go vet Command: Static Checks in CI

go vet examines Go source for likely bugs the compiler does not catch.

go vet is the built-in static analyzer for Go, run as a fast guardrail in CI alongside the build. It flags problems like mismatched Printf verbs, malformed struct tags, and copied locks that compile cleanly but are usually bugs.

Common flags

go vet ./... - vet every package in the module
-vettool=PATH - run an external analyzer (e.g. shadow, fieldalignment)
-tags "integration" - vet files behind specific build tags
-json - emit machine-readable diagnostics
-printf=false - disable a specific analyzer check

Example in CI

Vet the entire module as a gate before running tests:

shell

go vet ./...

Common errors in CI

Printf format %d has arg x of wrong type string
struct field tag json:name not compatible with reflect.StructTag.Get
call of fmt.Sprintf copies lock value: sync.Mutex
unreachable code

Key takeaways

Run go vet ./... as a cheap, fast gate before the test suite.
Printf-verb and struct-tag mistakes are the most common findings.
Plug in extra analyzers via -vettool for stricter checks.