Linting¶

GoForge uses an extensive linting configuration with 30+ linters to maintain code quality.

Running Linters¶

# Run the full linter suite
make lint

# Run all checks (format + vet + lint + test)
make check

# Check formatting only
make fmt-check

# Run go vet only
make vet

Linter Configuration¶

The linter configuration lives in .golangci.yml. It uses golangci-lint which bundles many linters into a single tool.

Enabled Linters¶

Linter	Category	Purpose
`errcheck`	Correctness	All errors must be handled
`gosimple`	Correctness	Simplify code
`govet`	Correctness	Reports suspicious constructs
`ineffassign`	Correctness	Detects ineffectual assignments
`staticcheck`	Correctness	Advanced static analysis
`unused`	Correctness	Finds unused code
`bodyclose`	Correctness	HTTP response bodies must be closed
`contextcheck`	Correctness	Context must be passed correctly
`durationcheck`	Correctness	Check duration multiplication
`errname`	Style	Check error naming conventions
`errorlint`	Style	Use `errors.Is`/`errors.As`
`exhaustive`	Correctness	Check exhaustiveness of enum switch
`gocognit`	Quality	Cognitive complexity (max: 30)
`goconst`	Quality	Repeated string detection
`gocritic`	Quality	Opinionated linter
`gofmt`	Formatting	Standard Go formatting
`goimports`	Formatting	Import organization
`goprintffuncname`	Style	Printf-like functions named correctly
`gosec`	Security	Security issue detection
`misspell`	Quality	Spelling errors in comments/strings
`nakedret`	Style	Naked returns in large functions
`nilerr`	Correctness	Return nil error after checking err != nil
`noctx`	Correctness	HTTP requests without context
`nolintlint`	Quality	Check nolint directives
`prealloc`	Performance	Slice preallocation suggestions
`predeclared`	Quality	Shadowing predeclared identifiers
`revive`	Style	Configurable Go linter
`rowserrcheck`	Correctness	Check sql.Rows.Err is checked
`sqlclosecheck`	Correctness	sql.Rows must be closed
`stylecheck`	Style	Style mistakes
`tparallel`	Correctness	Detect t.Parallel() misuse
`unconvert`	Quality	Unnecessary type conversions
`unparam`	Quality	Unused function parameters
`whitespace`	Formatting	Whitespace issues

Disabled Linters¶

Linter	Reason
`dupl`	Acceptable duplication in repositories
`funlen`	Function length (too restrictive)
`gochecknoglobals`	No globals (too restrictive for config)
`gochecknoinits`	No init functions (sometimes needed)
`lll`	Line length (handled by gofmt)
`wsl`	Whitespace linter (too opinionated)

Excluded Files¶

*_templ.go -- Generated templ files are excluded from all linting
Test files have relaxed rules for errcheck, errorlint, gocognit, dupl, and goconst

Import Organization¶

Imports must be grouped in this order:

import (
    // Standard library
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "net/http"

    // Third-party packages
    "github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
    "github.com/lib/pq"

    // Local packages
    "github.com/raythurman2386/goforge/internal/config"
    "github.com/raythurman2386/goforge/internal/models"
)

This is enforced by goimports with the local prefix configured in .golangci.yml.

Local prefix

The .golangci.yml has local-prefixes: github.com/raythurman2386/goforge configured to enforce correct import grouping.

Formatting¶

# Format all Go files
make fmt

# Check formatting without modifying files
make fmt-check

GoForge uses gofmt -s which applies simplifications in addition to standard formatting.

Common Lint Errors¶

`errcheck`: Error return value not checked¶

// Bad
file.Close()

// Good
if err := file.Close(); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("failed to close file: %w", err)
}

`errorlint`: Use errors.Is for comparison¶

// Bad
if err == sql.ErrNoRows {

// Good
if errors.Is(err, sql.ErrNoRows) {

`bodyclose`: HTTP response body not closed¶

// Bad
resp, err := http.Get(url)
// use resp

// Good
resp, err := http.Get(url)
if err != nil {
    return err
}
defer resp.Body.Close()

Suppressing Lint Warnings¶

Use //nolint directives sparingly and with a reason:

//nolint:gosec // G401: SHA-256 is used for token hashing, not password hashing
hash := sha256.Sum256(token)