Disable Analyzers

About 603 wordsAbout 2 min

2025-01-16

Sometimes you need to suppress golint-sl warnings. Here's how to do it at various levels.

Globally (Project-Wide)

Disable analyzers for your entire project in .golangci.yml:

version: "2"

linters:
  enable:
    - golint-sl

  settings:
    custom:
      golint-sl:
        type: module
        settings:
          disabled-analyzers:
            - todotracker      # We use a different TODO tracking system
            - exporteddoc      # Internal project, docs not required
            - reconciler       # Not a Kubernetes project
            - statusupdate
            - sideeffects

golint-sl refuses settings it doesn't understand: an unknown key (such as disabled_analyzers) or a name in disabled-analyzers that isn't an analyzer stops the lint run with an error naming it, instead of leaving the analyzer you meant to disable running.

Per-Line with Directives

Use //nolint comment directives to suppress warnings on specific lines:

// Suppress all golint-sl analyzers on this line
result := legacyFunction() //nolint:golint-sl

// Suppress a specific analyzer
err := doSomething() //nolint:errorwrap

// Suppress multiple analyzers
data := process(input) //nolint:nilcheck,errorwrap

The directive can also be placed on the line immediately before:

//nolint:golint-sl
result := legacyFunction()

Supported Formats

Format	Description
`//nolint:golint-sl`	Suppress all golint-sl analyzers
`//nolint:analyzername`	Suppress specific analyzer (e.g., `errorwrap`)
`//nolint:name1,name2`	Suppress multiple analyzers
`// nolint:golint-sl`	Space after `//` is allowed

Per-File Suppression

To suppress warnings for an entire file, use a directive at the package declaration:

//nolint:golint-sl // This file uses legacy patterns intentionally
package legacy

Note: This suppresses warnings only on the package line itself. For true file-wide suppression, consider using the disabled-analyzers setting instead.

Excluding Files

Generated Code

golint-sl automatically skips common generated file patterns:

*_gen.go
*.pb.go
zz_generated*.go
Files in mock_* directories

Vendor Directory

The vendor/ directory is automatically skipped.

Custom Exclusions via golangci-lint

Use golangci-lint's built-in exclusion mechanisms:

# .golangci.yml
version: "2"

issues:
  exclude-dirs:
    - testdata
    - generated

  exclude-files:
    - ".*_generated\\.go$"

When to Disable

Disable analyzers thoughtfully. Valid reasons include:

Reason	Example
Not applicable	Kubernetes analyzers for non-K8s projects
Different pattern	Using logrus when wideevents expects zap
Legacy code	Migrating incrementally
False positive	Analyzer incorrectly flags valid code

Invalid reasons:

"Too many warnings" - Fix them instead
"We've always done it this way" - Consider why the analyzer exists
"It's just a prototype" - Prototypes become production

Gradual Adoption

If adopting golint-sl on an existing codebase, start with a small set of analyzers and expand:

# .golangci.yml - Week 1: Start with safety checks
version: "2"

linters:
  enable:
    - golint-sl

  settings:
    custom:
      golint-sl:
        type: module
        settings:
          disabled-analyzers:
            # Disable everything except safety checks
            - humaneerror
            - errorwrap
            - sentinelerrors
            - wideevents
            - contextlogger
            - contextpropagation
            - reconciler
            - statusupdate
            - sideeffects
            - clockinterface
            - interfaceconsistency
            - mockverify
            - optionspattern
            - httpclient
            - goroutineleak
            - nopanic
            - nestingdepth
            - syncaccess
            - closurecomplexity
            - emptyinterface
            - returninterface
            - contextfirst
            - pkgnaming
            - functionsize
            - exporteddoc
            - todotracker
            - hardcodedcreds
            - lifecycle
            - dataflow
            # nilcheck and resourceclose are NOT listed, so they stay enabled

Then remove analyzers from the disabled list as you fix issues, enabling more checks over time.

Documenting Disabled Analyzers

Always document why an analyzer is disabled using YAML comments:

settings:
  disabled-analyzers:
    # We use logrus with a custom wide-event middleware
    # See: internal/logging/README.md
    - wideevents

    # Kubernetes analyzers not applicable to CLI project
    - reconciler
    - statusupdate
    - sideeffects

    # Migrating incrementally, will enable Q2 2025
    # Tracking: JIRA-1234
    - humaneerror

Reporting False Positives

If an analyzer consistently produces false positives:

Check if you're using it correctly
Search existing issues
Open a new issue with:
- Minimal reproduction code
- Expected behavior
- Actual behavior
- golint-sl version

Next Steps

Configure Analyzers - Enable specific analyzers
Understanding Philosophy - Why these patterns matter

Integration

Configuration