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Audit score 90

golang-lint

samber/cc-skills-golang

Configure golangci-lint, interpret lint output, and suppress warnings in Go projects.

What is golang-lint?

golang-lint guides configuration of golangci-lint (Go's standard linting aggregator), interpretation of lint findings, and use of nolint directives. Use when setting up code quality tooling, fixing lint warnings, or choosing which linters to enable.

Run golangci-lint with 100+ aggregated linters in parallel across Go codebases
Configure .golangci.yml with production-ready linter selection and per-linter settings
Auto-fix issues where possible using golangci-lint run --fix
Suppress false positives with specific //nolint:linter-name // reason directives
Interpret lint output and map findings to their source linters for targeted fixes

How to install golang-lint

npx skills add https://github.com/samber/cc-skills-golang --skill golang-lint

Prerequisites

golangci-lint installed: go install github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint@latest
Go toolchain (go command) available
A .golangci.yml file in the project root (can be generated from recommended template)

Claude Code

Cursor

Windsurf

Cline

How to use golang-lint

1.Install golangci-lint if not already present
2.Copy or generate a .golangci.yml configuration (use the recommended production-ready setup as a starting point)
3.Run golangci-lint run ./... to lint all Go files and review output
4.Use golangci-lint run --fix ./... to auto-fix issues where possible
5.For legacy codebases, set issues.new-from-rev in .golangci.yml to lint only new/changed code
6.Suppress remaining false positives with //nolint:linter-name // justification directives
7.Run golangci-lint fmt ./... before committing to format code
8.Add lint and lint-fix targets to your Makefile for team consistency

Use cases

Good for

Setting up linting on a new Go project with a recommended .golangci.yml configuration
Fixing lint warnings on existing code and choosing which issues to suppress vs. resolve
Adopting linting on a legacy codebase using incremental adoption (new-from-rev) and parallel cleanup agents
Configuring linter-specific rules (timeouts, exclusions, concurrency) for large or slow repositories
Migrating from golangci-lint v1 to v2 configuration format

Who it's for

Go developers setting up or maintaining code quality tooling
Teams adopting linting on legacy codebases
Code reviewers interpreting lint output and nolint justifications
DevOps engineers configuring linting in CI pipelines (with golang-continuous-integration skill)

golang-lint FAQ

When should I use //nolint vs. fixing the underlying issue?

Always fix the root cause first. Use //nolint only for genuine false positives or fire-and-forget patterns (e.g., logging errors that are not actionable). Every //nolint directive must specify the linter name and include a justification comment; the nolintlint linter enforces this.

How do I handle 'deadline exceeded' errors?

Increase or remove the run.timeout setting in .golangci.yml. golangci-lint v2 defaults to no timeout (0), so this is rare. If it persists, reduce run.concurrency or exclude slow paths.

Can I lint only new code instead of the entire codebase?

Yes. Set issues.new-from-rev: HEAD~1 (or another ref) in .golangci.yml to lint only code changed since that revision. This enables incremental adoption on legacy codebases.

How do I know which linter flagged an issue?

The linter name appears in parentheses at the end of each lint message (e.g., 'file.go:42:10: message (linter-name)'). Use golangci-lint linters to list all available linters and the linter-reference.md for descriptions.

Should I ever suppress security linters like gosec or bodyclose?

Rarely. Security linters flag real risks. Only suppress with a very strong justification and explicit approval. Use //nolint:gosec // reason and document why the risk is acceptable.

Full instructions (SKILL.md)

Source of truth, from samber/cc-skills-golang.

name: golang-lint description: "Linting best practices and golangci-lint configuration for Golang projects — running linters, configuring .golangci.yml, suppressing warnings with nolint directives, interpreting lint output, and selecting linters. Use when configuring golangci-lint, asking about lint warnings or nolint suppressions, setting up code quality tooling, or choosing linters. Also use when the user mentions golangci-lint, go vet, staticcheck, or revive. Not for wiring a lint step into a GitHub Actions pipeline (→ See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-continuous-integration skill)." user-invocable: true license: MIT compatibility: Designed for Claude Code, Codex or similar harness, and for projects using Golang. metadata: author: samber version: "1.4.1" openclaw: emoji: "🧹" homepage: https://github.com/samber/cc-skills-golang requires: bins: - go - golangci-lint install: - kind: brew formula: golangci-lint bins: [golangci-lint] allowed-tools: Read Edit Write Glob Grep Bash(go:) Bash(golangci-lint:) Bash(git:*) Agent paths:

"**/*.go"
".golangci.yml"

Persona: You are a Go code quality engineer. You treat linting as a first-class part of the development workflow — not a post-hoc cleanup step.

Orchestration mode: Fan out the five sub-agents described in the "Parallelizing Legacy Codebase Cleanup" section (auto-fix, security linters, error handling, style/formatting, code quality) when adopting linting on a legacy codebase, so independent linter categories are fixed concurrently. On Claude Code, use ultracode to opt into multi-agent orchestration explicitly.

Modes:

Setup mode — configuring .golangci.yml, choosing linters, enabling CI: follow the configuration and workflow sections sequentially.
Coding mode — writing new Go code: launch a background agent running golangci-lint run --fix on the modified files only while the main agent continues implementing the feature; surface results when it completes.
Interpret/fix mode — reading lint output, suppressing warnings, fixing issues on existing code: start from "Interpreting Output" and "Suppressing Lint Warnings"; use parallel sub-agents for large-scale legacy cleanup.

Dependencies:

golangci-lint: go install github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint@latest

Go Linting

Overview

golangci-lint is the standard Go linting tool. It aggregates 100+ linters into a single binary, runs them in parallel, and provides a unified configuration format. Run it frequently during development and always in CI.

Every Go project MUST have a .golangci.yml — it is the source of truth for which linters are enabled and how they are configured. See the recommended configuration for a production-ready setup with 48 linters enabled.

Quick Reference

# Run all configured linters
golangci-lint run ./...

# Auto-fix issues where possible
golangci-lint run --fix ./...

# Format code (golangci-lint v2+)
golangci-lint fmt ./...

# Run a single linter only
golangci-lint run --enable-only govet ./...

# List all available linters
golangci-lint linters

# Verbose output with timing info
golangci-lint run --verbose ./...

Configuration

The recommended .golangci.yml provides a production-ready setup with 33 linters. For configuration details, linter categories, and per-linter descriptions, see the linter reference — which linters check for what (correctness, style, complexity, performance, security), descriptions of all 33+ linters, and when each one is useful.

Suppressing Lint Warnings

Use //nolint directives sparingly — fix the root cause first.

// Good: specific linter + justification
//nolint:errcheck // fire-and-forget logging, error is not actionable
_ = logger.Sync()

// Bad: blanket suppression without reason
//nolint
_ = logger.Sync()

Rules:

//nolint directives MUST specify the linter name: //nolint:errcheck not //nolint
//nolint directives MUST include a justification comment: //nolint:errcheck // reason
The nolintlint linter enforces both rules above — it flags bare //nolint and missing reasons
NEVER suppress security linters (gosec, bodyclose, sqlclosecheck) without a very strong reason

For comprehensive patterns and examples, see nolint directives — when to suppress, how to write justifications, patterns for per-line vs per-function suppression, and anti-patterns.

Development Workflow

Linters SHOULD be run after every significant change: golangci-lint run ./...
Auto-fix what you can: golangci-lint run --fix ./...
Format before committing: golangci-lint fmt ./...
Incremental adoption on legacy code: set issues.new-from-rev in .golangci.yml to only lint new/changed code, then gradually clean up old code

Makefile targets (recommended):

lint:
	golangci-lint run ./...

lint-fix:
	golangci-lint run --fix ./...

fmt:
	golangci-lint fmt ./...

For CI pipeline setup (GitHub Actions with golangci-lint-action), see the samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-continuous-integration skill.

Interpreting Output

Each issue follows this format:

path/to/file.go:42:10: message describing the issue (linter-name)

The linter name in parentheses tells you which linter flagged it. Use this to:

Look up the linter in the reference to understand what it checks
Suppress with //nolint:linter-name // reason if it's a false positive
Use golangci-lint run --verbose for additional context and timing

Common Issues

Problem	Solution
"deadline exceeded"	Set or increase `run.timeout` in `.golangci.yml`; golangci-lint v2 defaults to no timeout (`0`)
Too many issues on legacy code	Set `issues.new-from-rev: HEAD~1` to lint only new code
Linter not found	Check `golangci-lint linters` — linter may need a newer version
Conflicts between linters	Disable the less useful one with a comment explaining why
v1 config errors after upgrade	Run `golangci-lint migrate` to convert config format
Slow on large repos	Reduce `run.concurrency` or exclude paths with `linters.exclusions.paths` / `formatters.exclusions.paths`

Parallelizing Legacy Codebase Cleanup

When adopting linting on a legacy codebase, use up to 5 parallel sub-agents to fix independent linter categories simultaneously:

Sub-agent 1: Run golangci-lint run --fix ./... for auto-fixable issues
Sub-agent 2: Fix security linter findings (bodyclose, sqlclosecheck, gosec)
Sub-agent 3: Fix error handling issues (errcheck, nilerr, wrapcheck)
Sub-agent 4: Fix style and formatting (gofumpt, goimports, revive)
Sub-agent 5: Fix code quality (gocritic, unused, ineffassign)

Cross-References

→ See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-continuous-integration skill for CI pipeline with golangci-lint-action
→ See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-code-style skill for style rules that linters enforce
→ See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-security skill for SAST tools beyond linting (gosec, govulncheck)
→ See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-continuous-integration skill for automated AI-driven code review in CI using these guidelines