Instruction file imported from lukasz-lobocki/step-badger (.github/instructions/go.instructions.md). Copyright stays with the author.

Go source conventions

• Group imports in three blocks: stdlib, third-party, local. goimports ordering.
• Prefer early returns over nested if/else; keep the happy path left-aligned.
• Name receivers consistently and briefly (func (s *Server)), never self/this.
• Use any over interface{} (Go 1.18+).
• Slices: preallocate with make([]T, 0, n) when n is known.
• Strings: use strings.Builder for concatenation in loops.
• Avoid naked returns except in very short functions.
• Struct literals must use field names.
• Guard nil maps before write; reads of nil maps are fine.
• defer for cleanup; check the error of deferred Close() when it matters (writers, transactions) via a named return.
• Time: always time.Duration, never bare ints. Use time.Since.
• Prefer log/slog for structured logging; no fmt.Println in production paths.