Go staticcheck / golangci-lint failures - Fix in CI

By Daniel Zoghalchali·Latchkey

staticcheck and golangci-lint gate CI on lint findings. A failure is either a genuine issue in the code or drift between the linter version/config used locally and in CI.

What this error means

A lint step fails listing findings like SA4006: value never used or errcheck: error return not checked, or it errors loading config. Local runs may pass when a different linter version or .golangci.yml is in effect.

pkg/handler.go:42:2: SA4006: this value of err is never used (staticcheck)
pkg/store.go:18:9: Error return value is not checked (errcheck)

Common causes

Genuine lint findings

The linter caught real issues - unused values, unchecked errors, or shadowed variables.

Linter version or config drift

CI runs a different linter version or .golangci.yml than local, so the rule set differs.

How to fix it

Fix the findings

1. Address each reported issue, then re-run the linter to confirm a clean pass.

golangci-lint run ./...

Pin the linter version in CI

1. Pin a fixed golangci-lint version so local and CI use the same rule set.

- uses: golangci/golangci-lint-action@v6
  with:
    version: v1.59.1

How to prevent it

• Pin the linter version in CI and document it for local use.
• Commit a single .golangci.yml as the source of truth.
• Run the linter locally before pushing.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• Go documentation
• GitHub Actions documentation