poteto Go Best Practices
| Pattern | When to apply |
|---|---|
| Minimal main | New binaries |
| Single bootstrap | App wiring across modes |
| Ordered shutdown | Long-running processes |
| Non-blocking fanout | Channel-based event systems |
| Concurrency testing | Any goroutine code |
| Layered config | Multi-source configuration |
| Cross-platform paths | File/config path resolution |
| Secure debug logging | HTTP client instrumentation |
| Golden test matrices | Rendering / output components |
| Focused linters | CI pipeline setup |
Read references/patterns.md for code examples.
Rules
main.go is a stub. Call
cmd.Execute()and nothing else. Gate diagnostics (pprof) behind env vars.One bootstrap path. All modes (interactive, headless, test) share the same initialization function. Two paths will drift.
Ordered shutdown. Cancel dependents before their dependencies, then run independent cleanup in parallel under a timeout context. WaitGroup the parallel phase.
Never block the sender. Non-blocking channel sends with an explicit drop policy. Log drops at debug level. Document the policy.
Test concurrency mechanically.
testing/synctestfor deterministic timing,goleak.VerifyNonefor leak detection, dedicated regression tests for timer/channel deadlocks.Explicit config precedence. Global → project → flags. Walk up from CWD to discover project configs, reverse so closest wins, deep-merge.
Centralize platform paths. One function per concern. Resolution order: env override → XDG → platform default → fallback.
Redact secrets in debug logs. Wrap
http.RoundTripper. Filter headers matching authorization, api-key, token, secret. Gate on debug level to skip allocation in prod.Golden tests over matrices. Cross dimensions (layout × theme × size) as parallel subtests. Sweep continuous ranges to catch off-by-one bugs.
Focused linters, not all linters. Enable what catches real bugs (bodyclose, noctx, tparallel). Disable noisy defaults. Add project-specific checks as scripts. Always
-racein tests.