# Dependencies

[crates.io] is the Rust community's central [*package registry*][def-package-registry]
that serves as a location to discover and download
[packages][def-package]. `cargo` is configured to use it by default to find
requested packages.

To depend on a library hosted on [crates.io], add it to your `Cargo.toml`.

[crates.io]: https://crates.io/

## Adding a dependency

If your `Cargo.toml` doesn't already have a `[dependencies]` section, add
that, then list the [crate][def-crate] name and version that you would like to
use. This example adds a dependency on the `time` crate:

```toml
[dependencies]
time = "0.1.12"
```

The version string is a [SemVer] version requirement. The [specifying
dependencies](../reference/specifying-dependencies.md) docs have more information about
the options you have here.

[SemVer]: https://semver.org

If you also wanted to add a dependency on the `regex` crate, you would not need
to add `[dependencies]` for each crate listed. Here's what your whole
`Cargo.toml` file would look like with dependencies on the `time` and `regex`
crates:

```toml
[package]
name = "hello_world"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2024"

[dependencies]
time = "0.1.12"
regex = "0.1.41"
```

Re-run `cargo build`, and Cargo will fetch the new dependencies and all of
their dependencies, compile them all, and update the `Cargo.lock`:

```console
$ cargo build
      Updating crates.io index
   Downloading memchr v0.1.5
   Downloading libc v0.1.10
   Downloading regex-syntax v0.2.1
   Downloading memchr v0.1.5
   Downloading aho-corasick v0.3.0
   Downloading regex v0.1.41
     Compiling memchr v0.1.5
     Compiling libc v0.1.10
     Compiling regex-syntax v0.2.1
     Compiling memchr v0.1.5
     Compiling aho-corasick v0.3.0
     Compiling regex v0.1.41
     Compiling hello_world v0.1.0 (file:///path/to/package/hello_world)
```

`Cargo.lock` contains the exact information about which revision was used
for all of these dependencies.

Now, if `regex` gets updated, you will still build with the same revision until
you choose to run `cargo update`.

You can now use the `regex` library in `main.rs`.

```rust,ignore
use regex::Regex;

fn main() {
    let re = Regex::new(r"^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$").unwrap();
    println!("Did our date match? {}", re.is_match("2014-01-01"));
}
```

Running it will show:

```console
$ cargo run
   Running `target/hello_world`
Did our date match? true
```

[def-crate]:             ../appendix/glossary.md#crate             '"crate" (glossary entry)'
[def-package]:           ../appendix/glossary.md#package           '"package" (glossary entry)'
[def-package-registry]:  ../appendix/glossary.md#package-registry  '"package-registry" (glossary entry)'
