Go Modules Dependency Workflow

Beginner8 min

Manage Go module dependencies including adding, updating, removing packages, and handling version conflicts.

Prerequisites

-Go 1.21+ installed
-An initialized Go module

Steps

Add a new dependency

Install a package and add it to go.mod automatically.

$ go get github.com/gin-gonic/gin@latest

Use @latest for the newest version, or @v1.9.0 to pin a specific version.

Tidy dependencies

Remove unused dependencies and add missing ones based on source code imports.

$ go mod tidy

List all dependencies

View the full dependency tree including indirect dependencies.

$ go list -m all

Check for available updates

See which dependencies have newer versions available.

$ go list -m -u all

Pipe through grep to filter: go list -m -u all | grep '\[.*\]'

Update a specific dependency

Upgrade a single dependency to its latest minor or patch version.

$ go get -u github.com/gin-gonic/gin && go mod tidy

The -u flag updates to the latest minor/patch. Use -u=patch to restrict to patch-level updates only.

Full Script

full-script.sh

#!/bin/bash
# Go Dependency Management
set -euo pipefail

echo "=== Current Dependencies ==="
go list -m all | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Available Updates ==="
go list -m -u all 2>/dev/null | grep '\[' || echo "All dependencies up to date"

echo ""
echo "=== Tidying Modules ==="
go mod tidy

echo ""
echo "=== Dependency Graph (direct) ==="
go mod graph | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Module Commands ==="
echo "Add:       go get github.com/pkg/errors@latest"
echo "Update:    go get -u github.com/pkg/errors"
echo "Patch:     go get -u=patch github.com/pkg/errors"
echo "Remove:    Remove import, then go mod tidy"
echo "Vendor:    go mod vendor"
echo "Verify:    go mod verify"
echo "Why:       go mod why github.com/pkg/errors"

FAQ

Discussion

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#!/bin/bash # Go Dependency Management set -euo pipefail echo "=== Current Dependencies ===" go list -m all | head -20 echo "" echo "=== Available Updates ===" go list -m -u all 2>/dev/null | grep '\[' || echo "All dependencies up to date" echo "" echo "=== Tidying Modules ===" go mod tidy echo "" echo "=== Dependency Graph (direct) ===" go mod graph | head -20 echo "" echo "=== Module Commands ===" echo "Add: go get github.com/pkg/errors@latest" echo "Update: go get -u github.com/pkg/errors" echo "Patch: go get -u=patch github.com/pkg/errors" echo "Remove: Remove import, then go mod tidy" echo "Vendor: go mod vendor" echo "Verify: go mod verify" echo "Why: go mod why github.com/pkg/errors"