Plugin Architectures in Go

Go plugins are shared libraries built with -buildmode=plugin that load at runtime via plugin.Open, allowing dynamic code extension without recompilation. They require CGO, matching module paths, and identical dependency versions to the host program to avoid runtime errors.

go build -buildmode=plugin -o myplugin.so myplugin.go
go run main.go

In main.go:

import "plugin"
p, _ := plugin.Open("myplugin.so")
fn, _ := p.Lookup("MyFunction")
fn.(func())()

Go plugins let you load new features into a running program like installing a browser extension, without restarting the app. They work by compiling code into a shared file that the main program reads and executes on demand. This is useful for building modular systems where users can add custom tools or logic later.