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rustdoc cannot emit dep-info alongside JSON output #158869
Description
Code
// lib.rs
pub fn f() {}Reproduction Steps
$ rustdoc --crate-name lib -Zunstable-options --output-format=json --emit=dep-info=lib.d lib.rs -o out
$ echo $?
0
$ ls lib.d
lib.d
$ ls out/lib.json
ls: out/lib.json: No such file or directoryRelated cases:
$ rustdoc --crate-name lib -Zunstable-options --output-format=json --emit=html-static-files,dep-info=lib.d lib.rs -o out
error: the `--emit=html-static-files` flag is not supported with `--output-format=json`
$ rustdoc --crate-name lib -Zunstable-options --output-format=json --emit=json-files lib.rs -o out
error: unrecognized emission type: json-filesExpected Outcome
A way to request the dep-info file and the JSON doc output in one invocation.
For example, making the json-files emission type nameable on CLI
(I knew #155679 made it non-nameable), like hte following:
$ rustdoc --output-format=json --emit=json-files,dep-info=lib.d lib.rs -o out
$ ls out/lib.json lib.d
out/lib.json lib.dThis was found in rust-lang/cargo#17020
that Cargo wants a better rebuild detection also for JSON output.
At minimum,
an explicit --emit in JSON mode that omits the JSON output
should not exit 0 while silently skipping the primary artifact
Actual Output
$ rustdoc --output-format=json --emit=dep-info=lib.d lib.rs -o out
# exit=0
# no out/lib.json produced
# dep-info was producedVersion
rustdoc 1.99.0-nightly (3659db0d3 2026-07-05)
Activity
weihanglo commentedon Jul 6, 2026
I haven't looked at a possible fix. Willing to try a fix if you folks think the expected outcome is reasonable.
cc @fmease (since you wrote #155679)