skills/golang-popular-libraries/SKILL.md
Golang library and framework selection — vetted production-ready options by category (web, database, testing, logging, messaging), new and experimental stdlib packages, standard-library-first tradeoffs, and maturity signals (maintenance, license, importer counts). Apply when the user asks for library suggestions, wants to compare alternatives, needs to choose a library for a specific task, or when a new dependency is being added to the project. Not for a specific library's API once chosen (→ See that library's dedicated skill, e.g. `samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-samber-lo`), nor for go.mod mechanics, upgrades, or vulnerability audits (→ See `samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-dependency-management` skill).
npx skillsauth add samber/cc-skills-golang golang-popular-librariesInstall this skill globally with one command. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.
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Persona: You are a Go ecosystem expert. You know the library landscape well enough to recommend the simplest production-ready option — and to tell the developer when the standard library is already enough.
When recommending libraries, prioritize:
Find more libraries here: https://github.com/avelino/awesome-go
This skill is not exhaustive — refer to library documentation and code examples for more information:
samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-pkg-go-dev skill (godig) for docs, symbols, versions, importers, and known vulnerabilities — prefer it over Context7 for Go package facts.samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-gopls skill (gopls) to browse its actual resolved source and compare candidates side by side.When recommending libraries:
imported-by count on pkg.go.dev as a popularity and indirect quality signal — widely-imported libraries are more battle-tested and have stronger backward-compatibility pressure; → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-pkg-go-dev skill to count importers and compare alternativesRemember: The best library is often no library at all. Go's standard library is excellent and sufficient for many use cases.
samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-dependency-management skill for adding, auditing, and managing dependenciessamber/cc-skills-golang@golang-pkg-go-dev skill to vet a candidate library on pkg.go.dev — versions, importers, licenses, and known vulnerabilities — before adopting itsamber/cc-skills-golang@golang-samber-do skill for samber/do dependency injection detailssamber/cc-skills-golang@golang-samber-hot skill for samber/hot in-memory caching detailssamber/cc-skills-golang@golang-samber-oops skill for samber/oops error handling detailssamber/cc-skills-golang@golang-stretchr-testify skill for testify testing detailssamber/cc-skills-golang@golang-grpc skill for gRPC implementation detailsdevelopment
Golang refactoring — safe, at-scale restructuring of existing Go code: a coverage-adaptive safety net, behavior-preserving transforms (gopls Rename/Extract, `gofmt -r`, `gopatch`), the Fowler catalog mapped to Go, breaking import cycles, and small stacked PRs. Apply when a function or type has grown too large, a code smell blocks a feature, or the user asks to refactor Go code — also for renaming at scale, extracting functions or interfaces, moving code between packages, or planning a multi-step refactor. Target styles owned elsewhere → See `samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-naming` (renames), `samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-project-layout` (splits), `samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-modernize` (idioms), `samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-code-style` (control flow), `samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-design-patterns` (patterns/DI).
tools
Golang semantic code intelligence via `gopls`, the official Go language server — go-to-definition, find references, call/implementation hierarchy, workspace symbol search, package API discovery, diagnostics, safe rename, refactors (extract/inline/fill/rewrite code actions), formatting, and generated tests. Reaches an agent via gopls's own MCP server (`go_*` tools), Claude Code's native `LSP` tool, or the `gopls` CLI. Use when navigating or refactoring Go code — jumping to a definition, finding call sites before a rename, understanding a file's or package's dependencies, running diagnostics after an edit, or extracting/inlining/renaming. Not for the published ecosystem — packages not in your `go.mod`, versions, licenses, importers — → See `samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-pkg-go-dev` skill (`godig`). Not for a whole-tree vulnerability audit → See `samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-security` skill (`govulncheck`).
tools
Golang package and module lookup via `godig`, a pkg.go.dev API client (CLI + MCP server). Use for any Go/Golang library's documentation, API signatures, symbols, usage examples, which versions exist, licenses, whether a dependency has CVEs, or who imports a package — prefer this over Context7 for any Go package or module. Read-only, no auth. Not for upgrading dependencies (→ See `samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-dependency-management` skill), choosing a library (→ See `samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-popular-libraries` skill), or local symbols and an already-used dependency's resolved source, call sites, and generic instantiations (→ See `samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-gopls` skill).
development
Golang skills orchestrator — always active on any Golang coding, review, debug, or setup task. Reads the task context and loads the most relevant skills from samber/cc-skills-golang, often multiple at once: writing a gRPC service loads golang-grpc + golang-testing + golang-error-handling; debugging a panic loads golang-troubleshooting + golang-safety; auditing security loads golang-security + golang-lint + golang-safety. Also: disambiguates competing clusters when two skills seem to overlap (performance vs benchmark vs troubleshooting, samber/lo vs mo vs ro, DI cluster, safety vs security), and configures the project's agent-config file (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, GEMINI.md, Cursor rules, or Copilot instructions) to force-trigger skills in a project (/golang-how-to configure).