install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install goimports

local Homebrew formula metadata

overview

Package summary

Go formatter that additionally inserts import statements

Project links

Commands and aliases

goimports

history

Project history and usage

goimports is a Go formatter command that also adds missing imports and removes unused imports. It is part of golang.org/x/tools, the official Go supplementary tools repository.

The command became one of the canonical editor-save tools in Go development because it turns source formatting and import maintenance into one operation.

Project history

The cmd/goimports documentation carries a 2013 Go Authors copyright notice, and repository history records goimports moving into go.tools in December 2013. Soon after, the README was renamed to doc.go, making the command documentation part of the source package.

The implementation evolved alongside Go tooling: repository history shows work on package lookup, standard-library handling, cgo exports, vendor directory support, and module-era behavior. The command remains documented through both its source directory and pkg.go.dev.

Adoption history

goimports was adopted through editors as much as through terminals. The official command docs include examples for Emacs and Vim, telling users to make goimports their format-on-save command.

Because it lives in x/tools rather than the core go command, goimports is a classic package-manager/editor dependency: small binary, official upstream, and installed wherever developers want import organization without manually editing import blocks.

How it is used

The documented install path uses go install for golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports. In use, it formats code like gofmt and rewrites imports based on symbols in the file.

goimports respects $GOPATH/src/.goimportsignore, a line-oriented ignore file for directories that should not be scanned when resolving packages under GOPATH. That file is the only official fixed config-file location documented by the command.

Why package nerds care

goimports matters because it is the bridge between Go's no-bikeshedding formatting culture and the messier reality of import discovery. It made save hooks feel magical without requiring a full IDE.

For packagers, it is an example of an official subcommand distributed from a larger module. The package name is the command, but the upstream repository and release cadence are tied to golang.org/x/tools.

Timeline

2013: goimports moves into go.tools and command documentation becomes doc.go.
2014: Repository history records import lookup, standard-library, cgo, and golang.org/x path work.
2016: Vendor directory support lands in the imports package.
2016: .goimportsignore support is added for excluding GOPATH directories from scans.
2026: x/tools history continues to update imports behavior for module cache and tooling changes.

Related projects

gofmt is the formatter behavior goimports preserves while adding import management.
golang.org/x/tools is the official repository that contains cmd/goimports and the imports package.
gopls overlaps with goimports in editor workflows by providing language-server driven formatting and import organization.

Sources

security posture

No protected-tool coverage found yet

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for goimports. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 1 runtime dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: $GOPATH/src/.goimportsignore

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`goimports`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version0.47.0

manager updated2026-06-25

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detectedv0.47.0

https://github.com/golang/tools

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:goimports
Version	0.47.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/goimports
Homepage	https://pkg.go.dev/golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports
Repository	https://github.com/golang/tools
Upstream docs	https://github.com/golang/tools/tree/master/cmd/goimports
License	BSD-3-Clause
Source archive	https://github.com/golang/tools/archive/refs/tags/v0.47.0.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-06-25T21:14:54Z
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	go
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	goimports
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Head Version	HEAD
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	head stable

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/goimports.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated configuration and credential file locations
curated package history
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install goimports with Homebrew