How to Implement Graceful Shutdown for an HTTP Server in Go

Use http.Server.Shutdown with a context timeout to stop accepting new connections and wait for active requests to finish.

import (
	"context"
	"log"
	"net/http"
	"os"
	"os/signal"
	"syscall"
	"time"
)

func main() {
	mux := http.NewServeMux()
	mux.HandleFunc("/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
		w.Write([]byte("Hello, World"))
	})

	server := &http.Server{
		Addr:    ":8080",
		Handler: mux,
	}

	go func() {
		if err := server.ListenAndServe(); err != nil && err != http.ErrServerClosed {
			log.Fatalf("listen: %s", err)
		}
	}()

	quit := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
	signal.Notify(quit, syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGTERM)
	<-quit

	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
	defer cancel()

	if err := server.Shutdown(ctx); err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Server forced to shutdown: %v", err)
	}
	log.Println("Server exiting")
}

Graceful shutdown stops your server from accepting new requests while letting current ones finish before turning off. It prevents data loss or broken connections when you update or stop your app. Think of it like a restaurant manager telling the kitchen to stop taking new orders but to finish cooking the meals already in progress before closing the doors.