Use go fmt to automatically format your Go code according to the community standard, as it is the preferred tool that handles package discovery and imports correctly. While gofmt is the underlying binary that go fmt calls, you should almost always use the go fmt command within your project directory to ensure consistent formatting across the entire codebase.
Run go fmt ./... from your project root to recursively format all Go files in the current directory and subdirectories. This command modifies files in place and prints the names of any files that were changed. If you need to verify formatting without modifying files, use the -d flag to see a diff of the changes that would be made.
# Format all Go files in the current directory and subdirectories
go fmt ./...
# Show a diff of formatting changes without modifying files
go fmt -d ./...
# Format a specific file
go fmt mypackage/main.go
If you are building a custom tool or need to invoke the formatter programmatically, you can call the gofmt binary directly, though this requires manually handling file paths and import paths. For most daily workflows, sticking to go fmt is safer because it respects the Go module structure and avoids common pitfalls with relative paths.
# Direct invocation of the gofmt binary (less common for daily use)
gofmt -w main.go
# Check formatting in a CI pipeline without modifying files
gofmt -l . | grep -v "^$" && exit 1 || exit 0
Integrate this into your development workflow by running it before every commit or using a pre-commit hook. Most editors like VS Code, GoLand, and Vim have plugins that automatically run go fmt on save, ensuring your code is always compliant without manual intervention. Remember that go fmt also handles import organization, so you don't need separate tools for that. The tool is deterministic, meaning running it multiple times on the same file will always produce the same result, which is crucial for team consistency.