Go module and workspace discovery
ArchUnitGo
Architecture testing for Go. Write the sentence your team already says aloud and let go test show where the code disagrees. ArchUnitGo covers files, layers, slices, metrics, and dependency graphs with structured violations and no special runner.
Go module
go get github.com/LukasNiessen/ArchUnitGopackage architecture_test
import (
"testing"
archunit "github.com/LukasNiessen/ArchUnitGo"
)
func TestApiDoesNotTouchDatabase(t *testing.T) {
rule := archunit.ProjectFiles(nil).
InFolder("internal/api/**").
ShouldNot().DependOnFiles().
InFolder("internal/db/**")
archunit.AssertPasses(t, rule, nil)
}Silent product demo
Watch an architecture rule run with go test.
This silent walkthrough follows an ArchUnitGo rule from fluent definition to test output. Playback starts muted, loops in place, and keeps standard controls available so you can pause at any step.
Watch on YouTube ↗The ecosystem
Go, in context.
Go is a compiled language built for simple tooling, fast builds, concurrency, and maintainable network services. Packages and internal directories provide useful boundaries, while architecture tests make the intended dependency direction explicit across larger modules and workspaces.
01
Cloud services, platform tools, CLIs, and networking
02
Built-in testing with go test
03
Simple package model with fast compilation
Adoption snapshot
Public adoption, in context.
ArchUnitGo is available as a public Go module and is documented on pkg.go.dev. The Go module ecosystem does not publish package download counts.
- Package status
- Public Go module No ecosystem download counter
- Reported history
- Unavailable Not reported by pkg.go.dev
- Latest 30 days
- Unavailable Not reported by pkg.go.dev
- GitHub stars
- 3 Snapshot of October 4, 2026
Capabilities
What ArchUnitGo brings to the test suite.
The family shares a recognizable architecture vocabulary while each implementation stays honest about its language, toolchain, and maturity.
File, named-layer, and slice rules
Counting and dependency metrics
Structured violations with test helpers
Graph snapshots and HTML reports
Glob, regex, and exclusion semantics
Go deeper
Use the test runner Go already provides.
Architecture rules are ordinary test values, so local runs and CI need no special runner. A failed policy reports structured violations through testing.T alongside the rest of the suite.
func TestInternalPackagesAreCycleFree(t *testing.T) {
rule := archunit.ProjectFiles(nil).
InFolder("internal/**").
Should().HaveNoCycles()
archunit.AssertPasses(t, rule, nil)
}Documentation highlights
Work with ArchUnitGo beyond the quickstart.
ArchUnitGo divides every check into source discovery, language-aware extraction, language-neutral projection, pure assertion, and reporting. That boundary is also how the repository tests and explains itself.
Keep Go knowledge at the extraction edge
The nearest go.mod defines the project, Go analysis packages resolve imports, and build tags determine the production source set.
- Project-relative forward-slash identifiers keep rules stable across operating systems.
- Every file receives a self-edge so an isolated file still exists as a graph node.
- Extraction is memoized per process and can include test files or alternate build constraints through CheckOptions.
Project one graph into useful questions
Files, layers, slices, metrics, and graph reports reuse the same labels and edges while adding their own selectors and violation types.
- Layer allowlists and blocklists report one architectural relationship with the concrete imports that prove it.
- Slice names are cut from path captures, while graph queries can focus, traverse, or collapse before rendering.
- Checkable is the common seam: every rule returns structured violations plus a technical error separately.
Refuse accidental green tests
A rule selecting no files yields an EmptyTestViolation by default, and empty graph or report terminals return a named error.
- AllowEmptyTests is an explicit opt-out when an empty scope is genuinely intended.
- Selectors expose inspection methods so teams can see the files, layers, or slices a pattern actually matched.
- README examples and exported identifiers are checked against source to make documentation drift testable.
Release and compatibility
Untagged preview
Functional on main with no tagged release yet; installation resolves to a pseudo-version and APIs may move.
LanguageGo
ReleaseUntagged preview
RuntimeGo 1.26+
LicenseRepository terms
Where it fits
Put boundaries next to the code they protect.
Common starting points for ArchUnitGo include the following project shapes.
Go servicesModular monolithsCLI applicationsPlatform tooling
More ecosystems
The same intent, expressed natively.
Explore sibling implementations and carry the architecture vocabulary across a polyglot system.
Make the first boundary executable.
Add one meaningful rule, run it with the existing tests, and grow the architecture suite as the system reveals where it needs protection.
Start with ArchUnitGo ↗