Go "package X is not in GOROOT" - Fix in CI

By Daniel Zoghalchali·Latchkey

Go looked for an import in the standard library at GOROOT and did not find it. The path is misspelled, third-party, or the project is not running in module mode.

What this error means

A build fails with package X is not in std (GOROOT/src/X). It usually means a third-party import was written as if it were stdlib, or modules are disabled so Go fell back to GOROOT/GOPATH lookup.

main.go:4:2: package github.com/foo/bar is not in std (/usr/local/go/src/github.com/foo/bar)

Common causes

Third-party import not required

A non-stdlib import is used but no module provides it, so Go searches GOROOT and fails.

Modules disabled

With GO111MODULE=off Go resolves against GOROOT/GOPATH only, so module dependencies look like missing stdlib.

How to fix it

Add the providing module

1. Run go mod tidy so the third-party import gets a require directive.
2. Commit go.mod and go.sum.

go mod tidy
go build ./...

Enable module mode

1. Ensure GO111MODULE is on (the default) so dependencies resolve via go.mod.

export GO111MODULE=on
go build ./...

How to prevent it

• Run go mod tidy after adding imports.
• Leave module mode enabled in CI.
• Double-check import paths against the package docs.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• Go documentation
• GitHub Actions documentation