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wtf is go-tools?

dominikh/go-tools — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

6,787GoAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

TL;DR

Staticcheck is a Go code analysis tool that catches bugs, performance problems, and style issues that the Go compiler and built-in vet tool miss, running from the command line or in CI.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((go-tools))
    What it does
      Bug detection
      Performance hints
      Code simplification
    Tools included
      staticcheck
      structlayout
      structlayout-optimize
      structlayout-pretty
    Use cases
      CI integration
      Code review
      Memory optimization
    Tech stack
      Go

Code map

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Catch Go bugs like API misuse and wrong format string arguments before they reach production

REASON 2

Run staticcheck in a CI pipeline to automatically block bad Go code from being merged

REASON 3

Identify struct fields that waste memory due to compiler padding and get a suggested reordering

REASON 4

Simplify complex Go code patterns with actionable suggestions from the analysis output

What's in the stack?

Go

How it stacks up

dominikh/go-toolsgo-gost/gostcodesenberg/bombardier
Stars6,7876,7916,778
LanguageGoGoGo
Setup difficultyeasymoderateeasy
Complexity1/53/51/5
Audiencedeveloperops devopsops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Wtf does this do

Staticcheck is a code analysis tool for Go programs. It reads your Go source code without running it and checks for problems: bugs that the compiler would not catch, performance issues, code that can be simplified, and violations of Go's style conventions. The analysis it performs goes beyond what Go's built-in vet tool does. The primary tool in the repository is staticcheck itself. It is installed as a command-line program and run against Go packages, either in a local project or in a CI pipeline. The results are a list of findings with file names and line numbers pointing to the specific code that triggered each check. The checks cover a wide range, from detecting API misuse and incorrect string formatting arguments to flagging code patterns that are valid but confusing or slower than they need to be. The repository also contains three smaller utilities related to struct memory layout: structlayout, which prints the size of each field in a struct and any padding bytes inserted by the compiler between them, structlayout-optimize, which suggests a different field order that would reduce wasted padding, and structlayout-pretty, which formats that output as an ASCII diagram. Installation is done with Go's own install command using a version tag, such as go install followed by the package path and the release version. Pre-built binary downloads are also available for those who do not have Go installed. The tool can analyze code written for any version of Go up to the current release, and it requires only the latest Go release to compile. The project is maintained by a single developer and relies on financial sponsorship from individuals and companies. The README notes that continued development depends on that support and invites users who rely on the tool to consider sponsoring.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Run staticcheck on my Go module and explain every finding it reports, grouping them by category: bugs, performance issues, and simplification suggestions.
Prompt 2
Set up staticcheck in my GitHub Actions workflow so the build fails if any Go package has bugs or API misuse detected.
Prompt 3
Use structlayout and structlayout-optimize on my Go structs to show the current memory layout with padding bytes and suggest a more efficient field ordering.
Prompt 4
I want to suppress a specific staticcheck warning in one file without disabling the whole check. Show me the correct comment directive syntax.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is go-tools?

Staticcheck is a Go code analysis tool that catches bugs, performance problems, and style issues that the Go compiler and built-in vet tool miss, running from the command line or in CI.

What language is go-tools written in?

Mainly Go. The stack also includes Go.

How hard is go-tools to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is go-tools for?

Mainly developer.

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