - Code generation engine

The fack-codegen crate is deliberately not a proc-macro crate. You can depend on it in regular code to build custom error macros or generate errors at build time.

License

GPL-3.0

Copyright (C) 2025 W. Frakchi

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

See LICENSE.md for the full text.