byob-go-cli

goreleaser owns the release cross-compile matrix

byob-release.4 release

Problem: a hand-rolled Makefile that loops over GOOS/GOARCH and produces .tar.gz/.zip archives with SHA256 checksums, a Homebrew formula, and optional deb/rpm packages is 200 lines of shell that drifts. Managing these concerns by hand is exactly where release tooling pays rent.

Idea: .goreleaser.yml configures:

  • builds[]: linux/darwin/windows × amd64/arm64 (extend as the audience requires).
  • archives[]: tar.gz for unix, zip for windows, consistent naming.
  • checksum: single SHA256SUMS file alongside the archives.
  • brews[]: optional Homebrew tap (update a formula repo on release).
  • nfpms[]: optional deb/rpm packages for linux distros.
  • Same ldflags as the Makefile (byob-release.1) for version injection.

Invoked two ways:

  • make release → goreleaser release --clean (run from the release GitHub Action on a v* tag).
  • make snapshot → goreleaser build --snapshot --clean for local dry-run without publishing.

Tradeoffs: one more tool to learn (goreleaser's YAML schema) and one more dep in CI (goreleaser must be installed in the runner). Offset: homebrew formula management, checksum files, and archive naming conventions are exactly the kind of bookkeeping a hand-rolled Makefile gets wrong the third time.

Design

# .goreleaser.yml
version: 2

builds:
  - id: mytool
    main: ./cmd/mytool
    binary: mytool
    env: [CGO_ENABLED=0]
    flags: [-trimpath]
    ldflags:
      - -s -w
      - -X github.com/acme/mytool/internal/mytoolcmd/build.Version={{.Version}}
      - -X github.com/acme/mytool/internal/mytoolcmd/build.Commit={{.FullCommit}}
      - -X github.com/acme/mytool/internal/mytoolcmd/build.Date={{.Date}}
    goos: [linux, darwin, windows]
    goarch: [amd64, arm64]

archives:
  - format: tar.gz
    format_overrides: [{ goos: windows, format: zip }]
    name_template: "{{ .ProjectName }}_{{ .Version }}_{{ .Os }}_{{ .Arch }}"

checksum:
  name_template: "SHA256SUMS"
  algorithm: sha256

brews:
  - repository: { owner: acme, name: homebrew-tap }
    directory: Formula
    homepage: https://github.com/acme/mytool
    description: A CLI tool.
    license: BSD-3-Clause

The Makefile and goreleaser deliberately produce different build.Version strings — see byob-release.3 for the split. What they share is the invariant that every binary's version output comes from -X ldflags on the internal/<bin>cmd/build package, not from runtime guesswork. That is the invariant worth preserving.