golang-continuous-integration

$27

Stage

Tool

Purpose

Test

go test -race

Unit + race detection

Coverage

codecov/codecov-action

Coverage reporting

Lint

golangci-lint

Comprehensive linting

Vet

go vet

Built-in static analysis

SAST

gosec, CodeQL, Bearer

Security static analysis

Vuln scan

govulncheck

Known vulnerability detection

Docker

docker/build-push-action

Multi-platform image builds

Deps

Dependabot / Renovate

Automated dependency updates

Release

GoReleaser

Automated binary releases

AI Review

Claude Code / Copilot

AI-powered PR review

Testing

.github/workflows/test.yml — see test.yml

Adapt the Go version matrix to match go.mod:

go 1.23   → matrix: ["1.23", "1.24", "1.25", "1.26", "stable"]

go 1.24   → matrix: ["1.24", "1.25", "1.26", "stable"]

go 1.25   → matrix: ["1.25", "1.26", "stable"]

go 1.26   → matrix: ["1.26", "stable"]

Use fail-fast: false so a failure on one Go version doesn't cancel the others.

Test flags:

• -race: CI MUST run tests with the -race flag (catches data races — undefined behavior in Go)

• -shuffle=on: Randomize test order to catch inter-test dependencies

• -coverprofile: Generate coverage data

• git diff --exit-code: Fails if go mod tidy changes anything

Coverage Configuration

CI SHOULD enforce code coverage thresholds. Configure thresholds in codecov.yml at the repo root — see codecov.yml

Integration Tests

.github/workflows/integration.yml — see integration.yml

Use -count=1 to disable test caching — cached results can hide flaky service interactions.

Linting

golangci-lint MUST be run in CI on every PR. .github/workflows/lint.yml — see lint.yml

golangci-lint Configuration

Create .golangci.yml at the root of the project. See the samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-lint skill for the recommended configuration.

Security & SAST

.github/workflows/security.yml — see security.yml

CI MUST run govulncheck. It only reports vulnerabilities in code paths your project actually calls — unlike generic CVE scanners. CodeQL results appear in the repository's Security tab. Bearer is good at detecting sensitive data flow issues.

CodeQL Configuration

Create .github/codeql/codeql-config.yml to use the extended security query suite — see codeql-config.yml

Available query suites:

• default: Standard security queries

• security-extended: Extra security queries with slightly lower precision

• security-and-quality: Security queries plus maintainability and reliability checks

Container Image Scanning

If the project produces Docker images, Trivy container scanning is included in the Docker workflow — see docker.yml

Dependency Management

Dependabot

.github/dependabot.yml — see dependabot.yml

Minor/patch updates are grouped into a single PR. Major updates get individual PRs since they may have breaking changes.

#### Auto-Merge for Dependabot

.github/workflows/dependabot-auto-merge.yml — see dependabot-auto-merge.yml

Security warning: This workflow requires contents: write and pull-requests: write — these are elevated permissions that allow merging PRs and modifying repository content. The if: github.actor == 'dependabot[bot]' guard restricts execution to Dependabot only. Do not remove this guard. Note that github.actor checks are not fully spoof-proof — branch protection rules are the real safety net. Ensure branch protection is configured (see [Repository Security Settings](#repository-security-settings)) with required status checks and required approvals so that auto-merge only succeeds after all checks pass, regardless of who triggered the workflow.

Renovate (alternative)

Renovate is a more mature and configurable alternative to Dependabot. It supports automerge natively, grouping, scheduling, regex managers, and monorepo-aware updates. If Dependabot feels too limited, Renovate is the go-to choice.

Install the Renovate GitHub App, then create renovate.json at the repo root — see renovate.json

Key advantages over Dependabot:

• **gomodTidy**: Automatically runs go mod tidy after updates

• Native automerge: No separate workflow needed

• Better grouping: More flexible rules for grouping PRs

• Regex managers: Can update versions in Dockerfiles, Makefiles, etc.

• Monorepo support: Handles Go workspaces and multi-module repos

Release Automation

GoReleaser automates binary builds, checksums, and GitHub Releases. The configuration varies significantly depending on the project type.

Release Workflow

.github/workflows/release.yml — see release.yml

Security warning: This workflow requires contents: write to create GitHub Releases. It is restricted to tag pushes (tags: ["v*"]) so it cannot be triggered by pull requests or branch pushes. Only users with push access to the repository can create tags.

GoReleaser for CLI/Programs

Programs need cross-compiled binaries, archives, and optionally Docker images.

.goreleaser.yml — see goreleaser-cli.yml

GoReleaser for Libraries

Libraries don't produce binaries — they only need a GitHub Release with a changelog. Use a minimal config that skips the build.

.goreleaser.yml — see goreleaser-lib.yml

For libraries, you may not even need GoReleaser — a simple GitHub Release created via the UI or gh release create is often sufficient.

GoReleaser for Monorepos / Multi-Binary

When a repository contains multiple commands (e.g., cmd/api/, cmd/worker/).

.goreleaser.yml — see goreleaser-monorepo.yml

Docker Build & Push

For projects that produce Docker images. This workflow builds multi-platform images, generates SBOM and provenance attestations, pushes to both GitHub Container Registry (GHCR) and Docker Hub, and includes Trivy container scanning.

.github/workflows/docker.yml — see docker.yml

Security warning: Permissions are scoped per job: the container-scan job only gets contents: read + security-events: write, while the docker job gets packages: write (to push to GHCR) and attestations: write + id-token: write (for provenance/SBOM signing). This ensures the scan job cannot push images even if compromised. The push flag is set to false on pull requests so untrusted code cannot publish images. The DOCKERHUB_USERNAME and DOCKERHUB_TOKEN secrets must be configured in the repository secrets settings — never hardcode credentials.

Key details:

• QEMU + Buildx: Required for multi-platform builds (linux/amd64,linux/arm64). Remove platforms you don't need.

• **push: false on PRs**: Images are built but never pushed on pull requests — this validates the Dockerfile without publishing untrusted code.

• Metadata action: Automatically generates semver tags (v1.2.3 → 1.2.3, 1.2, 1), branch tags (main), and SHA tags.

• Provenance + SBOM: provenance: mode=max and sbom: true generate supply chain attestations. These require attestations: write and id-token: write permissions.

• Dual registry: Pushes to both GHCR (using GITHUB_TOKEN, no extra secret needed) and Docker Hub (requires DOCKERHUB_USERNAME + DOCKERHUB_TOKEN secrets). Remove the Docker Hub login and image line if not needed.

• Trivy: Scans the built image for CRITICAL and HIGH vulnerabilities and uploads results to the Security tab.

• Adapt the image names and registries to your project. For GHCR-only, remove the Docker Hub login step and the docker.io/ line from images:.

Repository Security Settings

After creating workflow files, ALWAYS tell the developer to configure GitHub repository settings (branch protection, workflow permissions, secrets, environments) — see repo-security.md

AI-Driven Code Review

Add AI agents as PR reviewers alongside traditional static analysis. When loaded with this skill plugin, the agent applies the relevant Go skills per review area — catching architectural drift, logic bugs, missing error context, and concurrency hazards that linters cannot detect.

Cost note: AI review agents run concurrently per PR. For cost control, remove jobs you don't need or raise the PR trigger filter to specific branches only.

Claude Code

.github/workflows/ai-review.yml — see claude-code-review.yml

The workflow runs parallel jobs, each scoped to a set of review areas and priority level:

Job

Areas

Priority

quality

Code style, Naming, Documentation, Design patterns

Suggestion-first

correctness

Error handling, Code safety, Concurrency

Blocking-first

security

Security, Dependencies

Blocking-first

quality-depth

Tests, Performance, Observability, Modernize

Mixed

Depending on your project, also load: golang-cli, golang-context, golang-data-structures, golang-database, golang-dependency-injection, or any library-specific skill.

Run /install-github-app in Claude Code to connect to the Claude API and configure the required secrets.

GitHub Copilot

Copy skills into your repo, then append copilot-review-instructions.md to .github/copilot-instructions.md:

npx skills add https://github.com/samber/cc-skills-golang --agent github-copilot --skill '*' -y --copy

ln -s .agents .copilot

Common Mistakes

Mistake

Fix

Missing -race in CI tests

Always use go test -race

No -shuffle=on

Randomize test order to catch inter-test dependencies

Caching integration test results

Use -count=1 to disable caching

go mod tidy not checked

Add go mod tidy && git diff --exit-code step

Missing fail-fast: false

One Go version failing shouldn't cancel other jobs

Not pinning action versions

GitHub Actions MUST use pinned major versions (e.g. @vN, not @master)

No permissions block

Follow least-privilege per job

Ignoring govulncheck findings

Fix or suppress with justification

No AI review in CI

Add Claude Code or Copilot review — catches logic, security, and architectural issues that static analysis misses

Related Skills

See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-lint, samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-security, samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-testing, samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-dependency-management, samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-modernize skills.