Create a Go Linter

📰 Dev.to · Mohammed Al-ameen

Learn to create a custom Go linter as a plugin to golangci-lint, enabling you to add more linters and enrich your CI pipeline

intermediate Published 10 Mar 2026
Action Steps
  1. Install golangci-lint using the command `go install github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint@v1.52.2`
  2. Create a new Go package for your custom linter and define its functionality
  3. Implement the linter as a plugin to golangci-lint using its API
  4. Test your custom linter using the `golangci-lint` command with the `--print-registered-linters` flag
  5. Integrate your custom linter into your CI pipeline to automate issue detection
Who Needs to Know This

Software engineers and DevOps teams can benefit from this tutorial to improve their code quality and automate issue detection in their CI pipelines

Key Insight

💡 Creating a custom Go linter as a plugin to golangci-lint allows for easy integration with existing tools and automation of issue detection

Share This
🚀 Create a custom Go linter as a plugin to golangci-lint and level up your code quality! 💻

Full Article

Title: Create a Go Linter

URL Source: https://dev.to/mohammed-al-ameen/create-a-go-linter-7di

Published Time: 2026-03-10T19:54:11Z

Markdown Content:
[Skip to content](https://dev.to/mohammed-al-ameen/create-a-go-linter-7di#main-content)

[![Image 1: DEV Community](https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/quality=100/https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/logos/resized_logo_UQww2soKuUsjaOGNB38o.png)](https://dev.to/)

[Powered by Algolia](https://www.algolia.com/developers/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=referral)

[Log in](https://dev.to/enter?signup_subforem=1)[Create account](https://dev.to/enter?signup_subforem=1&state=new-user)

## DEV Community

![Image 2](https://assets.dev.to/assets/heart-plus-active-9ea3b22f2bc311281db911d416166c5f430636e76b15cd5df6b3b841d830eefa.svg) Add reaction

![Image 3](https://assets.dev.to/assets/sparkle-heart-5f9bee3767e18deb1bb725290cb151c25234768a0e9a2bd39370c382d02920cf.svg) Like ![Image 4](https://assets.dev.to/assets/multi-unicorn-b44d6f8c23cdd00964192bedc38af3e82463978aa611b4365bd33a0f1f4f3e97.svg) Unicorn ![Image 5](https://assets.dev.to/assets/exploding-head-daceb38d627e6ae9b730f36a1e390fca556a4289d5a41abb2c35068ad3e2c4b5.svg) Exploding Head ![Image 6](https://assets.dev.to/assets/raised-hands-74b2099fd66a39f2d7eed9305ee0f4553df0eb7b4f11b01b6b1b499973048fe5.svg) Raised Hands ![Image 7](https://assets.dev.to/assets/fire-f60e7a582391810302117f987b22a8ef04a2fe0df7e3258a5f49332df1cec71e.svg) Fire

Jump to Comments Save Boost

Copy link

Copied to Clipboard

[Share to X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%22Create%20a%20Go%20Linter%22%20by%20Mohammed%20Al-ameen%20%23DEVCommunity%20https%3A%2F%2Fdev.to%2Fmohammed-al-ameen%2Fcreate-a-go-linter-7di)[Share to LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdev.to%2Fmohammed-al-ameen%2Fcreate-a-go-linter-7di&title=Create%20a%20Go%20Linter&summary=This%20will%20be%20a%20practical%20tutorial%20on%20how%20to%20write%20a%20custom%20Go-langlinter.%20It%20will%20be%20production%20ready...&source=DEV%20Community)[Share to Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdev.to%2Fmohammed-al-ameen%2Fcreate-a-go-linter-7di)[Share to Mastodon](https://s2f.kytta.dev/?text=https%3A%2F%2Fdev.to%2Fmohammed-al-ameen%2Fcreate-a-go-linter-7di)

[Share Post via...](https://dev.to/mohammed-al-ameen/create-a-go-linter-7di#)[Report Abuse](https://dev.to/report-abuse)

[![Image 8: Mohammed Al-ameen](https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=50,height=50,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3540680%2Fb8d4b583-5bba-4da3-b2e4-114b1fc84061.jpeg)](https://dev.to/mohammed-al-ameen)

[Mohammed Al-ameen](https://dev.to/mohammed-al-ameen)
Posted on Mar 10

![Image 9](https://assets.dev.to/assets/sparkle-heart-5f9bee3767e18deb1bb725290cb151c25234768a0e9a2bd39370c382d02920cf.svg)![Image 10](https://assets.dev.to/assets/multi-unicorn-b44d6f8c23cdd00964192bedc38af3e82463978aa611b4365bd33a0f1f4f3e97.svg)![Image 11](https://assets.dev.to/assets/exploding-head-daceb38d627e6ae9b730f36a1e390fca556a4289d5a41abb2c35068ad3e2c4b5.svg)![Image 12](https://assets.dev.to/assets/raised-hands-74b2099fd66a39f2d7eed9305ee0f4553df0eb7b4f11b01b6b1b499973048fe5.svg)![Image 13](https://assets.dev.to/assets/fire-f60e7a582391810302117f987b22a8ef04a2fe0df7e3258a5f49332df1cec71e.svg)

# Create a Go Linter

[#go](https://dev.to/t/go)[#ci](https://dev.to/t/ci)[#cicd](https://dev.to/t/cicd)[#lint](https://dev.to/t/lint)

This will be a practical tutorial on how to write a custom Go-langlinter. It will be production ready and will even enable you to add more linters that you didn't write. This will help enrich your CI pipeline and make it be able to detect issues before they are merged.

We will make our linter be a plugin to `golangci‑lint` which has many linters supported. Our linter will also work standalone as an executable, but if you want to incorporate other l
Read full article → ← Back to Reads