golint-sl

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Quick Start

About 447 wordsAbout 1 min

2025-01-16

Get golint-sl running on your project in under 5 minutes.

Step 1: Install golangci-lint

If you don't already have golangci-lint v2:

curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/golangci/golangci-lint/master/install.sh | sh -s -- -b $(go env GOPATH)/bin v2.8.0

Step 2: Add Plugin Configuration

Create .custom-gcl.yml in your project root:

version: v2.8.0

plugins:
  - module: 'github.com/spechtlabs/golint-sl'
    version: v0.1.0  # Use latest version

Step 3: Build the Custom Binary

golangci-lint custom

Step 4: Enable golint-sl

Create or update .golangci.yml:

version: "2"

linters:
  enable:
    - golint-sl

  settings:
    custom:
      golint-sl:
        type: module
        description: SpechtLabs Go linter collection
        original-url: github.com/spechtlabs/golint-sl

Step 5: Run

Navigate to your Go project and run:

./custom-gcl run ./...

That's it. golint-sl will analyze all packages and report any issues found.

Understanding the Output

Output looks like standard golangci-lint results:

./handlers/user.go:42:3: pointer parameter "user" used without nil check; add 'if user == nil { return ... }' at function start (golint-sl)
./services/api.go:87:2: log call without structured fields; use zap.String("field", value) to add context for wide events (golint-sl)
./controllers/reconcile.go:156:1: reconciler function does not call Status().Update(); ensure status is updated after making changes (golint-sl)

Each line contains:

  • File and position: ./handlers/user.go:42:3
  • Problem: What the analyzer detected
  • Fix: How to resolve it
  • Linter name: (golint-sl)

Step 6: Fix Issues

Work through the reported issues. Each diagnostic tells you exactly what to fix:

Nil Check Example

Before:

func ProcessUser(user *User) error {
    return user.Save() // Panic if user is nil!
}

After:

func ProcessUser(user *User) error {
    if user == nil {
        return errors.New("user cannot be nil")
    }
    return user.Save()
}

Structured Logging Example

Before:

log.Info("user created")

After:

logger.Info("user created",
    zap.String("user_id", user.ID),
    zap.String("request_id", ctx.Value("request_id").(string)),
)

Disabling Specific Analyzers

Disable analyzers that don't apply to your project via .golangci.yml:

version: "2"

linters:
  enable:
    - golint-sl

  settings:
    custom:
      golint-sl:
        type: module
        description: SpechtLabs Go linter collection
        original-url: github.com/spechtlabs/golint-sl
        settings:
          disabled-analyzers:
            - reconciler       # Not a Kubernetes project
            - statusupdate
            - sideeffects

Suppressing Individual Warnings

Use standard nolint directives:

//nolint:golint-sl
func ignoredFunction() {
    // All golint-sl checks are suppressed for this function
}

//nolint:nilcheck
func nilNotChecked(ptr *string) {
    fmt.Println(*ptr) // nilcheck won't report this
}

Next Steps

Now that you have golint-sl running: