Golang Testing

This is a solid TDD-focused testing guide for Go that covers the essentials: table-driven tests, subtests, benchmarks, and fuzzing. It walks through the red-green-refactor cycle with actual code examples, shows how to structure tests with the idiomatic table pattern, and includes practical helpers like t.Cleanup() and t.TempDir(). The golden file pattern and interface-based mocking sections are useful for real-world scenarios. If you're writing Go tests or trying to adopt TDD, this gives you working patterns you can copy and adapt. It assumes you know Go basics but need testing structure.

skills.sh installs: 6.2K
GitHub stars: 300.3K
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add affaan-m/ecc --skill golang-testing --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Go Testing Patterns

Comprehensive Go testing patterns for writing reliable, maintainable tests following TDD methodology.

When to Activate

Writing new Go functions or methods
Adding test coverage to existing code
Creating benchmarks for performance-critical code
Implementing fuzz tests for input validation
Following TDD workflow in Go projects

TDD Workflow for Go

The RED-GREEN-REFACTOR Cycle

RED     → Write a failing test first
GREEN   → Write minimal code to pass the test
REFACTOR → Improve code while keeping tests green
REPEAT  → Continue with next requirement

Step-by-Step TDD in Go

// Step 1: Define the interface/signature
// calculator.go
package calculator

func Add(a, b int) int {
    panic("not implemented") // Placeholder
}

// Step 2: Write failing test (RED)
// calculator_test.go
package calculator

import "testing"

func TestAdd(t *testing.T) {
    got := Add(2, 3)
    want := 5
    if got != want {
        t.Errorf("Add(2, 3) = %d; want %d", got, want)
    }
}

// Step 3: Run test - verify FAIL
// $ go test
// --- FAIL: TestAdd (0.00s)
// panic: not implemented

SKILL.md on GitHub