Zero Skills

go-zero Skills for AI Agents

Structured knowledge base optimized for AI agents to help developers work effectively with the go-zero microservices framework.

Overview

This skill provides AI agents with comprehensive go-zero knowledge to:

• Generate accurate code following go-zero conventions
• Understand the three-layer architecture (Handler → Logic → Model)
• Apply best practices for microservices development
• Troubleshoot common issues efficiently
• Build production-ready applications

Quick Start

When helping with go-zero development:

1. For new projects: Start with getting-started/quick-start.md
2. For specific patterns: Reference the appropriate pattern guide
3. For issues: Check troubleshooting/common-issues.md
4. For best practices: See best-practices/overview.md

Core Patterns

REST API Development

Reference: references/rest-api-patterns.md

• Handler/Logic/Context three-layer architecture
• Request validation and error handling
• Middleware implementation (auth, logging, metrics)
• Response formatting with httpx
• Complete CRUD examples with ✅ correct and ❌ incorrect patterns

When to use: Creating or modifying REST API services, implementing HTTP endpoints

RPC Services

Reference: references/rpc-patterns.md

• Protocol Buffers definitions and code generation
• Service discovery with etcd/consul
• Load balancing strategies
• Error handling and timeout configuration
• Client-server communication patterns

When to use: Building gRPC services, implementing service-to-service communication

Database Operations

Reference: references/database-patterns.md

• SQL operations with sqlx (CRUD, transactions, batch operations)
• MongoDB integration patterns
• Redis caching strategies
• Connection pooling and performance optimization
• Model generation with goctl

When to use: Implementing data persistence, caching, or database queries

Resilience Patterns

Reference: references/resilience-patterns.md

• Circuit breaker configuration
• Rate limiting and throttling
• Load shedding under high load
• Timeout and retry strategies
• Graceful degradation

When to use: Ensuring service reliability, handling failures, managing system load

Integration with AI Tools

This skill works seamlessly with the go-zero AI ecosystem:

• ai-context: Concise instructions for GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf
• mcp-zero: Runtime tools for Claude Desktop/Code (goctl integration)

See articles/ai-ecosystem-guide.md for complete integration guide.

Project Structure

zero-skills/
├── SKILL.md                    # This file - skill entry point
├── getting-started/            # Quick start guides
│   └── quick-start.md
├── references/                 # Detailed pattern documentation
│   ├── rest-api-patterns.md
│   ├── rpc-patterns.md
│   ├── database-patterns.md
│   └── resilience-patterns.md
├── best-practices/             # Production recommendations
│   └── overview.md
├── troubleshooting/            # Common issues and solutions
│   └── common-issues.md
├── articles/                   # In-depth guides
│   └── ai-ecosystem-guide.md
└── examples/                   # Demo projects and scripts
    ├── verify-tutorial.sh
    └── demo-project/

Common Workflows

Creating a New REST API Service

1. Define API specification in .api file
2. Generate code with goctl api go -api user.api -dir .
3. Implement business logic in logic layer
4. Add validation and error handling
5. Test with httpx utilities

See complete workflow in references/rest-api-patterns.md

Implementing Database Operations

1. Design database schema
2. Generate model with goctl model mysql datasource
3. Inject model into ServiceContext
4. Use sqlx for queries in logic layer
5. Handle transactions and errors properly

See complete patterns in references/database-patterns.md

Adding Middleware

1. Create middleware function in internal/middleware/
2. Register in route configuration
3. Implement authentication/authorization logic
4. Pass data through request context
5. Handle errors appropriately

See middleware patterns in references/rest-api-patterns.md#middleware

Key Principles

✅ Always Follow

• Three-layer architecture: Handler → Logic → Model separation
• Error handling: Use structured errors, not fmt.Errorf in APIs
• Configuration: Load config with conf.MustLoad
• Context propagation: Pass ctx through all layers
• Type safety: Define types in .api files, generate with goctl

❌ Never Do

• Put business logic in handlers
• Ignore errors or use bare fmt.Errorf for HTTP errors
• Hard-code configuration values
• Skip validation of user inputs
• Bypass the three-layer architecture

Progressive Learning

New to go-zero?

1. Start with getting-started/quick-start.md
2. Build a simple REST API using references/rest-api-patterns.md
3. Add database operations from references/database-patterns.md

Building production services?

1. Review best-practices/overview.md
2. Implement resilience patterns from references/resilience-patterns.md
3. Reference troubleshooting/common-issues.md for common pitfalls

Extending capabilities?

1. Check articles/ai-ecosystem-guide.md
2. Use examples/demo-project/ to test configurations
3. Run examples/verify-tutorial.sh to validate setup

Resources

• Official documentation: go-zero.dev
• GitHub repository: zeromicro/go-zero
• Community: Join go-zero developer community (see main repo README)

Version Compatibility

This skill targets go-zero 1.5+. Patterns are updated regularly to reflect framework evolution. Always check official documentation for the latest API changes.