rockcookies/golang-google-wire

Persona: You are a Go architect using wire for compile-time DI. You let the compiler catch missing dependencies, treat wire_gen.go as committed source, and re-run wire ./... after every graph change.

Using google/wire for Compile-Time Dependency Injection in Go

Code-generation DI toolkit. Wire resolves the dependency graph at compile time and emits plain Go constructor calls — no runtime container, no reflection. Errors appear when you run wire ./..., not at first request.

Note: google/wire was archived in August 2025 (feature-complete; bug fixes still accepted).

Official Resources: pkg.go.dev · github.com/google/wire · User Guide · Best Practices

This skill is not exhaustive. Please refer to library documentation and code examples for more information. Context7 can help as a discoverability platform.

go get -tool github.com/google/wire/cmd/wire@latest
go get github.com/google/wire

wire vs. Runtime DI

| Concern | wire | dig / fx / samber/do | | ----------------- | ------------------------- | ---------------------- | | Resolution | Compile time (codegen) | Runtime (reflection) | | Error detection | wire ./... fails | First Invoke/startup | | Runtime container | None — plain Go calls | Present | | Lifecycle hooks | Not built in | fx: OnStart/OnStop | | Generated files | wire_gen.go (committed) | None |

For lifecycle, lazy loading, and a full matrix see golang-dependency-injection.

Providers

A provider is any Go function — inputs are dependencies, outputs are provided types. Three return forms:

func NewConfig() *Config                          { return &Config{Addr: ":8080"} }
func NewDB(cfg *Config) (*sql.DB, error)          { return sql.Open("postgres", cfg.DSN) }
func NewRedis(cfg *Config) (*redis.Client, func(), error) { // cleanup chained in reverse order
    c := redis.NewClient(&redis.Options{Addr: cfg.RedisAddr})
    return c, func() { c.Close() }, nil
}

Provider Sets

wire.NewSet groups providers for reuse. Sets can reference other sets.

// infra/wire.go
var InfraSet = wire.NewSet(
    NewConfig,
    NewDB,
    NewRedis,
)

// service/wire.go
var ServiceSet = wire.NewSet(
    NewUserRepo,
    NewUserService,
    wire.Bind(new(UserStore), new(*UserRepo)), // interface binding
)

Keep sets small: library sets expose a stable surface (adding inputs or removing outputs breaks downstream injectors). One set per package is a useful default.

Injectors and //go:build wireinject

The injector file declares the initialization function. Wire generates its body into wire_gen.go and replaces the stub.

//go:build wireinject

package main

import "github.com/google/wire"

// Wire generates the body of this function.
func InitApp() (*App, func(), error) {
    wire.Build(InfraSet, ServiceSet, NewApp)
    return nil, nil, nil // replaced by codegen
}

The //go:build wireinject tag prevents the stub from being compiled into the binary — only wire_gen.go (which has no such tag) makes it through go build. Without this tag, both files define the same function, causing a compile error.

Alternative syntax when a dummy return is inconvenient:

func InitApp() (*App, func(), error) {
    panic(wire.Build(InfraSet, ServiceSet, NewApp))
}

Interface Bindings

Wire forbids implicit interface satisfaction — you must declare bindings explicitly so the graph is unambiguous when multiple types implement the same interface.

var Set = wire.NewSet(
    NewPostgresUserRepo,
    wire.Bind(new(UserStore), new(*PostgresUserRepo)), // tell wire: *PostgresUserRepo satisfies UserStore
)

Explicit bindings prevent graph breakage when a new type implementing the same interface is added elsewhere.

Struct Providers and Values

wire.Struct fills struct fields from the graph without a manual constructor. Tag fields wire:"-" to exclude them.

wire.Struct(new(Server), "Logger", "DB") // inject named fields
wire.Struct(new(Server), "*")            // inject all non-excluded fields
wire.Value(Foo{X: 42})                   // constant expression (no fn calls / channels)
wire.InterfaceValue(new(io.Reader), os.Stdin) // interface-typed literal
wire.FieldsOf(new(Config), "DSN", "Addr")    // promote struct fields as graph nodes

See advanced.md for the wire:"-" exclusion tag and wire.FieldsOf details.

Disambiguating Duplicate Types

Wire forbids two providers for the same type. Wrap the underlying type in distinct named types so each has exactly one provider:

type PrimaryDSN string
type ReplicaDSN string

Full Application Example

// wire.go — injector, excluded from binary via build tag
//go:build wireinject

package main

func InitApp() (*App, func(), error) {
    wire.Build(config.ConfigSet, infra.InfraSet, service.ServiceSet, NewApp)
    return nil, nil, nil
}

// main.go
func main() {
    app, cleanup, err := InitApp()
    if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) }
    defer cleanup()
    app.Run()
}

Wire generates wire_gen.go (plain Go, committed, DO NOT EDIT). For a full example with per-package sets, cleanup-heavy graphs, and generated output, see recipes.md.

Codegen Workflow

wire ./...           # regenerate all injectors in the module
wire check ./...     # validate graph without regenerating (fast CI check)

Run wire ./... after every constructor signature change. Add //go:generate go run github.com/google/wire/cmd/wire to injector files so go generate ./... also works. Commit wire_gen.go — it must stay in sync for CI builds.

Best Practices

1. Never edit wire_gen.go — it is overwritten on every wire ./... run. Treat it as a build artifact that happens to be committed; source of truth is the provider and injector files.
2. Always add //go:build wireinject to injector files — omitting it causes duplicate-symbol compile errors because both the stub and the generated file define the same function.
3. Use named types to distinguish values of the same underlying type — wire enforces one provider per type; named types like type DSN string let you have PrimaryDSN and ReplicaDSN coexist.
4. Keep library provider sets minimal and backward-compatible — adding new required inputs breaks downstream injectors; removing outputs does too. Introduce only newly-created types in the same release.
5. Return (T, func(), error) from cleanup providers and let wire chain them — wire generates the correct reverse-order cleanup and handles partial failures (if construction fails midway, only already-built cleanups run).
6. Keep injector files focused — one function per file, one package import at a time. Fat injectors with dozens of wire.Build arguments are hard to reason about; delegate to per-package sets.

Common Mistakes

| Mistake | Fix | | --- | --- | | Editing wire_gen.go manually | Never edit it. Change providers or injectors and re-run wire ./.... | | Missing //go:build wireinject | Add the tag as the very first line of every injector file. | | Two providers returning *sql.DB | Wrap with a named struct type: type PrimaryDB struct { *sql.DB } — Wire does not distinguish pointer type aliases. | | Injecting an interface without wire.Bind | Add wire.Bind(new(MyInterface), new(*MyImpl)) to the provider set. | | Forgetting to re-run wire ./... after changes | Run wire before go build; add it to go generate or a Makefile target. | | Calling cleanup() without guarding for nil | Wire returns nil cleanup on construction error; guard with if cleanup != nil { defer cleanup() }. |

Testing

Wire generates plain Go constructors, so unit tests use manual injection — no container to clone or reset. For testing patterns (test injectors swapping real providers for fakes, CI stale-check for wire_gen.go), see testing.md.

Further Reading

• advanced.md — cleanup chains, multiple injectors, set nesting, error catalogue, codegen flags, quick reference
• recipes.md — HTTP server, multi-injector build, cleanup-heavy graph, CLI embedding
• testing.md — test injectors, fake bindings, CI stale check

Cross-References

• → See golang-dependency-injection skill for DI concepts and library comparison
• → See golang-uber-dig skill for runtime reflection-based DI without lifecycle
• → See golang-uber-fx skill for runtime DI with lifecycle hooks, modules, and signal-aware Run()
• → See golang-samber-do skill for generics-based DI without reflection
• → See golang-structs-interfaces skill for interface design patterns
• → See golang-testing skill for general testing patterns

If you encounter a bug or unexpected behavior in google/wire, open an issue at https://github.com/google/wire/issues.