gopls

gopls is the official Go language server that implements the Language Server Protocol (LSP). It enables editors and IDEs to provide Go-specific editor features, such as code completion, go-to-definition, find references, hover documentation, and diagnostics, by communicating with the editor through LSP.

Developed by the Go project as part of the x/tools module, gopls is distributed as a standalone Go binary. It runs as a background process and communicates with the client editor over the LSP using standard input/output or a TCP connection, depending on the editor setup.

Key features include code completion, go-to-definition, find references, symbol search, hover documentation, signature help, formatting, code actions and refactoring, and diagnostics. It supports modules and workspace awareness, performing incremental analysis to scale to large codebases.

Usage and installation: Install via go install golang.org/x/tools/gopls@latest; ensure the bin directory is on PATH. In editors, enable the LSP client and configure it to invoke gopls. The Go extension for VS Code uses gopls by default; other editors (Vim/Neovim with lspconfig, Emacs eglot, etc.) can also connect to gopls.

Configuration and considerations: gopls can be configured with settings such as staticcheck, analyses, and hints; enabling staticcheck provides additional diagnostics. It works best with modules and a properly configured Go environment (GOPROXY, GOPATH, etc.). Performance varies with project size; large workspaces may require tuning (for example, adjusting workspace symbol handling or module roots).