Running golangci-lint against single file fails with undeclared name error

[jarv]

I'm using syntastic/vim with which calls golangci-lint 1.33.0 against a single file, this error is pretty simple to reproduce so I'm wondering if golangci-lint is not meant to be invoked this way or there is something else wrong with configuration.

To reproduce:

mkdir hello; cd hello
go mod init example.com/hello

hello.go:

package hello

func Hello() error {
	return nil
}

hello_test.go:

package hello

import "testing"

func TestHello(t *testing.T) {
	Hello()
}

Running golangci-lint against hello_test.go fails with undeclared name: Hello

$ golangci-lint  run -v hello_test.go
 $ golangci-lint  run -v hello_test.go
INFO [config_reader] Config search paths: [./ /Users/jarv/src/hello /Users/jarv/src /Users/jarv /Users /]
INFO [lintersdb] Active 10 linters: [deadcode errcheck gosimple govet ineffassign staticcheck structcheck typecheck unused varcheck]
INFO [loader] Go packages loading at mode 575 (name|deps|exports_file|files|imports|types_sizes|compiled_files) took 522.147221ms
INFO [runner/filename_unadjuster] Pre-built 0 adjustments in 243.409µs
INFO [linters context/goanalysis] analyzers took 2.96162ms with top 10 stages: buildir: 359.267µs, fact_deprecated: 306.248µs, SA4019: 84.881µs, S1020: 56.233µs, S1008: 48.686µs, SA4016: 47.08µs, SA3000: 42.664µs, tests: 41.033µs, S1010: 40.398µs, SA2001: 38.19µs
WARN [runner] Can't run linter goanalysis_metalinter: S1038: failed prerequisites: [(inspect@command-line-arguments [command-line-arguments.test], isgenerated@command-line-arguments [command-line-arguments.test]): analysis skipped: errors in package: [/Users/jarv/src/hello/hello_test.go:7:9: undeclared name: Hello]]
INFO [linters context/goanalysis] analyzers took 841.544µs with top 10 stages: buildir: 734.78µs, U1000: 106.764µs
WARN [runner] Can't run linter unused: buildir: analysis skipped: errors in package: [/Users/jarv/src/hello/hello_test.go:7:9: undeclared name: Hello]
INFO [runner] processing took 4.092µs with stages: max_same_issues: 1.798µs, skip_dirs: 235ns, max_from_linter: 214ns, nolint: 186ns, diff: 178ns, cgo: 173ns, skip_files: 150ns, identifier_marker: 147ns, path_prettifier: 145ns, filename_unadjuster: 144ns, uniq_by_line: 143ns, autogenerated_exclude: 140ns, sort_results: 66ns, path_shortener: 59ns, path_prefixer: 57ns, severity-rules: 56ns, max_per_file_from_linter: 53ns, exclude: 51ns, source_code: 50ns, exclude-rules: 47ns
INFO [runner] linters took 75.04981ms with stages: goanalysis_metalinter: 51.814907ms, unused: 23.184805ms
ERRO Running error: buildir: analysis skipped: errors in package: [/Users/jarv/src/hello/hello_test.go:7:9: undeclared name: Hello]
INFO Memory: 9 samples, avg is 71.9MB, max is 72.3MB
INFO Execution took 785.630035ms

But running it on the directory is fine:

$ golangci-lint  run -v .
INFO [config_reader] Config search paths: [./ /Users/jarv/src/hello /Users/jarv/src /Users/jarv /Users /]
INFO [lintersdb] Active 10 linters: [deadcode errcheck gosimple govet ineffassign staticcheck structcheck typecheck unused varcheck]
INFO [loader] Go packages loading at mode 575 (compiled_files|files|imports|name|types_sizes|deps|exports_file) took 519.928249ms
INFO [runner/filename_unadjuster] Pre-built 0 adjustments in 190.156µs
INFO [linters context/goanalysis] analyzers took 0s with no stages
INFO [linters context/goanalysis] analyzers took 0s with no stages
INFO [runner] Processors filtering stat (out/in): identifier_marker: 1/1, nolint: 1/1, source_code: 1/1, severity-rules: 1/1, path_prefixer: 1/1, sort_results: 1/1, skip_files: 1/1, skip_dirs: 1/1, autogenerated_exclude: 1/1, exclude: 1/1, max_same_issues: 1/1, path_shortener: 1/1, cgo: 1/1, path_prettifier: 1/1, diff: 1/1, filename_unadjuster: 1/1, uniq_by_line: 1/1, max_per_file_from_linter: 1/1, max_from_linter: 1/1, exclude-rules: 1/1
INFO [runner] processing took 208.161µs with stages: nolint: 39.03µs, autogenerated_exclude: 36.473µs, path_prettifier: 32.922µs, identifier_marker: 31.792µs, source_code: 26.606µs, exclude-rules: 23.907µs, skip_dirs: 8.32µs, filename_unadjuster: 2.025µs, max_same_issues: 1.339µs, uniq_by_line: 1.243µs, cgo: 1.006µs, max_from_linter: 928ns, path_shortener: 862ns, max_per_file_from_linter: 321ns, skip_files: 295ns, severity-rules: 268ns, diff: 250ns, exclude: 230ns, sort_results: 224ns, path_prefixer: 120ns
INFO [runner] linters took 22.723433ms with stages: goanalysis_metalinter: 21.862432ms, unused: 550.292µs
hello_test.go:6:7: Error return value of `Hello` is not checked (errcheck)
	Hello()
	     ^
INFO File cache stats: 1 entries of total size 75B
INFO Memory: 9 samples, avg is 71.9MB, max is 72.3MB
INFO Execution took 732.694796ms

Thank you for creating the issue!

• Yes, I'm using a binary release within 2 latest major releases. Only such installations are supported.
• Yes, I've searched similar issues on GitHub and didn't find any.
• Yes, I've included all information below (version, config, etc).

Please include the following information:

Version of golangci-lint

$ golangci-lint --version
golangci-lint has version 1.33.0 built from b90551c on 2020-11-23T05:15:36Z

Config file

$ cat .golangci.yml
# paste output here

Go environment

$ go version && go env
go version go1.14.6 darwin/amd64
GO111MODULE="on"
GOARCH="amd64"
GOBIN=""
GOCACHE="/Users/jarv/Library/Caches/go-build"
GOENV="/Users/jarv/Library/Application Support/go/env"
GOEXE=""
GOFLAGS=""
GOHOSTARCH="amd64"
GOHOSTOS="darwin"
GOINSECURE=""
GONOPROXY=""
GONOSUMDB=""
GOOS="darwin"
GOPATH="/Users/jarv/go"
GOPRIVATE=""
GOPROXY="https://proxy.golang.org,direct"
GOROOT="/Users/jarv/.asdf/installs/golang/1.14.6/go"
GOSUMDB="sum.golang.org"
GOTMPDIR=""
GOTOOLDIR="/Users/jarv/.asdf/installs/golang/1.14.6/go/pkg/tool/darwin_amd64"
GCCGO="gccgo"
AR="ar"
CC="clang"
CXX="clang++"
CGO_ENABLED="0"
GOMOD="/Users/jarv/src/hello/go.mod"
CGO_CFLAGS="-g -O2"
CGO_CPPFLAGS=""
CGO_CXXFLAGS="-g -O2"
CGO_FFLAGS="-g -O2"
CGO_LDFLAGS="-g -O2"
PKG_CONFIG="pkg-config"
GOGCCFLAGS="-fPIC -m64 -fno-caret-diagnostics -Qunused-arguments -fmessage-length=0 -fdebug-prefix-map=/var/folders/wd/n_zjv6p14txgjgm15twd7rgr0000gp/T/go-build154262324=/tmp/go-build -gno-record-gcc-switches -fno-common"

Verbose output of running

$ golangci-lint cache clean
$ golangci-lint run -v
INFO [config_reader] Config search paths: [./ /Users/jarv/src/hello /Users/jarv/src /Users/jarv /Users /]
INFO [lintersdb] Active 10 linters: [deadcode errcheck gosimple govet ineffassign staticcheck structcheck typecheck unused varcheck]
INFO [loader] Go packages loading at mode 575 (deps|files|name|types_sizes|compiled_files|exports_file|imports) took 526.849067ms
INFO [runner/filename_unadjuster] Pre-built 0 adjustments in 199.933µs
INFO [linters context/goanalysis] analyzers took 808.421527ms with top 10 stages: buildir: 632.371327ms, fact_purity: 46.066411ms, inspect: 40.169017ms, ctrlflow: 37.389512ms, printf: 27.350795ms, fact_deprecated: 23.368568ms, ineffassign: 117.225µs, isgenerated: 69.413µs, structcheck: 52.343µs, SA4021: 48.119µs
INFO [linters context/goanalysis] analyzers took 7.422431ms with top 10 stages: buildir: 7.173865ms, U1000: 248.566µs
INFO [runner] processing took 4.045µs with stages: max_same_issues: 1.605µs, skip_dirs: 329ns, max_from_linter: 245ns, nolint: 226ns, filename_unadjuster: 163ns, cgo: 162ns, autogenerated_exclude: 148ns, uniq_by_line: 148ns, path_prettifier: 146ns, skip_files: 141ns, diff: 140ns, identifier_marker: 138ns, path_shortener: 63ns, severity-rules: 60ns, sort_results: 60ns, exclude-rules: 59ns, source_code: 54ns, max_per_file_from_linter: 54ns, exclude: 54ns, path_prefixer: 50ns
INFO [runner] linters took 1.380644653s with stages: goanalysis_metalinter: 1.352787535s, unused: 27.815289ms
INFO File cache stats: 0 entries of total size 0B
INFO Memory: 22 samples, avg is 136.4MB, max is 207.1MB
INFO Execution took 2.093703496s

[boring-cyborg]

Hey, thank you for opening your first Issue ! 🙂 If you would like to contribute we have a guide for contributors.

[Ch00k]

I second this. I would like to use golangci-lint with coc.nvim, which would also mean that I'd need to be able to run linting on separate files as opposed to the entire project. Perhaps a config option could be added that would allow running only the linters that are actually able to run on a single file?

[Zalgo2462]

Running into this issue after updating my linters in vscode.

[ldez]

FYI you can run the following linters on a single file:

• dogsled
• dupl
• forbidigo
• funlen
• gochecknoglobals
• gochecknoinits
• gocognit
• goconst
• gocyclo
• godot
• godox
• gofmt
• gofumpt
• goimports
• gomnd
• goprintffuncname
• ifshort
• lll
• misspell
• nakedret
• nestif
• nolintlint
• prealloc
• predeclared
• scopelint
• whitespace
• wsl

In the next release (v1.39.0), the following linters will also be handle to run on a single file:

• asciicheck
• forcetypeassert
• gci
• goheader
• gomodguard
• ineffassign
• nlreturn
• paralleltest
• testpackage

All the linters are not able to run like that, because they require information that is not available in a single file.

[ldez]

As we fixed the --fast flag in #1844 (available in the next release [v1.39.0]), you will be able to use this flag as a filter: all the "fast" linters work on a single file.

name	fast	single file
ineffassign	x	x
asciicheck	x	x
dogsled	x	x
dupl	x	x
forbidigo	x	x
forcetypeassert	x	x
funlen	x	x
gci	x	x
gochecknoglobals	x	x
gochecknoinits	x	x
gocognit	x	x
goconst	x	x
gocyclo	x	x
godot	x	x
godox	x	x
gofmt	x	x
gofumpt	x	x
goheader	x	x
goimports	x	x
gomnd	x	x
gomoddirectives	x	x
gomodguard	x	x
goprintffuncname	x	x
ifshort	x	x
lll	x	x
misspell	x	x
nakedret	x	x
nestif	x	x
nlreturn	x	x
nolintlint	x	x
paralleltest	x	x
prealloc	x	x
predeclared	x	x
scopelint	x	x
testpackage	x	x
whitespace	x	x
wsl	x	x
deadcode		~
errcheck		~
gosimple		~
govet		~
staticcheck		~
structcheck		~
typecheck		~
unused		~
varcheck		~
bodyclose		~
cyclop		~
depguard		~
durationcheck		~
errorlint		~
exhaustive		~
exhaustivestruct		~
exportloopref		~
gocritic		~
goerr113		~
golint		~
gosec		~
importas		~
interfacer		~
makezero		~
maligned		~
nilerr		~
noctx		~
revive		x
rowserrcheck		~
sqlclosecheck		~
stylecheck		~
thelper		~
tparallel		~
unconvert		~
unparam		~
wastedassign		~
wrapcheck		~

[ldez]

In summary:

• all the linters are not able to run on a single, because they require information that is not available in a single file.
• the linters that are able to run on a single can be filtered by the flag --fast

So I will close this issue 😃

[th3coop]

Hi @ldez, just wanted to confirm, if i'm running golangci-lint version 1.40, I should be able to run it on a single file using the --fast option and it will only run the linters that work on a single file?

If yes, that's unfortunately not the behaviour I'm seeing but want to confirm before I open an issue. I've had to manually strip out any linters from my config file that require the entire project, even if I have the --fast option included in the cmd.

[ldez]

Hi @th3coop, I think you are talking about this: #1909

[th3coop]

Oh yep, that looks like what my situation is. We too are using disable-all. Thanks for the quick response @ldez.

[matthijskooijman]

Is passing --fast still expected to work? I'm also running golangci-lint from syntastic/vim and I'm seeing typecheck errors from types defined in another file in the same package, just like in the original post.

Maybe some linters (such as the typechecks) have been promoted to "fast", meaning "fast" no longer equals "compatible with single-file checking"? Or maybe --fast does not take effect (since the help output says " --fast Enable only fast linters from enabled linters set (first run won't be fast)" and I guess the first run is the one from syntastic?

Edit: It actually seems that "typecheck" fails, which might not be a linter that can be disabled but a check that runs before linting or so (--disable typecheck does not seem to work):

$ golangci-lint run  --no-config --disable=typecheck path/to/file.go | head
path/to/file.go:49:12: undefined: Signature (typecheck)
        Signature Signature

[ldez]

Sadly --fast is not a filter on activated linters, more explanation here: #1909 (comment)

Also:

• typecheck is not a linter https://golangci-lint.run/welcome/faq/#why-do-you-have-typecheck-errors, and as it's not linter it doesn't run before the linting, it's part of the linting system.
• the issue is old, Go has changed.

[matthijskooijman]

Ah indeed, #1909 is my problem - there is a config file in this repo (I did not set this up, so I did not realize before) that selects some linters explicitly, which do not all work on a single file (and --fast does not change an explicit list of linters). If I run --no-config --fast it runs as expected.

Oh well, I'll go back to running manually for now then, thanks for the quick response!