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igo stores everything under a single workspace directory — by default ~/go. No files are written outside this directory (except your shell config).

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Default location

The workspace defaults to ~/go. Override it with -godir: 
igo -i 1.23.4 -godir /opt/go
Use -system to install at /usr/go instead: 
igo -i 1.23.4 -system
The -system flag installs to /usr/go, which may require elevated permissions depending on your system configuration.

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Directory structure

~/go/
├── version              # active version string, e.g. "1.23.4"
├── bin -> versions/1.23.4/go/bin    # GOBIN symlink
├── root -> versions/1.23.4/go       # GOROOT symlink
├── path -> versions/1.23.4          # GOPATH symlink
├── downloads/           # cached release tarballs
├── shims/
│   ├── go               # version-resolving shim script
│   └── gofmt            # version-resolving shim script
├── versions/
│   ├── 1.23.4/
│   │   ├── installer.lock   # prevents re-installation
│   │   └── go/
│   │       ├── bin/
│   │       │   ├── go.1.23.4       # versioned Go binary
│   │       │   └── gofmt.1.23.4    # versioned gofmt binary
│   │       ├── pkg/
│   │       │   └── mod/            # GOMODCACHE
│   │       └── src/
│   └── 1.22.6/
│       └── go/
├── cache/               # GOCACHE
├── telemetry/           # GOTELEMETRYDIR
└── scripts/             # GOSCRIPTS
version file — A plain text file containing the active version string (e.g. 1.23.4). Updated by igo -s and igo -i. Symlinks — bin, root, and path are symlinks that point into the active version’s directory. When you run igo -s 1.23.4, igo removes these symlinks and recreates them pointing at the new version.
SymlinkPoints toGo env var
binversions/<ver>/go/binGOBIN
rootversions/<ver>/goGOROOT
pathversions/<ver>GOPATH
Versioned binaries — igo renames go → go.<version> and gofmt → gofmt.<version> inside each version’s bin/ directory. The shims use these versioned names to invoke the correct binary.

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Lock files

~/go/installer.lock — Created at the start of igo -i and removed at the end. If this file exists when you run igo -i, the installation is aborted to prevent concurrent installs. ~/go/versions/<version>/installer.lock — Written after a successful install. Prevents re-installing the same version. Remove this file manually if you need to force a reinstall.

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Backup behavior

If bin, root, or path exist as real directories (not symlinks) when igo tries to create a symlink, igo renames them to bin.bak, root.bak, or path.bak to avoid data loss.

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Downloaded tarballs

Release tarballs are cached in ~/go/downloads/. If the tarball for a version already exists there, igo skips the download step. You can safely delete files from this directory to free disk space.
igo sets the sticky bit and setuid/setgid on installed version directories after installation. The igo -u command removes these bits before deleting the directory.

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