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AI-assisted dev loop — compile overhead (2026)

AI-assisted dev loop — compile overhead (2026)

Section titled “AI-assisted dev loop — compile overhead (2026)”
SignalSource
CARGO_TARGET_DIR varies across agent terminals (target-agent-ssot, target-ci-prepush, default target/)Recent Cursor terminal metadata (same machine, concurrent sessions)
--quick pre-push was documented as ~30 s while implementation always runs doc lint + doctest-md + drift-checkDrift between local-ci-pre-push and pre_push.rscorrected 2026-05-11
CI already emits comparable test timingsNextest JUnit → vox ci test-runtime-report (runner-contract)
  1. vox ci dev-loop-audit — confirm CARGO_TARGET_DIR is unset or points at repo target/.
  2. cargo check -p <crate> — fastest compile signal for the crate you touched.
  3. cargo nextest run -p <crate> --profile ci or filtered cargo test -p <crate> … — prove behavior without compiling the workspace test graph when unnecessary.
  4. vox ci pre-pushpush readiness only (default or --quick); avoid re-running as a substitute for steps 2–3.
  5. --full — parity with CI workspace nextest; use before merge or when touching cross-crate contracts.

Do not rotate CARGO_TARGET_DIR mid-task unless deliberately isolating (e.g. benchmarks); clear side dirs when done (.cursor/rules/build-environment.mdc).

ArtifactCommand / path
Pre-push step timingsvox ci pre-push --report-json <path>pre-push-report.v1.schema.json
Pre-push frequency (append-only log)Env VOX_PREPUSH_AUDIT_LOG=<path> (JSON lines on success)
Target-dir / habit auditvox ci dev-loop-audit [--json]dev-loop-audit.v1.schema.json
Compile lane budgetsvox ci build-timings + docs/ci/build-timings/budgets.json
PhaseGoalEnforcement
ADocs + dev-loop-audit warningsAdvisory
B--report-json adoption in agent runbooksOptional CI artifact later
CCompare VOX_PREPUSH_AUDIT_LOG rates vs test-runtime-report mediansMaintainer review

Success criteria (local): median edit → first cargo check -p cycle avoids redundant full workspace compiles; fragmentation_risk: none from dev-loop-audit during typical sessions. Stretch: 30–50% wall-clock reduction on crate-scoped tasks vs alternating CARGO_TARGET_DIR + repeated vox ci pre-push.