Go Pre-Ship Check

A systematic pass over a Go codebase for bug classes that are easy to write, hard to notice in review, and don't show up until production load. Every item below go vet and the standard linters miss, or only partially catch.

How to run this

1. Identify the surface: which files/packages changed, or which package the user pointed at. Don't try to check an entire large codebase in one pass if a diff or specific package is available — scope to what's relevant.
2. Run the automated tools first (section below) — they're cheap and catch a chunk of this for free.
3. Walk each checklist section against the code, in order. Each item lists what to grep for, what it looks like when broken, and the fix.
4. Report findings grouped by severity, not by category: will break in production first, will leak resources over time second, latent/edge-case third. Don't just dump every category's findings in file order — the reader needs to know what to fix first.
5. For each finding: cite the exact line, explain the failure scenario in one sentence (not just "this is a leak"), and show the fix. Don't just flag — fix or propose the fix inline.

Automated tools to run first

These catch a meaningful chunk of this checklist without manual review. Run them and fold results into the report before doing the manual pass.