go install — Optimization¶

Make tool installs fast, reproducible, and cacheable. Numbers are illustrative.

Exercise 1: Pin versions to cache the build¶

Before — go install tool@latest re-queries the proxy and may rebuild every CI run.

After:

go install honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck@v0.5.1

Pinning lets GOCACHE/GOMODCACHE serve repeat installs with no rebuild.

Exercise 2: Cache the bin directory in CI¶

Before — tools reinstall from source on every job.

After — cache the bin directory keyed on the version source:

- uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: ${{ github.workspace }}/bin
    key: tools-${{ hashFiles('Makefile') }}

Tools rebuild only when their pinned versions change.

Exercise 3: go run tool@version for single-use tools¶

Before — go install a tool used exactly once per CI job, paying install + leaving a binary.

After:

go run honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck@v0.5.1 ./...

For multi-use tools, install once; for single-use, go run is leaner.

Exercise 4: Predictable GOBIN avoids PATH churn¶

Before — relying on $GOPATH/bin whose location varies per environment.

After — pin GOBIN to a repo-local directory:

export GOBIN="$PWD/bin"
export PATH="$GOBIN:$PATH"
go install ./cmd/...

Exercise 5: Batch installs with the tool directive (Go 1.24+)¶

Before — a setup script runs many go install path@vX lines, each resolving independently.

After:

go install tool      # installs all go.mod-declared tools at pinned versions in one pass

Exercise 6: Warm the module cache once¶

Before — first install on a fresh machine downloads each tool's full module graph.

After — prime caches early in CI, before parallel steps:

go mod download           # for your own commands
# pinned tool installs hit GOMODCACHE on subsequent steps

Measurement checklist¶

• Pin tool versions so installs are cacheable and reproducible.
• Cache the bin directory + GOCACHE + GOMODCACHE in CI.
• go run tool@version for single-use tools; install for repeated ones.
• Set a stable, repo-local GOBIN.
• Use the tool directive (1.24+) to batch and centralize installs.