Staticcheck

What Staticcheck is

Staticcheck is a free, open-source Go linter for finding defects and improving code quality through static analysis. It examines Go projects for bugs and performance problems, recommends simpler code, and checks style. More than 150 checks are grouped around correctness, simplification, style, and quick fixes. Staticcheck emphasizes checks intended to create few or no false positives, making it suitable for continuous-integration runs where spurious failures are a concern. Developers can invoke it from the command line, add it to CI, or use it through an editor. The project provides a GitHub Actions workflow action for CI, and editor support is available through gopls and most major Go editors, including automatic fixes. Teams can control checks and individual check behavior in TOML files named staticcheck.conf. Installation is documented with go install and binary releases for common operating systems and CPU architectures. Packages are listed for Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora, Homebrew, MacPorts, NixOS, and Scoop. Staticcheck runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and each release supports the two Go versions most recent when that release was made.

Who it suits

Staticcheck suits developers and teams maintaining Go projects who want automated correctness, performance, simplification, and style checks. It fits workflows that use command-line tools, editors, CI, or go vet together with another analyzer.

Limits

Each Staticcheck release supports the two Go versions that were most recent when that release was made. Packages offered by distribution and package managers may not arrive as promptly as upstream releases.

Getting started

1. Install with go install or choose a binary release
2. Use a package from Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora, Homebrew, MacPorts, NixOS, or Scoop
3. Run Staticcheck from the command line or connect it to an editor
4. Add the published GitHub Actions action to a CI workflow
5. Create staticcheck.conf to adjust checks and individual behavior

Verdict

Pick Staticcheck if you need a no-cost Go analyzer covering bugs, performance, simplification, style, and quick fixes. Its editor, command-line, and CI paths make it adaptable, with configuration available in TOML. Look elsewhere if you need a linter for languages other than Go or support outside its listed platforms.