golangci-lint

Run linters in the current folder

$ golangci-lint run

$ golangci-lint linters

$ golangci-lint run [[-E|--enable]] [linter]

golangci-lint [run] [flags] [pkg|file|dir...] | version | help

--version
    Print version and exit

--help, -h
    Show help

--config=PATH
    Path to config file (.golangci.yml)

--no-config
    Don't load config file

--out-format=FORMAT
    Output format: colored-line-number, line-number, json, etc.

--print-issued-lines
    Print lines with issues

--print-linter-name
    Print linter name before issues

--timeout=DURATION
    Timeout for lint (default 1m0s)

--max-issues-per-linter=NUM
    Max issues per linter (default 50)

--max-same-issues=NUM
    Max same issues printed (default 3)

--issues-exit-code=NUM
    Exit code for issues (0,1=default,2)

--path-prefix=PREFIX
    Prepend path prefix to output paths

--build-tags=TAGS
    Build tags for vetting

--skip-dirs-use-default
    Use default skipped dirs

--verbose, -v
    Verbose mode

golangci-lint is a high-performance linter for Go code that aggregates over 50 popular linters into a single, fast tool. It runs linters in parallel, employs intelligent caching to skip unchanged files, and supports customizable configurations via YAML files. Ideal for CI/CD pipelines, it detects issues like unused variables, code style violations, potential bugs, and performance problems.

Key features include:
- Speed: Up to 10x faster than running linters separately.
- Configurability: Fine-tune linters, severity levels, and exclusions in .golangci.yml.
- Output formats: Supports plain text, JSON, code-climate, and more.
- Integrations: Works with editors like VS Code and Vim via plugins.

It's the de facto standard for Go projects on GitHub, used by major companies. Developers use it to enforce code quality without slowing down workflows. Install via go install and run on packages or directories.

Requires Go 1.21+; high memory usage with many linters enabled; caching may miss changes if not invalidated properly; config validation needed for custom setups.

go install github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint@latest
Or via package managers like brew, apt.

Use .golangci.yml:

linters:
  enable:
    - gofmt
    - govet
issues:
  exclude-use-default: false

run: Lint code (default).
completion: Shell completion.
lint: Alias for run.

Created in 2017 by Dmitry Timoshkov (@maratori) to solve slow, fragmented Go linting. Evolved from golint integration, now maintained by a team with 30k+ stars on GitHub. Replaced deprecated tools like golint; v1.0 in 2019 marked stability.

go(1), gofmt(1), go vet(1)