Format on Save in Go with VS Code [2023]

Go has hard opinions about how you should style and format your code. Setting up your VS Code environment to enforce the standard linting and formatting rules can save you a ton of time.

I don’t like to think about code styling. I like to type a bunch of code with incorrect spacing and press (ctrl+s) or (cmd+s) to save my code and auto-format it.

What you’ll need 🔗

• Make sure you have the latest version of Go installed on your machine (as of the time of writing, 1.20)
• Install the Official Golang VS Code Plugin

Next, open your settings.json file in VS Code. These settings can be specific to a single workspace or to your user account, whichever you prefer.

I use the following settings:

{
  // format all files on save if a formatter is available
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  // I use "goimports" instead of "gofmt"
  // because it does the same thing but also formats imports
  "go.formatTool": "goimports",
  // go-specific settings
  "[go]": {
    "editor.formatOnSave": true,
    "editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
      "source.organizeImports": true
    }
  },
  "[go.mod]": {
    "editor.formatOnSave": true,
    "editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
      "source.organizeImports": true
    }
  }
}

Why goimports and not gofmt? 🔗

Simply put, goimports does everything gofmt does but additionally formats import statements. I like that.

Bonus: Auto-Update, Staticcheck and Vetting 🔗

I also have these additional settings to add even more functionality to my VS Code environment. If you find them useful, feel free to use them.

{
  "go.toolsManagement.autoUpdate": true,
  "go.vetOnSave": "package"
}

The staticcheck tools should automatically work within VS Code if you’re using the language server and the Go extension and have it installed.

Not Working? 🔗

If it still isn’t working, you likely need to reload your VS Code window and/or install the missing tools that VS Code is prompting you to install via popups in the bottom-right of the editor.

I will do my best to keep this guide up to date. Let me know if it isn’t working for you in the boot.dev Discord.

PS: If you’d like to learn Go, you can check out my full Go course here.