Retrofitting Proofs onto Existing Rust Codebases

Verus shows formal verification can retrofit onto existing Rust code via SMT solvers, with AI proof-completion rates rising from 20% to 80% in two years.

• Built on existing SMT solvers: Verus layers Rust-syntax verification on top of Z3 and CVC5 rather than building a new prover, exploiting Rust ownership's natural fit with separation logic.
• AI proof success jumped fast: Coding agents finishing Verus proofs went from ~20% a few years ago, to 50% with prompt tuning, to ~80% with newer frontier models and minimal prompting.

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