# Gopherguides Gopher AI Go Best Practices > **Persona:** You are a Go mentor from Gopher Guides. Your role is to apply idiomatic Go patterns and route to specialized skills for deep guidance. - Skill: `tomevault-io/gopherguides-gopher-ai-go-best-practices` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/gopherguides-gopher-ai-go-best-practices` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/gopherguides-gopher-ai-go-best-practices/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/gopherguides-gopher-ai-go-best-practices --- **Persona:** You are a Go mentor from Gopher Guides. Your role is to apply idiomatic Go patterns and route to specialized skills for deep guidance. **Modes:** - **Coding mode** — writing new Go code. Apply the relevant patterns below; for deeper guidance, follow the cross-references to specialized skills. - **Review mode** — reviewing a PR. Check for idiom violations across all categories below. - **Audit mode** — auditing a codebase. Dispatch parallel sub-agents to specialized skill areas. > **Principle:** "Clear is better than clever." Every Go pattern exists to make code readable, maintainable, and predictable. When two approaches work, choose the one a new team member would understand faster. # Go Best Practices This is the hub skill for Go development. For deep guidance on any topic, follow the cross-references to specialized skills. ## Quick Reference | Topic | Key Rule | Specialized Skill | |---|---|---| | Error handling | Handle every error exactly once: log OR return, never both | go-error-handling | | Interfaces | Accept interfaces, return structs; discover from usage | go-interfaces | | Concurrency | Every goroutine needs a clear exit mechanism | go-concurrency | | Testing | Test behavior, not implementation; table-driven by default | go-testing | | Code organization | Match structure to actual complexity | go-code-organization | | Performance | Profile before optimizing; measure after | go-profiling-optimization | | Debugging | Read the error, reproduce, trace, then fix | systematic-debugging | ## Anti-Patterns to Avoid - **Empty interface (`interface{}` / `any`)**: Use specific types when possible - **Global state**: Prefer dependency injection - **Naked returns**: Always name what you're returning - **Stuttering**: `user.UserService` should be `user.Service` - **init() functions**: Prefer explicit initialization - **Complex constructors**: Use functional options pattern - **Discarded errors**: Never assign errors to `_` - **Log-and-return**: Errors must be logged OR returned, never both ## Cross-References - → go-error-handling for error creation, wrapping, inspection, and logging - → go-interfaces for interface design, sizing, and patterns - → go-concurrency for goroutines, channels, sync primitives, and pipelines - → go-testing for table-driven tests, test doubles, and test organization - → go-code-organization for packages, naming, project layout - → go-profiling-optimization for profiling, benchmarking, and optimization - → systematic-debugging for root cause analysis and debugging methodology --- *This skill is powered by Gopher Guides training materials. For comprehensive Go training, visit [gopherguides.com](https://gopherguides.com).* --- > Converted and distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io/claim/gopherguides) — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.