[PATCH v2 15/20] rust: pin-init: internal: pin_data: parse explicit `#[uses]` annotation

From: Gary Guo

Date: Thu Oct 08 2026 - 15:39:09 EST


Add support for explicit self-referential annotations.

`#[uses]` attribute is used to mark what other field lifetimes are
captured by this field, and also the variance of the type in respect to the
field lifetimes. For example,

#[uses('a: covariant, 'b: invariant)]

indicates that the field captures the field lifetime `'a` covariantly, and
field lifetime `'b` invariantly. Many types are covariant, so this is the
default variance if the variance is omitted (e.g. `#[uses('a)]`),
consistent with the automatically inferred borrow.

Acked-by: Benno Lossin <lossin@xxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Gary Guo <gary@xxxxxxxxxxx>
---
rust/pin-init/internal/src/pin_data.rs | 99 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
1 file changed, 95 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/rust/pin-init/internal/src/pin_data.rs b/rust/pin-init/internal/src/pin_data.rs
index 5f37628fdf0a..5f9f4f3ac39a 100644
--- a/rust/pin-init/internal/src/pin_data.rs
+++ b/rust/pin-init/internal/src/pin_data.rs
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
};

pub(crate) mod kw {
+ syn::custom_keyword!(covariant);
+ syn::custom_keyword!(invariant);
+ syn::custom_keyword!(contravariant);
syn::custom_keyword!(PinnedDrop);
}

@@ -93,9 +96,37 @@ struct BorrowedInfo {

#[derive(Clone, Copy, Default, PartialEq, Eq)]
enum Variance {
- /// Implicitly inferred variance.
+ /// `covariant` annotation, or implicitly inferred.
#[default]
Covariant,
+ // `invariant` annotation.
+ Invariant,
+}
+
+impl Parse for Variance {
+ fn parse(input: ParseStream<'_>) -> syn::Result<Self> {
+ let lh = input.lookahead1();
+ Ok(if lh.peek(kw::covariant) {
+ let _: kw::covariant = input.parse()?;
+ Variance::Covariant
+ } else if lh.peek(kw::invariant) {
+ let _: kw::invariant = input.parse()?;
+ Variance::Invariant
+ } else if lh.peek(kw::contravariant) {
+ // Field lifetimes are inherently covariant, so combining with contravariance,
+ // we would constrain it to be invariant.
+ let token: kw::contravariant = input.parse()?;
+ DiagCtxt::current(|dcx| {
+ dcx.error(
+ token,
+ "field lifetimes cannot be `contravariant`; use `invariant` instead",
+ )
+ });
+ Variance::Invariant
+ } else {
+ Err(lh.error())?
+ })
+ }
}

/// Information about field lifetimes captured in a type.
@@ -131,7 +162,65 @@ fn cmp(&self, other: &Self) -> std::cmp::Ordering {
}
}

-#[expect(unused)]
+impl Parse for Capture {
+ fn parse(input: ParseStream<'_>) -> syn::Result<Self> {
+ let lifetime = input.parse()?;
+ let variance = if input.peek(Token![:]) {
+ let _: Token![:] = input.parse()?;
+ input.parse()?
+ } else {
+ // If variance is not explicitly specified, infer covariance by default.
+ Variance::Covariant
+ };
+ Ok(Capture { variance, lifetime })
+ }
+}
+
+impl Capture {
+ fn parse_list(
+ dcx: &mut DiagCtxt,
+ attrs: &mut Vec<Attribute>,
+ bound_lifetimes: &BTreeSet<&Lifetime>,
+ field_idx_map: &BTreeMap<Ident, usize>,
+ ) -> Option<(BTreeSet<Capture>, Variance)> {
+ let attr = attrs.extract_single_attr(dcx, "uses")?;
+ let punctuated: Punctuated<Capture, Token![,]> = attr
+ .parse_args_with(Punctuated::parse_terminated)
+ .map_err(ErrorGuaranteed::from)
+ .ok()?;
+
+ // Check for misuses inside attribute.
+ let mut set = BTreeSet::new();
+ for borrow in punctuated {
+ let lt = &borrow.lifetime;
+ if set.contains(&borrow) {
+ dcx.error(lt, format!("lifetime `{lt}` is mentioned more than once"));
+ continue;
+ }
+
+ if bound_lifetimes.contains(lt) {
+ dcx.error(
+ lt,
+ format!("`{lt}` is a struct generics and cannot be used in `#[uses]`"),
+ );
+ continue;
+ }
+
+ if lt.ident != "_" && !field_idx_map.contains_key(&lt.ident) {
+ dcx.error(lt, format!("`{lt}` is not a field name"));
+ continue;
+ }
+
+ set.insert(borrow);
+ }
+
+ let wildcard = Lifetime::new("'_", Span::mixed_site());
+ let wildcard_variance = set.take(&wildcard).map(|b| b.variance).unwrap_or_default();
+ Some((set, wildcard_variance))
+ }
+}
+
+#[allow(unused)]
struct FieldInfo {
field: Field,
member: Member,
@@ -275,8 +364,10 @@ fn expand(
}),
};

- let mut captures = BTreeSet::new();
- let wildcard_variance = Variance::default();
+ // Parse `#[uses]` attribute.
+ let (mut captures, wildcard_variance) =
+ Capture::parse_list(dcx, &mut field.attrs, &bound_lifetimes, &field_idx_map)
+ .unwrap_or_default();

let mut generic_lt_captures = BTreeSet::new();
let mut generic_ty_captures = BTreeSet::new();

--
2.54.0