golang-standards

Instruction file imported from wgr1984/openspmregistry (.cursor/rules/golang-standards.mdc). Copyright stays with the author.

Golang Standards and Best Practices

Standards for writing Go code with emphasis on using standard library features and minimal dependencies.

filters:

Match Go files

• type: file_extension pattern: "\.go$"

Match import statements

• type: content pattern: "^\simport\s\("

actions:

• type: suggest message: | When writing Go code:

  1. Prefer standard library packages over external dependencies:

     // Preferred: Using net/http
     import "net/http"
     
     // Avoid when possible: Using external HTTP libraries
     import "github.com/external/http-lib"

  2. Use latest Go features and patterns:

     • Use Go 1.22+ features where applicable
     • Utilize built-in generics (Go 1.18+)
     • Use structured logging with slog (Go 1.21+)
     • Implement context.Context for cancellation
     • Use error wrapping (Go 1.13+)

  3. HTTP Server Guidelines:

     • Use net/http for HTTP servers
     • Use http.ServeMux for routing
     • Use http.Client for HTTP clients
     • Use context for timeouts and cancellation

  4. Common Standard Libraries to Prefer:

     • net/http: HTTP client/server
     • encoding/json: JSON handling
     • html/template: HTML templating
     • database/sql: Database access
     • crypto/*: Cryptographic operations
     • log/slog: Structured logging
     • context: Context handling
     • sync: Synchronization primitives
     • time: Time handling
     • errors: Error handling

  5. Testing:

     • Use testing package
     • Use httptest for HTTP testing
     • Use testing/quick for property testing
     • Use go test -race for race detection

  6. Linting:

     • Run project lint before committing or after any change: make lint
     • Lint runs staticcheck, golangci-lint, and errcheck (see Makefile)

examples:

• input: |

  Bad: Using external HTTP library

  import ( "github.com/gin-gonic/gin" )

  Good: Using standard library

  import ( "net/http" "html/template" "encoding/json" ) output: "Using standard library packages"

• input: |

  Bad: Old style logging

  log.Printf("error: %v", err)

  Good: Using structured logging

  slog.Error("operation failed", "err", err) output: "Using modern Go features"

metadata: priority: high version: 1.0