Go Language Integration

Architecture and implementation details for Go support in n-dx.

Overview

Go is the first non-JavaScript/TypeScript language supported by n-dx. The integration spans all three core packages (SourceVision, Rex, Hench) and enables the full ndx init → analyze → plan → work workflow on Go codebases.

The implementation follows a key design principle: Go support extends existing systems through configuration and dispatch, not duplication. The zone detection algorithm, PRD management, and agent execution loop are unchanged. Language-specific behavior is isolated to parsers, classifiers, and guard templates.

File Inventory

Go files are classified using the language registry (packages/sourcevision/src/language/go.ts).

File Role Classification

Pattern	Role	Example
`*.go` (not test/generated)	`source`	`internal/handler/user.go`
`*_test.go`	`test`	`internal/handler/user_test.go`
`_gen.go`, `.pb.go`, `wire_gen.go`, `mock_*.go`	`generated`	`proto/api.pb.go`
`go.mod`, `go.sum`, `.golangci.yml`, `Makefile`	`config`	`go.mod`
`testdata/` contents	`asset`	`testdata/users.json`

Skip Directories

Go projects skip vendor/ (equivalent to node_modules/). Standard Go directories like internal/, cmd/, and pkg/ are not skipped — they contain source code.

Import Graph

File: packages/sourcevision/src/analyzers/go-imports.ts

Parser Design

The Go import parser is regex-based (no Go toolchain dependency). It handles all import syntax variants:

Variant	Syntax	Example
Single	`import "pkg"`	`import "fmt"`
Grouped	`import ( ... )`	`import ( "fmt"; "net/http" )`
Aliased	`import alias "pkg"`	`import chi "github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"`
Blank	`import _ "pkg"`	`import _ "github.com/lib/pq"`
Dot	`import . "pkg"`	`import . "testing"`

The parser strips comments (// and /* */) before extraction and ignores import-like text inside string literals.

Import Classification

Every import is classified into one of three categories using the module path from go.mod:

Category	Rule	Edge Type	Example
Internal	Starts with module path	`ImportEdge` (file → directory)	`github.com/myapp/internal/handler` → edge to `internal/handler`
Stdlib	No dot in first path segment	`ExternalImport` with `stdlib:` prefix	`fmt` → `stdlib:fmt`
Third-party	Has dot, doesn't start with module path	`ExternalImport`	`github.com/go-chi/chi/v5`

File-to-Package Edge Semantics

This is the most important architectural difference from JS/TS:

JS/TS:  src/handler/user.ts  →  src/service/user-service.ts     (file → file)
Go:     handler/user.go      →  internal/service                  (file → directory)

Go imports target packages (directories), not files. A single import "module/internal/service" imports all exported symbols from all .go files in that directory. The edge target in imports.json is a relative directory path.

Consequences:

Zone detection operates at package granularity for Go (vs file granularity for JS/TS)
Files within the same Go package always cluster together in one zone
All imports carry ImportType: "static" (Go has no dynamic imports)
Symbols are recorded as ["*"] (Go imports entire packages)

Module Path Resolution

The go.mod file is read once at the start of analysis to extract the module path. For each import:

Check if the import path starts with the module path
If yes → strip the module path prefix to get the relative directory
If no → classify as stdlib or third-party

Example with module github.com/example/myapp:

Import: "github.com/example/myapp/internal/handler"
Strip:  "github.com/example/myapp/"
Result: edge to "internal/handler"

Zone Detection

Go projects feed into the same Louvain community detection algorithm as JS/TS. The algorithm is language-agnostic — it operates on graph nodes (files) and edges (imports).

Edge Resolution

Go import edges target directories, but zone file maps contain individual file paths. The resolveEdgeTarget() function bridges this gap by expanding directory targets to all files in that directory:

Edge: handler/user.go → internal/service
Resolves to: handler/user.go → [internal/service/user.go, internal/service/order.go]

This enables accurate zone crossing computation and coupling/cohesion metrics.

Zone Naming

Go's package structure maps naturally to zone names. The zone naming algorithm skips generic segments (internal, pkg, src, lib):

File Path	Zone Name	Reasoning
`internal/handler/user.go`	Handler	`internal` skipped → `handler`
`internal/service/user.go`	Service	`internal` skipped → `service`
`pkg/response/json.go`	Response	`pkg` skipped → `response`
`cmd/api/main.go`	API	`cmd` preserved → clustering decides

Real-World Validation

Tested against PocketBase (843 files):

Metric	Value
Import edges	756
External packages	125
Zones	26
Zone crossings	49
Hub detection	`core` imported by 5 zones
Bidirectional coupling	`infrastructure-tools` ↔ `s3-blob-driver` flagged

Route Detection

File: packages/sourcevision/src/analyzers/go-route-detection.ts

Regex-based detection of HTTP route registrations across 6 Go frameworks:

Framework	Pattern	Example
net/http	`http.HandleFunc("/path", handler)`	Stdlib
chi	`r.Get("/path", handler)`	Lowercase methods
gin	`r.GET("/path", handler)`	Uppercase methods
echo	`e.GET("/path", handler)`	Uppercase methods
fiber	`app.Get("/path", handler)`	Mixed case
gorilla/mux	`r.HandleFunc("/path").Methods("GET")`	Method chaining

The detector strips Go comments before matching, preserves path parameters as-is ({id}, :id), and groups routes by common prefix. Output uses the existing ServerRoute and ServerRouteGroup types — no schema changes required.

Archetype Classification

Go-specific archetype signals are scoped using the languages: ["go"] field:

Archetype	Go Signals
`entrypoint`	`main.go` (0.9), `/cmd/` directory (0.7)
`types`	`types.go` (0.9), `models.go` (0.8), `entities.go` (0.8)
`route-handler`	`handler.go` (0.8), `/handler/` (0.8), `/handlers/` (0.8)
`test-helper`	`/testdata/` (0.9), `/testutil/` (0.8)

Frontend-specific archetypes (component, hook, page, route-module) are scoped to ["typescript", "javascript"] and do not fire in Go projects.

Rex Scanner Support

File: packages/rex/src/analyze/scanners.ts

go.mod Parsing

parseGoMod() extracts structured data from go.mod:

Module path
Go version requirement
Dependencies (from require block)
Replace directives

scanGoMod() produces Rex proposals from this data (e.g., dependency update tasks, Go version upgrade tasks).

Go-Aware Scanning

vendor/ added to skip directories
go.mod and go.sum added to skip config files (not scanned for doc content)
_test.go recognized by isTestFile()

Hench Agent Support

Guard Configuration

typescript

const GO_GUARD_DEFAULTS = {
  blockedPaths: [".hench/**", ".rex/**", ".git/**", "vendor/**"],
  allowedCommands: ["go", "make", "git", "golangci-lint"],
  commandTimeout: 30000,
  maxFileSize: 1048576,
};

Selected via guardDefaultsForLanguage("go") when the manifest language is Go.

Test Runner

Go test detection and execution:

Pattern: /_test\.go$/
Runner: go test ./... (all packages) or go test ./internal/handler/... (scoped)
Specific test: go test -run TestName ./pkg/...

Language Context

buildGoLanguageContext() provides Go-specific guidance to the agent brief:

Go testing conventions (go test, table-driven tests, testdata/)
Go build commands (go build, go vet, golangci-lint run)
Go naming conventions (exported = PascalCase, unexported = camelCase)
Go project structure conventions (cmd/, internal/, pkg/)

Test Fixture

Location: packages/sourcevision/tests/fixtures/go-project/

A minimal Go project modeling a layered HTTP API:

go-project/
  go.mod                           # Module: github.com/example/go-project
  cmd/api/
    main.go                        # Entry point
  internal/
    handler/user.go                # HTTP handlers (chi routes)
    handler/user_test.go           # Handler tests
    service/user.go                # Business logic
    service/user_test.go           # Service tests
    repository/user.go             # Data access
    repository/user_test.go        # Repository tests
    middleware/auth.go             # Auth middleware
    middleware/logging.go          # Logging middleware
    config/config.go              # Configuration loading
  pkg/response/json.go            # Shared response utilities
  testdata/users.json             # Test fixtures

Exercises: entry point detection, standard Go layout, all archetype categories, test/generated file classification, import graph construction, route detection, and zone boundary formation.

A mixed-language fixture (tests/fixtures/mixed-go-ts/) also exists for multi-language detection testing.

Known Limitations

Parser Limitations

Regex-based — no full AST. Build-tag-gated imports (//go:build linux) are extracted regardless of platform. CGo imports (import "C") are classified as stdlib.
No symbol extraction — all imports record symbols: ["*"] because Go imports entire packages. This is accurate to Go semantics but means the import graph cannot distinguish which specific exports are used.

Zone Detection Limitations

Package-level granularity — zones align with Go packages. A 50-file package appears as a single cluster. Sub-package splitting requires function-level call graph analysis (Phase 4).
Intra-package cohesion — Go files in the same package never import each other, so cohesion is computed from shared outgoing edges and proximity, not internal edges.

Hench Limitations

Guard template is manual — the go-project template must be selected during ndx init or configured in .hench/config.json. Auto-detection from go.mod during hench run is not implemented.
No Makefile target scanning — make is in the allowed commands but Hench doesn't discover available targets from Makefile.

Not Implemented (Phase 4)

Function-level call graph via go/ast or gopls
Interface and struct cataloging
Go-specific findings (large interfaces, package naming violations, stuttering)
go.work multi-module workspace support

Go Language Integration ​

Overview ​

File Inventory ​

File Role Classification ​

Skip Directories ​

Import Graph ​

Parser Design ​

Import Classification ​

File-to-Package Edge Semantics ​

Module Path Resolution ​

Zone Detection ​

Edge Resolution ​

Zone Naming ​

Real-World Validation ​

Route Detection ​

Archetype Classification ​

Rex Scanner Support ​

go.mod Parsing ​

Go-Aware Scanning ​

Hench Agent Support ​

Guard Configuration ​

Test Runner ​

Language Context ​

Test Fixture ​

Known Limitations ​

Parser Limitations ​

Zone Detection Limitations ​

Hench Limitations ​

Not Implemented (Phase 4) ​