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Go (Golang) has a small but opinionated toolchain. The go.mod and go.sum files define module dependencies; Go's built-in tooling handles most package management. ReleaseRun provides free browser-based tools for auditing Go module health, checking CVEs in Go dependencies, and tracking Go release status.

Go Dependency Health Checkers

go.mod Health Checker

The go.mod Health Checker scans your Go module's dependency file for outdated packages, packages with known CVEs, and modules that have been archived or deprecated on pkg.go.dev. Paste your go.mod content and get an instant report — no Go toolchain required.

Go Module Version Checker

The Go Module Version Checker checks the version of a specific Go module your project uses against the latest available release. Useful for auditing individual high-risk dependencies like golang.org/x/crypto, google.golang.org/grpc, or github.com/gin-gonic/gin.

Go Release History and EOL

Go releases two minor versions per year (February and August). Each version is supported until the next two releases ship — meaning Go only supports the two most recent minor versions at any given time. The Go Release History page covers the full version timeline, breaking changes, and upgrade guidance.

Key EOL facts: Go 1.20 and earlier are unsupported. Go 1.21 introduced the first formal backward-compatibility guarantees and security backport policy.

Go Security

Go's security model benefits from the language's memory safety properties — buffer overflows and use-after-free bugs are not possible in pure Go code. However, Go programs still have dependency vulnerabilities through their module graph. The Go team maintains the Go Vulnerability Database (vuln.go.dev) and ships the govulncheck tool for scanning module graphs against known CVEs.

Go in Production: Common Tools

  • goreleaser — automated release tooling for Go projects; builds binaries, creates GitHub releases, publishes Docker images
  • golangci-lint — meta-linter running dozens of linters in parallel; the standard CI lint tool for Go projects
  • ko — builds Go container images from source without a Dockerfile; produces minimal images automatically
  • air — live reload for Go web applications during development

All Go Tools on ReleaseRun