The go Command

​

Usage

go <command> [arguments]

​

Available Commands

​

Build and Compilation

• build - Compile packages and dependencies
• install - Compile and install packages and dependencies
• clean - Remove object files and cached files
• run - Compile and run Go program

​

Testing and Analysis

• test - Test packages
• vet - Report likely mistakes in packages
• doc - Show documentation for package or symbol

​

Module Management

• get - Add dependencies to current module and install them
• mod - Module maintenance
• work - Workspace maintenance

​

Code Generation and Formatting

• fmt - Format package sources with gofmt
• generate - Generate Go files by processing source
• fix - Apply fixes suggested by static checkers

​

Information and Environment

• env - Print Go environment information
• list - List packages or modules
• version - Print Go version
• tool - Run specified go tool

​

Other Commands

• bug - Start a bug report
• telemetry - Manage telemetry data and settings

​

Common Build Flags

​

Basic Flags

-C dir          # Change to dir before running the command
-v              # Print names of packages as they are compiled
-n              # Print commands but do not run them
-x              # Print commands as they are executed
-a              # Force rebuilding of packages that are already up-to-date

​

Compilation Flags

-p n            # Number of programs that can run in parallel (default: GOMAXPROCS)
-race           # Enable data race detection
-msan           # Enable interoperation with memory sanitizer
-asan           # Enable interoperation with address sanitizer
-cover          # Enable code coverage instrumentation

​

Advanced Flags

-gcflags '[pattern=]arg list'   # Arguments to pass to go tool compile
-ldflags '[pattern=]arg list'   # Arguments to pass to go tool link
-asmflags '[pattern=]arg list'  # Arguments to pass to go tool asm
-tags tag,list                  # Build tags to consider satisfied
-trimpath                       # Remove file system paths from executable
-buildmode mode                 # Build mode to use

​

Environment Variables

go env

go env GOPATH GOROOT GOOS GOARCH

go env -w GOPRIVATE=github.com/mycompany/*

​

Key Environment Variables

• GOROOT - Location of the Go installation
• GOPATH - Workspace location (default: $HOME/go)
• GOBIN - Directory where go install places binaries
• GOOS - Target operating system
• GOARCH - Target architecture
• GO111MODULE - Module support mode
• GOPROXY - Module proxy URL
• GOPRIVATE - Patterns for private modules

​

Examples

​

Building Programs

# Build current package
go build

# Build with output name
go build -o myapp

# Build specific package
go build example.com/myapp

​

Running Programs

# Run current package
go run .

# Run specific files
go run main.go

# Run with arguments
go run . --help

# Run from module path with version
go run example.com/cmd/tool@latest

​

Getting Help

# Get help on a command
go help build
go help test

# Get help on a topic
go help modules
go help environment
go help buildmode

​

Help Topics

• buildconstraint - Build constraints
• buildjson - Build -json encoding
• buildmode - Build modes
• c - Calling between Go and C
• cache - Build and test caching
• environment - Environment variables
• filetype - File types
• go.mod - The go.mod file
• gopath - GOPATH environment variable
• goproxy - Module proxy protocol
• importpath - Import path syntax
• modules - Modules, module versions, and more
• packages - Package lists and patterns
• testflag - Testing flags
• testfunc - Testing functions

go help <topic>

​

See Also