How to limit concurrent goroutines

Concurrency Core

2026-04-17T12:05:42+00:00

Limit concurrent goroutines in Go by using a buffered channel as a semaphore to control access.

Use a buffered channel as a semaphore to limit the number of active goroutines. Create a channel with the desired capacity, send a token before starting work, and receive a token when finished.

limit := make(chan struct{}, 10) // Allow 10 concurrent goroutines

for _, task := range tasks {
    limit <- struct{}{} // Acquire token
    go func(t string) {
        defer func() { <-limit }() // Release token
        doWork(t)
    }(task)
}