How to Make Your Go Code Truly Discoverable

Jun 2 2025 golang 12 minutes read (About 1809 words)

Elevate Your Go Package: How to Boost Discoverability and Master Professional Documentation

golang go-package-more(from github.com/MariaLetta/free-gophers-pack)|300

In the vibrant Go ecosystem, contributing a useful package is just the first step. For your work to truly impact the community, it needs to be easily found, understood, and trusted by other developers. This isn’t just about writing great code; it’s equally about presenting it professionally. This article delves into the essential strategies for achieving this, drawing insights from official Go sources and best practices.

We’ll focus on leveraging key tools and conventions, particularly the Go package discovery site, pkg.go.dev, which serves as a central hub for Go modules and packages. Understanding how pkg.go.dev works and how to cater to it is crucial for increasing your package’s visibility and credibility.

Getting Your Package Discovered on pkg.go.dev

Pkg.go.dev aggregates documentation from the official Go Module Proxy (proxy.golang.org), which regularly monitors for new package versions via the Go Module Index (index.golang.org). If your package isn’t already listed, you can proactively get it included:

Request Inclusion Directly: Visit the expected URL for your package on pkg.go.dev (e.g., https://pkg.go.dev/example.com/my/module). Even if it shows “Not Found,” look for and click the “Request” button.
Trigger a Proxy Request: Send a request to the Go Module Proxy that conforms to the Go Module Proxy protocol. For example, curl https://proxy.golang.org/example.com/my/module/@v/v1.0.0.info for a specific version’s .info file.
Use the go get Command: Downloading your package using the go get command, ensuring your GOPROXY points to the official proxy, will prompt the proxy to fetch the module. Example: $ GOPROXY=https://proxy.golang.org GO111MODULE=on go get example.com/my/module@v1.0.0.

Once proxy.golang.org has indexed your module version, pkg.go.dev typically picks it up and displays its documentation within minutes.

Managing Your Package Over Time: Versions and Retractions

Maintaining a package involves releasing new versions as you make improvements. Go modules use a version numbering convention based on semantic versioning to signal stability and backward compatibility to users. You indicate a module’s version by tagging its source code in your repository with the version number.

Crucially, once a version is published (tagged), you should not change the code associated with that tag. Go tools authenticate downloaded modules against the initially fetched copy; differing versions for the same tag will result in a security error. Instead, publish a new version with your changes.

If you discover a severe bug or security vulnerability in a published version, you can retract it. This hides the version from pkg.go.dev and prevents go commands from selecting it for new dependencies. You do this by adding a retract directive to your go.mod file and publishing a new module version containing this updated go.mod.

// go.mod
module example.com/my/module

go 1.18

retract (
    v1.0.0           // Explain why this version is retracted
    [v1.0.1, v1.0.5] // You can also retract a range of versions
)

Even the latest version can be retracted. Keep in mind that a published version, even if retracted, cannot be modified or re-used.

Mastering Go Documentation Comments

Documentation is paramount. Go provides a simple, powerful convention: “Doc comments” are comments that appear immediately before top-level package, const, func, type, and var declarations, with no intervening newlines. This tight coupling ensures documentation evolves alongside the code.

The go/doc and go/doc/comment packages extract this documentation, and tools like the go doc command and pkg.go.dev utilize this functionality.

Key Principles for Writing Doc Comments:

Document Exported Names: Every exported (capitalized) name should have a doc comment.
First Sentence is Key: The first sentence of a doc comment is often used as a summary by tools like go doc and pkg.go.dev search results. Make it concise and informative.
Start with the Name: For symbols, the first sentence conventionally begins with the name of the element it describes. For packages, it begins with “Package “. For commands, it begins with the program name.
Use Complete Sentences: Doc comments should use complete sentences.
Focus on the Public API: Doc comments should explain what a function returns or does, what a type represents, or the meaning of constants and variables. Avoid explaining internal implementation details; those belong inside the function body.
Document Concurrent Safety: By default, users assume types and methods are not safe for concurrent use. If a type or method is safe for concurrent use, the doc comment should explicitly state this. Top-level functions are assumed to be safe unless stated otherwise.
Document Zero Values: If a type’s zero value has a useful meaning, document it.
Document Special Cases: Note important special cases for functions, such as specific input values and their corresponding return values or errors.
Package Comments: Provide information relevant to the package as a whole and set expectations. For large amounts of introductory documentation, place the package comment in a separate doc.go file. Ensure the first sentence is a good summary, as it appears in package lists.

Formatting Your Doc Comments

Go doc comments support a simple syntax for structure:

Paragraphs: A span of unindented non-blank lines. Use a blank line to separate paragraphs. gofmt preserves line breaks within paragraphs (allowing semantic linefeeds) and replaces multiple blank lines between paragraphs with a single one.
Headings: A line beginning with # followed by a space and the heading text. Must be unindented and separated by blank lines.
Links: URLs in plain text are automatically linked in HTML. For defined links, use [Text]: URL on unindented lines, then reference them as [Text] in the comment. gofmt moves link definitions to the end.
Doc Links: Link to exported identifiers using [Name1], [Name1.Name2], [pkg], [pkg.Name1], or [pkg.Name1.Name2]. pkg can be an import path or the assumed package name from an import.
Lists: A span of indented or blank lines where the first indented line starts with a bullet marker (*, +, -, •) or a numbered marker (number followed by . or )). List items only contain paragraphs. gofmt standardizes list formatting (e.g., using - for bullets, specific indentation).
Code Blocks: A span of indented or blank lines not starting with a list marker. Rendered as preformatted text. Often contain code or syntax descriptions. gofmt indents code blocks with a single tab and adds blank lines around them.

The gofmt tool plays a crucial role in standardizing doc comment formatting. Running gofmt on your code will reformat doc comments to the canonical style, making structural meaning clearer. Be aware of common mistakes like unintended code blocks caused by indentation and how gofmt heuristics or manual adjustments can fix them. Go doc comments do not support nested lists.

Special Doc Comment Notices

Notes: Comments starting with MARKER(uid): body (e.g., // TODO(user1): … or // BUG(user2): …) are collected and shown in a separate section on pkg.go.dev. BUG(who) comments are recognized as known bugs.
Deprecations: A paragraph starting with Deprecated: signals that an identifier should no longer be used. These paragraphs should include information about the deprecation and recommended alternatives. Tools may warn about using deprecated identifiers, and pkg.go.dev might hide their documentation by default.

Going Further: Best Practices for Trust and Adoption

Pkg.go.dev highlights several aspects of your package and module, promoting community best practices that build trust:

Include a go.mod file: This signifies your package is part of a Go module, the standard for dependency management.
Use a Redistributable License: Licenses like MIT, Apache 2.0, or BSD are preferred as they place minimal restrictions on usage and distribution. Pkg.go.dev verifies the license.
Use Tagged Versions: Tagging versions (following semantic versioning) provides users with predictable builds.
Reach a Stable Version (v1.0.0+): Versions v0.x.y are considered experimental. Reaching v1.0.0 or higher indicates stability, implying that backward-breaking changes will only occur in new major versions (e.g., v2.0.0). This gives developers confidence when upgrading.

Enhance Your Package’s Presence

Beyond the core documentation, you can add extra touches:

Create a Badge: Generate a pkg.go.dev badge for your README or project website to provide a quick link to your documentation.
Add Custom Links: Include a section named “Links” (or similar, using a heading like ## Links) in your README to display custom links on your package’s pkg.go.dev page.

# My Awesome Go Package

... description ...

## Links

- [pkg.go.dev documentation](https://pkg.go.dev/your/module/path)
- [Project Website](https://your-website.com)
- [Report an Issue](https://github.com/your/module/issues)

... rest of README ...

Conclusion

Making your Go package discoverable and presenting professional documentation are integral parts of being a good community member and increasing the adoption of your work. By understanding how tools like pkg.go.dev operate, meticulously crafting your doc comments according to established conventions, and adhering to best practices like versioning and licensing, you build confidence and make it easier for others to find, use, and depend on your Go packages.

Recent Articles:

Random Article:

Goroutine Collaboration You Should Know In Golang on Medium on Website

More Series Articles about You Should Know In Golang:

https://wesley-wei.medium.com/list/you-should-know-in-golang-e9491363cd9a

And I’m Wesley, delighted to share knowledge from the world of programming.

Don’t forget to follow me for more informative content, or feel free to share this with others who may also find it beneficial. It would be a great help to me.

Give me some free applauds, highlights, or replies, and I’ll pay attention to those reactions, which will determine whether I continue to post this type of article.

See you in the next article. 👋

中文文章: https://programmerscareer.com/zh-cn/go-package-more/
Author: Medium,LinkedIn,Twitter
Note: Originally written at https://programmerscareer.com/go-package-more/ at 2025-06-02 22:17.
Copyright: BY-NC-ND 3.0

#code