Go Build Tags
External
Internal
Overview
A build tag is an identifier added to a piece of code that determines when the file should be including in a package during the build process.
Build tags provide conditional compilation in Go. Go does not have a preprocessor, a macro system, or a #define declaration to control the inclusion of platform-specific code, it uses build tags instead. Build tags are implemented as comments which must appear at the top of the file in any source file (not just go files). To differentiate between the package and build tags, there must be a blank line between them:
//go:build tag_a tag_b
package somepkg
To select building or test execution:
go build|test [...] -tags=tag_a,tag_x [...]
If a file contains build tags, but no -tags build option is provided on the compiler's or tester's command line, the file will not be compiled/included in testing. Once a file has been marked with a build tag, the build tag must be present for the file to be handled.
Providing Tags on Command Line
go build|test -tags=tag_a [...]
Combining Tags
Multiple tags are supported, and they can be combined using an OR, AND or NOT logic.
File will be Included if Either Tags are Present During Compilation
When the || operator is used, is sufficient that any of them is present for the file to be compiled. The following declaration:
//go:build tag_a || tag_b || tag_c
package somepkg
has the semantics:
tag_a OR tag_b OR tag_c
File will be Included if All Tags are Present During Compilation
When the tags are separated by the && operator, all of them must be present . The following declaration:
//go:build tag_a && tag_b && tag_c
package somepkg
has the semantics:
tag_a AND tag_b AND tag_c
File will Not Be Included if the Tag Is Present During Compilation
A negated tag means that the file will not be compiled if the tag is provided at compilation:
//go:build !tag_a
package somepkg
Controlling Test Execution with Build Tags
See unit_test, integration_test, system_test and build tags in mock files.
To run tests selectively:
go test [...] -tags=unit_test,integration_test,system_test [...]