"package XXX is not in GOROOT" when building a Go project

I have a weird issue that arose when I took a break from this project. Upon starting up Golang, I'm riddled with errors when trying to run my project.

The specific error, when building one of my packages, is:
start.go: package project/game is not in GOROOT (C:\Go\src\project\game)

I have a folder structure as such under C:\Users\username

go
|-src
   |-project
        |-game
            |-entity
                 |-whatever.go
            |-game_stuff.go
        |-server

and my env vars are as such:

GOROOT=C:\Go 
GOPATH=C:\Users\ketchup\go 

for each of the modules (project/game/entity, project/game, project/server), I did a git mod init.

When building, Goland will try to run this:

C:\Go\bin\go.exe build -o C:\Users\ketchup\AppData\Local\Temp\___go_build_project_server.exe project/server

and return the error.

Can anyone help me with this issue? Kind of lost since Goland was working fine the last time I opened it. Also not even sure what direction to look at - I'm pretty new to Go and I'm not really sure what documentation to look at :\ Thank you everyone!

In newer versions (post 1.13) of Go, you don't need to set environment variables like GOPATH, GOBIN, etc.

You also need to have a go.mod file at the project root. This will make the directory a Go module. This is also where the .git/ is located. This means that only one go.mod is needed per repository. Inside the project root you could do a go mod init remote-repo.com/username/repository

I installed Go using Homebrew on macOS so GOROOT is /opt/homebrew/Cellar/go/1.17.5/libexec. This location contains the standard library and runtimes for Go.

test and run commands are run in the format go COMMAND package_path/xxx. Without specifying the package_path ./ and just running go COMMAND xxx, the compiler assumes that the module xxx is located in GOROOT, and throws error package xxx is not in GOROOT (path/to/GOROOT/src/xxx) because it doesn't exist.

This behavior is expected because the package we are working with is not part of the Go SDK, i.e., not in GOROOT. The package we are working with will either end up in the go workspace or in the current working directory. Running go install compiles and puts an executable binary in $GOBIN (a.k.a $GOPATH/bin - here $GOPATH is the Go workspace). Running go build from inside a package compiles and puts an execuatble in that directory.

You haven't listed the files inside the server/ package and which file has the main function, so I'll emulate 3 workflows of a calculator each demonstrating more complexity. The last workflow is similar to your directory structure.

Directory Structure

Version 1:

• Getting started with packages

• Basic functionality

calculatorv1
├── go.mod                      <- go mod init github.com/yourname/calculatorv1
└── basic/
    ├── add.go
    ├── add_test.go
    ├── main.go
    ├── multiply.go
    └── multiply_test.go

Version 2:

• More functionality

• Multiple packages

calculatorv2
├── go.mod                      <- go mod init github.com/yourname/calculatorv2
├── main.go
└── basic/
│   ├── add.go
│   ├── add_test.go
│   ├── multiply.go
│   └── multiply_test.go
└─── advanced/
     ├── square.go
     └── square_test.go

Version 3:

• Even more functionality

• Nested packages

calculatorv3
├── go.mod                      <- go mod init github.com/yourname/calculatorv3
├── main.go
└── basic/
│   ├── add.go
│   ├── add_test.go
│   ├── multiply.go
│   └── multiply_test.go
└─── advanced/
     ├── square.go
     ├── square_test.go
     └── scientific/
         ├── declog.go
         └── declog_test.go

Workflow

Note: Substitute xxx with basic, advanced, or advanced/scientific depending on the version you're working with.

• Initialize Go module in the project directory (one of calculatorv1, calculatorv2, or calculatorv3) using go mod init

• Run tests

  go test -v ./... (from the project root, recursively execute all test suites)

  OR

  go test -v ./xxx (from the project root, run the test suite in package "xxx")

  OR

  cd xxx/
  go test -v            # (from inside the package)
  

• Compile and execute package

  go run ./... (from the project root, recursively run all .go files except tests)

  OR

  go run ./xxx (from the project root, run all .go files in "xxx" package except tests)

  OR

  cd xxx
  go run .              # (from inside the package)
  

  NOTE: Only files in the main package are executable, i.e., files having declaration package main. This means that go run ./xxx will only work with version1, and not versions 2 and 3. So instead for versions 2 and 3, run go run main.go

Code

Very easy to fill in incomplete bits

Version 1

add.go

package main

func addition(x int, y int) int {
    return x + y
}

add_test.go

package main

import "testing"

func TestAdd(t *testing.T) {

    t.Run("adding two positive numbers", func(t *testing.T) {
        sum := addition(2, 2)
        expected := 4
        
        if sum != expected {
            t.Errorf("Expected %d; but got %d", expected, sum)
        }
    })
    
    t.Run("adding two negative numbers", func(t *testing.T) {
        sum := addition(-3, -4)
        expected := -7

        if sum != expected {
            t.Errorf("Expected %d; but got %d", expected, sum)
        }
    })

    t.Run("adding one positive and one negative integer", func(t *testing.T) {
        sum := addition(1, -3)
        expected := -2

        if sum != expected {
            t.Errorf("Expected %d; but got %d", expected, sum)
        }
    })
    
}

main.go

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    var num1 int = 1
    var num2 int = 2
    
    sum := addition(num1, num2)
    product := multiplication(num1, num2)

    fmt.Printf("The sum of %d and %d is %d\n", num1, num2, sum)
    fmt.Printf("The multiplication of %d and %d is %d\n", num1, num2, product)
}

Version 2

main.go

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "github.com/yourname/calculatorv2/basic"
    "github.com/yourname/calculatorv2/advanced"
)

func main() {
    var num1 int = 1
    var num2 int = 2
    
    product := basic.Multiplication(num1, num2)
    square := advanced.Square(num2)

    fmt.Printf("The product of %d and %d is %d\n", num1, num2, product)
    fmt.Printf("The square of %d is %d\n", num2, square)
}

multiply.go

package basic

func Multiplication(x int, y int) int {
    return x * y
}

multiply_test.go

package basic

import "testing"

func TestMultiply(t *testing.T) {

    t.Run("multiplying two positive numbers", func(t *testing.T) {
        sum := Multiplication(2, 2)
        expected := 4
        
        if sum != expected {
            t.Errorf("Expected %d; but got %d", expected, sum)
        }
    })
    
    t.Run("multiplying two negative numbers", func(t *testing.T) {
        sum := Multiplication(-3, -4)
        expected := 12

        if sum != expected {
            t.Errorf("Expected %d; but got %d", expected, sum)
        }
    })

    t.Run("multiplying one positive and one negative integer", func(t *testing.T) {
        sum := Multiplication(1, -3)
        expected := -3

        if sum != expected {
            t.Errorf("Expected %d; but got %d", expected, sum)
        }
    })
    
}

square.go

package advanced

func Square(x int) int {
    return x * x
}

Version 3

main.go

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "github.com/yourname/calculatorv3/basic"
    "github.com/yourname/calculatorv3/advanced"
    "github.com/yourname/calculatorv3/advanced/scientific"
)

func main() {
    var num1 int = 1
    var num2 int = 2
    var num3 float64 = 2
    
    product := basic.Multiplication(num1, num2)
    square := advanced.Square(num2)
    decimallog := scientific.DecimalLog(num3)

    fmt.Printf("The product of %d and %d is %d\n", num1, num2, product)
    fmt.Printf("The square of %d is %d\n", num2, square)
    fmt.Printf("The decimal log (base 10) of %f is %f\n", num3, decimallog)
}

square.go

package advanced

func Square(x int) int {
    return x * x
}

declog.go

package scientific

import "math"

func DecimalLog(x float64) float64 {
    return math.Log10(x)
}

declog_test.go

package scientific

import "testing"

func TestDecimalLog(t *testing.T) {

    t.Run("adding two positive numbers", func(t *testing.T) {
        sum := DecimalLog(100)
        expected := 2.0
        
        if sum != expected {
            t.Errorf("Expected %f; but got %f", expected, sum)
        }
    })
    
    t.Run("adding two negative numbers", func(t *testing.T) {
        sum := DecimalLog(10)
        expected := 1.0

        if sum != expected {
            t.Errorf("Expected %f; but got %f", expected, sum)
        }
    })
}

You may have GO111MODULE set "on", which will be on the go mod. Turning off the GO111MODULE may resolve this problem.

go env -w GO111MODULE=off

A pretty dumb conclusion (mostly on my part) but my issue came from having done go mod init in each of the folders. after removing go.mod and go.dep from each of the folders I did go mod init in, I could build without issue (through terminal)

Also, my packages in GoLand were not being detected because I had Go Modules enabled in the Settings. I disabled it and GoLand was able to index the external packages and my own packages.

To anyone who does want modules to work with GoLand after they have stopped doing so, make sure 'Enable Go modules integration' is checked in the Preferences as such:

So it looks like if you running go mod init 'xxx' the xxx is core name of your project. In there main packages complete name is 'xxx/main' so if you have your project root folder like this:

root -> go mod init xxx
 |- main.go -> package "main"
 |- tools
      |- helper.go -> package "tools"

and you want to import tools package from main.go you need to import this "xxx/tools"

I don't like that everyone is giving an answer which uses github module naming conventions as if you have to name them in that way or to have your module on github for it to be used within a local environment, so here's my answer to — hopefully — help clarify a few moments I was confused about regarding the naming of packages and modules in Go (I will use deliberately unusual names for the files and folders so you could see that you don't have to name your files a specific way for your Go project to work (you have to structure them in a specific way though)):

So, Golang project conceptually has:

(this is optional for a Go project)

• "Repository" — a place in a version control system where the source code for a project is stored (usually some remote repo).

(this is required for a Go project to compile)

• "Module" — this name, conceptually, in a Go project, is used to specify the program/library as a whole (meaning, it refers to its root, which is usually stored in some remote repository).

• "Packages" — in a Go project, this name is applied to literal folders within which the "package files" are stored — It's a way of organizing code within a module.

In practice, the concepts from above imply that if you want to create a multi-package project, for it to compile, you need to do the following:

(step-by-step example:)

-- Create a folder that will serve as a root folder for the project and cd into it:

$ mkdir some_amazing_project && cd some_amazing_project

-- A collection of Go code becomes a module when there's a valid go.mod file in its root directory, so use the following command to generate it:

$ go mod init my_amazing_module_lib_program

(The inside of your go.mod file looks like this):

module my_amazing_module_lib_program // this is your unique module identifier and you use this name as a relative root for your package names when you use "import"

go 1.19

-- Now create an entry point to your Go program which is a go file that should be placed in the root folder (where the go.mod file resides), but you could just as well place it in any subfolder within this module (the root folder), but no deeper than that (or you'll receive the "no Go files in <absolute_path>/some_amazing_project/some_subfolder/another_folder" error):

$ touch some_main_file.go

> (^^ you can call this file whatever you want, but the convention is "main.go")

-- Inside of that main file you must specify the package to be main and you must have a function within that file that is also called main:

// some_main_file.go

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
	fmt.Println("hello there")
}

(This is your project structure so far):

some_amazing_project/
    |- go.mod
    |- some_main_file.go

(Now, let's say you want to create a package within this module/program/library. You would need to do the following):

-- Create a new folder, call it "amazing_package" and create any .go file in it (the name of the file doesn't really matter as only the name of the containing folder is used to refer to the package from other .go files):

$ mkdir amazing_package && cd amazing_package && touch whatever_file.go

-- Inside of the whatever_file.go you use the package keyword to specify the name of this package (this package name will be used only when specifying the name of the function to invoke from within other .go files — you'll see in a bit):

// whatever_file.go

package wowow

import "fmt"

func PrintWowow() {
	fmt.Println("this is from wowow package")
}

> ^^ The variables/constants/functions/types/etc..(any "identifier" in Go) that starts with an uppercase letter is exported and is made available to be imported into other packages.

(For the sake of example, let's create another file inside of this package):

$ touch another_cool_file.go

-- Inside of the another_cool_file.go you use the same package keyword to specify the name of this package as you've used for in the whatever_file.go (because these files are in the same "package" conceptually, meaning that in practice they are stored in the same folder (if you use a different name for the package keyword while storing the file in the same folder, you'll receive an error during compilation)):

// another_cool_file.go

package wowow

import "fmt"

var Some_var = 42 // this will also be automatically exported

func PrintAnotherWow() {
	fmt.Println("this is also from wowow package, but from a different file")
}

(This is your project structure so far):

some_amazing_project/
    |- go.mod
    |- some_main_file.go
    |- amazing_package/
            |- whatever_file.go
            |- another_cool_file.go

-- Now, to reference the "PrintWowow" and "PrintAnotherWow" function from ANY other .go file within this entire module you use the unique module identifier from go.mod file and a path relative to that identifier that specifies the location of a package folder to import (I'll use the some_main_file.go in this example. We re-write it like so):

// some_main_file.go

package main

import (
    "fmt"
	"my_amazing_module_lib_program/amazing_package"
)

func main() {
    fmt.Println("hello there")

    // now you use the name of the package specified inside of those files from *amazing_package* folder
    wowow.PrintWowow()
    wowow.PrintAnotherWow()
    fmt.Println("and this is Some_var from the same imported package:", wowow.Some_var)
}

And here is the result of running go build . && go run . while inside of my_amazing_module_lib_program (root) folder:

hello there
this is from wowow package
this is also from wowow package, but from a different file
and this is Some_var from the same imported package: 42

I made the mistake of changing the module name inside go.mod file manually. After fixing it, it worked fine.

└── hello
    ├── go.mod
    ├── go.sum
    ├── hello.go
    └── morestrings
        ├── reverse.go
        └── reverse_test.go

Excerpts of hello.go

import (
...
"hello/morestrings"
...
)

Running go build in hello directory was giving following error:

> hello.go:5:2: package hello/morestrings is not in GOROOT (/usr/local/go/src/hello/morestrings)

For me it was because my main method wasn't inside package main

package main

func main() {
{

}

While running command go mod init you need to add folder name, not main.go page name.
Like: go mod init confirm_enrl. confirm_enrl is project folder name

I met the same error with the project layout

     project
        |- pgk
        |- src
            |-module1
                 |- some.go
            |- main.go

some.go

package module1

...

main.go

import "project/module1"

Originally, I import module1 through ./module1, the error package module1 is not in GOROOT comes up. I solve it through import "project/module1".

PS: per golang project layout, src should NOT in golang project.

I got the same error when I had a spelling mistake in the package name. Therefore, it might be the root cause behind this error. Maybe it will be useful for someone.

For my case just updating my go version to the latest solved the issue .

I downloaded the latest binary and installed it and boom all was sorted !

It seems a little funny, but I faced same error because of running:

go run build

instead of

go build main.go

So it shows that everything after build or run should have a recognized path by go.

Had this problem, deleted my go.mod & go.sum files then rebuilt it using

go mod init

This solved my problem

Windows PC user

For me the issue was in how I was attempting to run the project

While at the root folder of the project and my main.go file is in /cmd/web/

I faced the issue when I tried to run both

go run cmd/web/.
go run /cmd/web/.

It only worked when I used the

go run ./cmd/web/.

Notice the . at the start

In my own case, it turned out that I was using go run main instead of go run main.go

I came across the same like issue when i was following go getting started tutorial with goland default awesomeProject.
What i did after crating project run this command go mod init example.com/hello but my root directory name was different than example.com/hello.

After manually edit the go.mod file and replace awesomeProject with example.com/hello the build works successfully.

I knew this is about one year ago. I just want to share same experience for those who have, have modules in local folders..

The problem is because you have not publish your module to a central location like github.
You have to run this command to tell go that the module is a local module

go mod edit --replace external_folder_module_name= ../pathItsLocated

I was also faced similar error while building the docker image. The error was #19 0.785 controllers/vasaprovider_controller.go:28:2: package vasa-operator/config/configs is not in GOROOT.

After adding the go file location in Dockerfile, it worked for me. The lines I had added are:

COPY config/configs config/configs/

COPY --from=builder /workspace/config/configs config/configs/

In my case, I was trying to build from the wrong directory. The old directory didn't even have any .go files.

We can solve this problem by writing this command on terminal: go env -w GO111MODULE=off

But after this command, you will be not able to use go mod init through terminal. You must create "go.mod" file manually.

In my case, it is cause by changing goroot path.

GOROOT is a variable that defines where your Go SDK is located

it will work if you change you goroot to where go sdk you installed

if you are getting package project/game is not in GOROOT (C:\Go\src\project\game), and you have a go.mod file... have you checked the imports in my *.go files to confirm they are synching up properly. If not then perhaps you should start there.

I get this error every once in a while especially when I am setting up a new project. first thing I do is confirm my imports and that usually fixes everything. thank you goland

This worked for me:

which dep &>/dev/null || go get -u -v github.com/golang/dep/cmd/dep
dep init

Make sure your import statement matches the module name that you defined in your go mod.

just initialise the project with mod file and start working on on root folder.

go mod init <name-anything>

in my case the handler path in serverless.yaml for the function in functions was incorrect