go_commands_cheatsheet | jun ren's digital garden

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GO COMMANDS CHEATSHEET

Core Concept: Essential Go CLI commands for development, testing, building, and dependency management.

Module Management

Initialize New Module

go mod init <module-name> - Create new go.mod file
go mod init github.com/user/project - With full import path

Dependency Operations

go get <package> - Add dependency to project
go get <package>@latest - Get latest version
go get <package>@v1.2.3 - Get specific version
go get -u - Update all dependencies
go get -u <package> - Update specific package
go mod download - Download dependencies to cache
go mod tidy - Add missing, remove unused dependencies
go mod verify - Verify dependencies haven't been modified

Module Information

go list -m all - List all dependencies
go list -m -versions <package> - List available versions
go mod graph - Print module dependency graph
go mod why <package> - Explain why package is needed

Running Code

Execute

go run main.go - Compile and run single file
go run . - Run package in current directory
go run cmd/api/main.go - Run specific file path

Build

go build - Compile package in current directory
go build -o binary-name - Specify output binary name
go build cmd/api/main.go - Build specific file
go build ./... - Build all packages recursively

Install

go install - Compile and install to $GOPATH/bin
go install <package>@latest - Install tool globally

Testing

Run Tests

go test - Run tests in current package
go test ./... - Run all tests recursively
go test -v - Verbose output
go test -run TestName - Run specific test
go test -run TestName/SubtestName - Run specific subtest

Test Coverage

go test -cover - Show coverage percentage
go test -coverprofile=coverage.out - Generate coverage file
go tool cover -html=coverage.out - View coverage in browser
go test -covermode=count - Track how many times lines run

Benchmarks

go test -bench . - Run all benchmarks
go test -bench BenchmarkName - Run specific benchmark
go test -benchmem - Include memory allocation stats
go test -benchtime=10s - Run for specific duration

Test Options

go test -short - Skip long-running tests
go test -parallel 4 - Set parallelism level
go test -timeout 30s - Set timeout
go test -race - Enable race detector

Code Quality

Formatting

go fmt - Format code in current package
go fmt ./... - Format all packages recursively
gofmt -w file.go - Format and write specific file
gofmt -d . - Show formatting diff without changing

Linting

go vet - Run static analysis
go vet ./... - Vet all packages
golint ./... - Run golint (install separately)
staticcheck ./... - Run staticcheck (install separately)

Race Detection

go run -race main.go - Run with race detector
go test -race ./... - Test with race detector
go build -race - Build with race detector

Documentation

View Docs

go doc <package> - Show package documentation
go doc <package>.<Symbol> - Show symbol documentation
go doc -all <package> - Show all documentation
godoc -http=:6060 - Start local doc server

Workspace Management

Clean Cache

go clean - Remove object files
go clean -cache - Remove build cache
go clean -modcache - Remove module cache
go clean -testcache - Remove test cache

Environment

go env - Print all Go environment variables
go env GOPATH - Print specific variable
go env -w GOPATH=/path - Set environment variable
go version - Show Go version

Module Cache Location

Default Paths

Modules: ~/go/pkg/mod/
Binaries: ~/go/bin/
Build cache: ~/Library/Caches/go-build/ (macOS)

Common Workflows

Starting New Project

mkdir project && cd project
go mod init github.com/user/project
Create main.go
go mod tidy
go run .

Adding Dependency

go get github.com/package/name
Import in code
go mod tidy

Before Committing

go fmt ./...
go vet ./...
go test ./...
go mod tidy

Building for Production

go test ./...
go build -o app
Test binary: ./app

Updating Dependencies

go get -u ./...
go mod tidy
go test ./...

Build Flags

Common Flags

-o name - Output binary name
-v - Verbose output
-race - Enable race detector
-ldflags "-X main.version=1.0" - Set variables at build time
-tags tag1,tag2 - Build tags

Cross-Compilation

GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build - Build for Linux
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build - Build for Windows
GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 go build - Build for macOS ARM

Debugging

Print Build Info

go version -m binary - Show build info of binary
go list -f '{{.Deps}}' . - List dependencies
go list -json . - Package info as JSON

Troubleshooting

go clean -modcache - Clear module cache if corrupted
go mod download - Re-download dependencies
go mod verify - Check dependency integrity
rm go.sum && go mod tidy - Regenerate go.sum

Performance

Profiling

go test -cpuprofile=cpu.out - CPU profile
go test -memprofile=mem.out - Memory profile
go tool pprof cpu.out - Analyze profile
go tool pprof -http=:8080 cpu.out - View in browser

Compilation Speed

go build -a - Force rebuild all packages
go build -n - Print commands without executing
go build -x - Print commands while executing

Tool Installation

Popular Tools

go install golang.org/x/tools/cmd/godoc@latest - Documentation
go install golang.org/x/lint/golint@latest - Linter
go install honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck@latest - Static analysis
go install github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint@latest - Meta-linter

Git Integration

Files to Commit

✅ go.mod - Always commit
✅ go.sum - Always commit
❌ Binaries - Add to .gitignore
❌ vendor/ - Usually ignore (unless vendoring)

.gitignore for Go

# Binaries
*.exe
*.exe~
*.dll
*.so
*.dylib
/bin/

# Test coverage
*.out
coverage.html

# Go workspace
go.work
go.work.sum

# Vendor (if not vendoring)
vendor/

Quick Reference

Task	Command
Start project	`go mod init name`
Add dependency	`go get package`
Run code	`go run .`
Build binary	`go build -o app`
Run tests	`go test ./...`
Format code	`go fmt ./...`
Check code	`go vet ./...`
Clean deps	`go mod tidy`
Update deps	`go get -u ./...`
Show coverage	`go test -cover ./...`

go_modules - Module system details
go_testing - Testing patterns
golang_basics - Language fundamentals
go_learning_plan - Structured learning path

Module Management​

Initialize New Module​

Dependency Operations​

Module Information​

Running Code​

Execute​

Build​

Install​

Testing​

Run Tests​

Test Coverage​

Benchmarks​

Test Options​

Code Quality​

Formatting​

Linting​

Race Detection​

Documentation​

View Docs​

Workspace Management​

Clean Cache​

Environment​

Module Cache Location​

Default Paths​

Common Workflows​

Starting New Project​

Adding Dependency​

Before Committing​

Building for Production​

Updating Dependencies​

Build Flags​

Common Flags​

Cross-Compilation​

Debugging​

Print Build Info​

Troubleshooting​

Performance​

Profiling​

Compilation Speed​

Tool Installation​

Popular Tools​

Git Integration​

Files to Commit​

.gitignore for Go​

Quick Reference​

Related Concepts​

References​

Module Management

Initialize New Module

Dependency Operations

Module Information

Running Code

Execute

Build

Install

Testing

Run Tests

Test Coverage

Benchmarks

Test Options

Code Quality

Formatting

Linting

Race Detection

Documentation

View Docs

Workspace Management

Clean Cache

Environment

Module Cache Location

Default Paths

Common Workflows

Starting New Project

Adding Dependency

Before Committing

Building for Production

Updating Dependencies

Build Flags

Common Flags

Cross-Compilation

Debugging

Print Build Info

Troubleshooting

Performance

Profiling

Compilation Speed

Tool Installation

Popular Tools

Git Integration

Files to Commit

.gitignore for Go

Quick Reference

Related Concepts

References