Sean Liao (Gerrit)

unread,

May 16, 2026, 3:52:49 PM (3 days ago) May 16

to goph...@pubsubhelper.golang.org, golang-co...@googlegroups.com

Sean Liao has uploaded the change for review

Commit message

cmd/go/internal/envcmd: print a default value for GOBIN

A continued source of confusion is: where does "go install" put the
binaries. The actual answer is somewhat complicated, see go.dev/cl/232017
But for the purposes of informing the user, we can have "go env" report
GOPATH[0]/bin (or their current GOPATH/bin) as the probable location
(ignoring cross compiles).

Fixes #23439
Fixes #45546
Updates #42823
Updates #44930

Change-Id: Ie705793db6090d2d735af1b62064c13c6a6a6964

Change diff

diff --git a/src/cmd/go/internal/cfg/cfg.go b/src/cmd/go/internal/cfg/cfg.go
index a4edd85..78cbbb9 100644
--- a/src/cmd/go/internal/cfg/cfg.go
+++ b/src/cmd/go/internal/cfg/cfg.go
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@
 	GOROOTpkg string
 	GOROOTsrc string
 
-	GOBIN                           = Getenv("GOBIN")
+	GOBIN, GOBINChanged             = EnvOrAndChanged("GOBIN", "")
 	GOCACHEPROG, GOCACHEPROGChanged = EnvOrAndChanged("GOCACHEPROG", "")
 	GOMODCACHE, GOMODCACHEChanged   = EnvOrAndChanged("GOMODCACHE", gopathDir("pkg/mod"))
 
diff --git a/src/cmd/go/internal/envcmd/env.go b/src/cmd/go/internal/envcmd/env.go
index e950c65..1c54fc6 100644
--- a/src/cmd/go/internal/envcmd/env.go
+++ b/src/cmd/go/internal/envcmd/env.go
@@ -83,7 +83,6 @@
 		{Name: "GO111MODULE", Value: cfg.Getenv("GO111MODULE")},
 		{Name: "GOARCH", Value: cfg.Goarch, Changed: cfg.Goarch != runtime.GOARCH},
 		{Name: "GOAUTH", Value: cfg.GOAUTH, Changed: cfg.GOAUTHChanged},
-		{Name: "GOBIN", Value: cfg.GOBIN},
 		{Name: "GOCACHE"},
 		{Name: "GOCACHEPROG", Value: cfg.GOCACHEPROG, Changed: cfg.GOCACHEPROGChanged},
 		{Name: "GODEBUG", Value: os.Getenv("GODEBUG")},
@@ -126,7 +125,7 @@
 			if env[i].Value != "on" && env[i].Value != "" {
 				env[i].Changed = true
 			}
-		case "GOBIN", "GOEXPERIMENT", "GOFLAGS", "GOINSECURE", "GOPRIVATE", "GOTMPDIR", "GOVCS":
+		case "GOEXPERIMENT", "GOFLAGS", "GOINSECURE", "GOPRIVATE", "GOTMPDIR", "GOVCS":
 			if env[i].Value != "" {
 				env[i].Changed = true
 			}
@@ -203,9 +202,30 @@
 	if cfg.Getenv("GOWORK") == "off" {
 		gowork = "off"
 	}
+	gobin := cfg.GOBIN
+	if gobin == "" && cfg.ModulesEnabled {
+		gobin = modload.BinDir(ld)
+	} else if gobin == "" {
+		// Best effort guess of where the binary will be installed.
+		// go.dev/issue/23439
+		wd, err := os.Getwd()
+		if err == nil {
+			gopaths := filepath.SplitList(cfg.BuildContext.GOPATH)
+			gopath := gopaths[0]
+			for _, p := range gopaths {
+				if strings.HasPrefix(wd, p) {
+					gopath = p
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			gobin = filepath.Join(gopath, "bin")
+		}
+	}
+
 	return []cfg.EnvVar{
 		{Name: "GOMOD", Value: gomod},
 		{Name: "GOWORK", Value: gowork},
+		{Name: "GOBIN", Value: gobin, Changed: cfg.GOBINChanged},
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/src/cmd/go/testdata/script/env_gobin.txt b/src/cmd/go/testdata/script/env_gobin.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e0efb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cmd/go/testdata/script/env_gobin.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+
+go env GOBIN
+stdout $WORK${/}gopath${/}bin
+go env -changed GOBIN
+! stdout $WORK
+
+# report explicit settings
+env GOBIN=/tmp/gobin
+go env GOBIN
+stdout /tmp/gobin
+go env -changed GOBIN
+stdout /tmp/gobin
+
+# reset
+env GOBIN=
+go env -changed GOBIN
+! stdout $WORK
+
+# In GOPATH mode
+# the default install directory depends on the GOPATH
+# technically it also depends on the install target
+# but that's not something we can report.
+env GO111MODULE=off
+env GOPATH=$WORK/a${:}$WORK/b
+
+# report GOPATH[0]/bin outside of GOPATH
+cd $WORK
+go env GOBIN
+stdout $WORK${/}a${/}bin
+
+# report the current GOPATH/bin inside of a GOPATH
+cd $WORK/a/src/example1.com
+go env GOBIN
+stdout $WORK${/}a${/}bin
+
+cd $WORK/b/src/example2.com
+go env GOBIN
+stdout $WORK${/}b${/}bin
+
+-- $WORK/a/src/example1.com/main.go --
+package main
+
+-- $WORK/b/src/example2.com/main.go --
+package main

Change information

Files:

M src/cmd/go/internal/cfg/cfg.go
M src/cmd/go/internal/envcmd/env.go
A src/cmd/go/testdata/script/env_gobin.txt

Change size: M

Delta: 3 files changed, 67 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

Open in Gerrit

Related details

Attention set is empty

Submit Requirements:

Code-Review
No-Unresolved-Comments
Review-Enforcement
TryBots-Pass

Inspect html for hidden footers to help with email filtering. To unsubscribe visit settings.

Gerrit

unsatisfied_requirement

satisfied_requirement

open

diffy

Sean Liao (Gerrit)

unread,

May 16, 2026, 4:29:01 PM (3 days ago) May 16

to goph...@pubsubhelper.golang.org, golang-co...@googlegroups.com

Attention needed from Sean Liao

Sean Liao uploaded new patchset

Sean Liao uploaded patch set #2 to this change.

Following approvals got outdated and were removed:

TryBots-Pass: LUCI-TryBot-Result-1 by golang...@luci-project-accounts.iam.gserviceaccount.com

Open in Gerrit

Related details

Attention is currently required from:

Sean Liao

Submit Requirements:

Code-Review
No-Unresolved-Comments
Review-Enforcement
TryBots-Pass

Inspect html for hidden footers to help with email filtering. To unsubscribe visit settings.

Gerrit

unsatisfied_requirement

satisfied_requirement

open

diffy

Sean Liao (Gerrit)

unread,

May 16, 2026, 4:56:53 PM (3 days ago) May 16

to goph...@pubsubhelper.golang.org, golang-co...@googlegroups.com

Attention needed from Sean Liao

Sean Liao uploaded new patchset

Sean Liao uploaded patch set #3 to this change.

Following approvals got outdated and were removed:

TryBots-Pass: LUCI-TryBot-Result-1 by golang...@luci-project-accounts.iam.gserviceaccount.com

Open in Gerrit

Related details

Attention is currently required from:

Sean Liao

Submit Requirements:

Code-Review
No-Unresolved-Comments
Review-Enforcement
TryBots-Pass

Inspect html for hidden footers to help with email filtering. To unsubscribe visit settings.

Gerrit

unsatisfied_requirement

satisfied_requirement

open

diffy

Hyang-Ah Hana Kim (Gerrit)

unread,

May 18, 2026, 2:25:08 PM (18 hours ago) May 18

to goph...@pubsubhelper.golang.org, Hyang-Ah Hana Kim, golang...@luci-project-accounts.iam.gserviceaccount.com, Michael Matloob, golang-co...@googlegroups.com

Attention needed from Michael Matloob and Sean Liao

Hyang-Ah Hana Kim voted Commit-Queue+1

Commit-Queue

+1

Open in Gerrit

Related details

Attention is currently required from:

Michael Matloob
Sean Liao

Submit Requirements:

Code-Review
No-Unresolved-Comments
Review-Enforcement

TryBots-Pass

Inspect html for hidden footers to help with email filtering. To unsubscribe visit settings.

Gerrit

unsatisfied_requirement

satisfied_requirement

open

diffy

qiu laidongfeng (Gerrit)

unread,

May 18, 2026, 9:39:25 PM (10 hours ago) May 18

to goph...@pubsubhelper.golang.org, Hyang-Ah Hana Kim, golang...@luci-project-accounts.iam.gserviceaccount.com, Michael Matloob, golang-co...@googlegroups.com

Attention needed from Michael Matloob and Sean Liao

qiu laidongfeng added 1 comment

File src/cmd/go/testdata/script/env_gobin.txt

Line 6, Patchset 3 (Latest):

qiu laidongfeng . unresolved

add test when env GOBIN=$WORK${/}gopath${/}bin

Currently, explicitly setting other environment variables to their default values (e.g., running set GOAMD64=v1 in CMD) is not reported by go env -changed, which does not seem to be the case for GOBIN with this CL.

Open in Gerrit

Related details

Attention is currently required from:

Michael Matloob
Sean Liao

Submit Requirements:

Code-Review

No-Unresolved-Comments

Review-Enforcement
TryBots-Pass

Inspect html for hidden footers to help with email filtering. To unsubscribe visit settings.

Gerrit

unsatisfied_requirement

satisfied_requirement

open

diffy

Sean Liao (Gerrit)

unread,

May 18, 2026, 10:08:05 PM (10 hours ago) May 18

to goph...@pubsubhelper.golang.org, qiu laidongfeng, Hyang-Ah Hana Kim, golang...@luci-project-accounts.iam.gserviceaccount.com, Michael Matloob, golang-co...@googlegroups.com

Attention needed from Michael Matloob and qiu laidongfeng

Sean Liao added 1 comment

File src/cmd/go/testdata/script/env_gobin.txt

Line 6, Patchset 3 (Latest):

qiu laidongfeng . resolved

add test when env GOBIN=$WORK${/}gopath${/}bin
Currently, explicitly setting other environment variables to their default values (e.g., running set GOAMD64=v1 in CMD) is not reported by go env -changed, which does not seem to be the case for GOBIN with this CL.

Sean Liao

The issue has been GOBIN does not have a real default value, the default behavior of go install changes based on the arguments, so explicitly setting GOBIN=GOPATH[0]/bin is materially different from relying on the default.
That's why I think -changed should report any value that's set.

https://go-review.googlesource.com/c/go/+/232017/4#message-75b3b75fc59c83ddca9fba768d9a7ced203f4c29

Open in Gerrit

Related details

Attention is currently required from:

Michael Matloob
qiu laidongfeng

Submit Requirements:

Code-Review

No-Unresolved-Comments

Review-Enforcement
TryBots-Pass

Inspect html for hidden footers to help with email filtering. To unsubscribe visit settings.

Gerrit

unsatisfied_requirement

satisfied_requirement

open

diffy

qiu laidongfeng (Gerrit)

unread,

May 18, 2026, 10:25:04 PM (10 hours ago) May 18

to goph...@pubsubhelper.golang.org, Hyang-Ah Hana Kim, golang...@luci-project-accounts.iam.gserviceaccount.com, Michael Matloob, golang-co...@googlegroups.com

Attention needed from Michael Matloob and Sean Liao

qiu laidongfeng voted Code-Review+1

Code-Review

+1

Open in Gerrit

Related details

Attention is currently required from:

Michael Matloob
Sean Liao

Submit Requirements:

Code-Review
No-Unresolved-Comments
Review-Enforcement
TryBots-Pass

Inspect html for hidden footers to help with email filtering. To unsubscribe visit settings.

Gerrit

unsatisfied_requirement

satisfied_requirement

open

diffy

Reply all

Reply to author

Forward

[go] cmd/go/internal/envcmd: print a default value for GOBIN

Sean Liao (Gerrit)

Sean Liao has uploaded the change for review

Commit message

Change diff

Change information

Related details

Sean Liao (Gerrit)

Sean Liao uploaded new patchset

Related details

Sean Liao (Gerrit)

Sean Liao uploaded new patchset

Related details

Hyang-Ah Hana Kim (Gerrit)

Hyang-Ah Hana Kim voted Commit-Queue+1

Related details

qiu laidongfeng (Gerrit)

qiu laidongfeng added 1 comment

Related details

Sean Liao (Gerrit)

Sean Liao added 1 comment

Related details

qiu laidongfeng (Gerrit)

qiu laidongfeng voted Code-Review+1

Related details