A CLI guide for Go development tasks and build operations.
Install
mkdir -p .claude/skills/go-carapace-sh && curl -L -o skill.zip "https://agentskills.codes/api/skills/download/18042" && unzip -o skill.zip -d .claude/skills/go-carapace-sh && rm skill.zipInstalls to .claude/skills/go-carapace-sh
Activation
This is the description your AI agent reads to decide when to run this skill — the better it matches your request, the more reliably it fires.
Use when working with the Go CLI (go command) — building, testing, modules, workspaces, environment, toolchain, generate, vet, coverage, profiling, fuzzing, cross-compilation, and internal tool commands. Triggers on: "go", "go build", "go test", "go mod", "go work", "go generate", "go vet", "go tool", "go get", "go install", "go run", "go clean", "go list", "go env", "go doc", "go fmt", "go fix", "go version", "go telemetry", "GOMODCACHE", "GOPROXY", "GOSUMDB", "GOPRIVATE", "GOTOOLCHAIN", "GOOS", "GOARCH", "CGO_ENABLED", "build constraint", "build tag", "go.mod", "go.sum", "go.work", "vendor", "pprof", "cover", "test2json", "buildjson", "GODEBUG", "GOEXPERIMENT", "minimal version selection", "MVS", "module proxy", "toolchain", "fuzzing", "race detector".764 chars✓ has a “when” triggerlonger than Claude Code's old 250-char listing cap (fine on current versions)
Intermediate
Key capabilities
- →Build Go executables and archives
- →Run Go tests with various flags
- →Manage Go modules and dependencies
- →Generate Go code
- →Analyze code with `go vet`
- →Cross-compile Go applications
How it works
The `go` command-line tool drives compilation, testing, and module management by processing source code and configuration files according to specified commands and environment variables.
Inputs & outputs
You give it
Go source code, `go.mod` file, or test files
You get back
Executable binary, test results, module dependency graph, or generated code
When to use go
- →Run Go tests
- →Manage Go dependencies
- →Debug build tags
- →Cross-compile Go apps
About this skill
Go CLI In-Depth Reference
Comprehensive reference for the go command-line tool — the driver for building, testing, module management, code generation, and toolchain operations in Go. Covers the module system, build flags, test framework, environment variables, workspaces, and the bundled go tool subcommands.
Data Flow
Source code (packages)
→ go build / go install (compile + link)
→ build cache (GOCACHE)
→ executable / archive
go.mod (module definition)
→ go get / go mod tidy (resolve dependencies)
→ module proxy (GOPROXY) / VCS (GOVCS)
→ module cache (GOMODCACHE)
→ go.sum (checksum verification, GOSUMDB)
go test (compile test binary)
→ go vet (automatic, subset)
→ test binary (pkg.test)
→ test cache (package list mode)
→ coverage profile / pprof profile / trace
Sub-Resources
Load the reference that matches your task. When in doubt, load multiple references.
| Keywords | Reference |
|---|---|
concept, model, module, package, import path, GOPATH, GOROOT, GO111MODULE, module-aware mode, GOPATH mode, package pattern, all, std, cmd, tool, wildcard, ..., reserved package names, main package, test package, _test suffix, testdata, vendor, file types, .go, .c, .s, .syso, source file naming, *_GOOS, *_GOARCH, implicit build constraint | references/concepts.md |
go build, build flags, -o, -a, -n, -x, -p, -race, -msan, -asan, -cover, -covermode, -coverpkg, -v, -work, -asmflags, -buildmode, -buildvcs, -compiler, -gccgoflags, -gcflags, -installsuffix, -json, -ldflags, -linkshared, -mod, -modcacherw, -modfile, -overlay, -pgo, -pkgdir, -tags, -trimpath, -toolexec, build mode, archive, c-archive, c-shared, shared, exe, pie, plugin, PGO, profile-guided optimization, trimpath, cross-compilation, GOOS, GOARCH, build constraint, build tag, //go:build, // +build, buildjson, BuildEvent, shared build flags, -C | references/build.md |
go test, test flag, -run, -skip, -bench, -benchtime, -count, -failfast, -fullpath, -fuzz, -fuzztime, -fuzzminimizetime, -json, -list, -outputdir, -parallel, -short, -shuffle, -timeout, -v, -vet, -args, -c, -exec, -o, -cover, -covermode, -coverpkg, -coverprofile, -benchmem, -blockprofile, -blockprofilerate, -cpuprofile, -memprofile, -memprofilerate, -mutexprofile, -mutexprofilefraction, -trace, -artifacts, test2json, TestEvent, cacheable flags, local directory mode, package list mode, test caching, -count=1, fuzzing, seed corpus, testdata, fuzz cache, test binary, -test. prefix, testing functions, TestXxx, BenchmarkXxx, FuzzXxx, ExampleXxx, t.Parallel, -race, race detector, sanitizer | references/test.md |
go mod, mod init, mod tidy, mod download, mod edit, mod graph, mod vendor, mod verify, mod why, go.mod, go.sum, module path, module version, semver, semantic versioning, require, replace, exclude, retract, tool, ignore, godebug, indirect dependency, lazy module loading, minimal version selection, MVS, version query, @latest, @none, @patch, @v1.2.3, module cache, GOMODCACHE, modcacherw, vendor directory, vendor/modules.txt, -mod=vendor, -mod=readonly, -mod=mod, module-auth, go.sum, checksum, GOSUMDB, GOPRIVATE, GONOSUMDB, GONOPROXY, GOINSECURE, module proxy, GOPROXY, goproxy protocol, VCS, GOVCS, direct download, zip, .info, .mod, .zip | references/mod.md |
go tool, tool command, asm, cgo, compile, cover, fix, link, preprofile, vet, go tool vet, go tool cover, go tool pprof, go tool compile, go tool link, go tool asm, go tool cgo, -n, toolexec, tool definition, tool directive in go.mod, go tool resolution, builtin tools, additional tools, cmd/vet, vet analyzer, -vettool, vet checks, printf, atomic, bool, buildtags, directive, errorsas, ifaceassert, nilfunc, stringintconv, tests, shadow analyzer, -fix, -diff, go tool fix, fixer, hostport | references/tool.md |
go env, environment variable, GOARCH, GOOS, GOPATH, GOROOT, GOBIN, GOCACHE, GOCACHEPROG, GODEBUG, GOENV, GOFLAGS, GOINSECURE, GOMODCACHE, GOPRIVATE, GONOPROXY, GONOSUMDB, GOPROXY, GOSUMDB, GOTMPDIR, GOTOOLCHAIN, GOVCS, GOWORK, GO111MODULE, GOAUTH, GOEXPERIMENT, GOFIPS140, GOAMD64, GOARM, GOARM64, GO386, GOMIPS, GOMIPS64, GOPPC64, GORISCV64, GOWASM, CGO_ENABLED, CGO_CFLAGS, CGO_CPPFLAGS, CGO_CXXFLAGS, CGO_FFLAGS, CGO_LDFLAGS, CC, CXX, FC, AR, PKG_CONFIG, GOEXE, GOGCCFLAGS, GOHOSTARCH, GOHOSTOS, GOMOD, GOTELEMETRY, GOTELEMETRYDIR, GOTOOLDIR, GOVERSION, go env -w, go env -u, go env -json, go env -changed, env config file, GOENV | references/environment.md |
go work, work init, work use, work sync, work edit, work vendor, go.work, workspace, use directive, replace directive, go directive, toolchain directive, godebug directive, GOWORK, workspace mode, multi-module, build list, sync, -r flag, GoWork JSON, Use struct, Replace struct, workspace vendor | references/work.md |
go generate, generate directive, //go:generate, generator, code generation, $GOFILE, $GOLINE, $GOPACKAGE, $GOARCH, $GOOS, $GOROOT, $DOLLAR, $PATH, -command, alias, -run, -skip, generated file convention, DO NOT EDIT, generate build tag, go get, go install, version suffix, @latest, @v1.0.0, module-aware install, GOBIN, go clean, clean flags, -cache, -testcache, -modcache, -fuzzcache, -i, -r, go run, -exec, go doc, doc flags, -all, -src, -short, -u, -cmd, -http, go fmt, gofmt, go fix, fix tool, go vet, vet flags, -vettool, -c, -json, go version, -m, -v, go telemetry, telemetry mode, go bug | references/cli.md |
Quick Guide
- What are Go's core concepts (modules, packages, GOPATH)? → references/concepts.md
- How do I build/compile Go code? → references/build.md
- What build flags are available? → references/build.md
- How do build constraints/tags work? → references/build.md
- How do I run tests? → references/test.md
- What test flags are available? → references/test.md
- How does test caching work? → references/test.md
- How do I do fuzzing? → references/test.md
- How do coverage and profiling work? → references/test.md
- How do modules and go.mod work? → references/mod.md
- How do I add/remove dependencies? → references/mod.md
- How does the module proxy and checksum work? → references/mod.md
- What tools are available via
go tool? → references/tool.md - How does
go vetwork? → references/tool.md - What environment variables does the go command use? → references/environment.md
- How do I set Go env vars persistently? → references/environment.md
- How do workspaces work? → references/work.md
- How does
go generatework? → references/cli.md - How do I install a tool or binary? → references/cli.md
- How do I clean caches? → references/cli.md
- How do I inspect a Go binary's version? → references/cli.md
- How do I cross-compile? → references/build.md and references/environment.md
- How do I use a custom Go toolchain? → references/environment.md
- How do I vendor dependencies? → references/mod.md
- How do I debug the build cache? → references/environment.md and references/build.md
Cross-Project References
- For cobra CLI development (commands, flags, completions), use the cobra skill (in this repo).
- For carapace library development (Action API, traverse engine, shell formatters), use the carapace-dev skill (in this repo).
- For carapace user-facing integration (specs, macros, setup), use the carapace skill (in this repo).
- For Go testing framework internals (
testing.T,testing.B,testing.F), see the Go testing package docs — this skill covers thego testcommand, not the testing API. - For pprof usage details beyond
go tool pprof, see the pprof docs.
When not to use it
- →When working with Git internals like branches or remotes
- →When developing Cobra CLI commands
- →When needing details on the `testing` package API
Limitations
- →Covers the `go` command, not the `testing` package API
- →Covers the `go tool` subcommands, not external tools
- →Build constraints and tags affect compilation
How it compares
This skill provides complete control over the Go development lifecycle from the command line, integrating build, test, and dependency management into a unified tool.
Compared to similar skills
go side by side with the closest alternatives in the catalog.
| Skill | Installs | Updated | Safety | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| go (this skill) | 0 | 22d | No flags | Intermediate |
| go-testing | 0 | 3mo | Review | Intermediate |
| go | 0 | 2mo | No flags | Advanced |
| land | 0 | 3mo | Review | Intermediate |
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