How Can I Install Go Tools Using Go Modules Without Affecting My Project's `go.mod`?

Using Go Modules to Install Go Tools

When working with Go modules as your dependency management system, you may encounter difficulties when attempting to install tools. This article addresses such a scenario, where running go get -u github.com/go-critic/go-critic/... results in the error message: "go: cannot find main module; see 'go help modules'."

Case 1: Installing Without Modifying go.mod

If you wish to install a tool without altering your current go.mod, consider performing the following steps:

1. Navigate to a directory that does not have a go.mod file, such as /tmp.
2. Run the go get command to install the tool, for example: $ cd /tmp && go get github.com/some/[email protected].

Alternatively, you can use gobin, a module-aware command that offers greater flexibility and allows you to install tools without modifying your go.mod.

Case 2: Tracking Tool Dependencies in go.mod

However, if you want to track a tool as a versioned dependency within your go.mod, you can follow the instructions outlined in the "How can I track tool dependencies for a module?" FAQ on the modules wiki.

To achieve this, create a tools.go file in a separate package and include a //go:build tools build tag. For instance:

//go:build tools
// +build tools

package tools

import (
    _ "golang.org/x/tools/cmd/stringer"
)

The import statements ensure that the go command records the version information of your tools in the go.mod file. Meanwhile, the // build tools build constraint prevents your regular builds from importing the tools.

The above is the detailed content of How Can I Install Go Tools Using Go Modules Without Affecting My Project's `go.mod`?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!