Install golines with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• golines

Project history

Segment created golines to automate a style preference common in large Go codebases: reducing very long lines without abandoning gofmt. The README links the motivation to Go issue 11915 and notes that line-shortening remains developer-managed in the standard formatter.

The tool evolved with options for maximum line length, tab width, dry-run diffs, comment shortening, base formatter selection, generated-file handling, method-chain splitting, and struct-tag formatting. Since v0.10.0 it required Go 1.18 because of generics-related dependencies; v0.13.0 raised the minimum to Go 1.23.

The README records a maintenance turn: by late 2024 the project was in maintenance mode, and on 2025-12-19 the Segment repository was archived. The same notice points to a golangci-maintained fork that incorporated patches and fixes.

Adoption history

golines gained a niche among Go developers who wanted automatic line wrapping in editors or pre-commit hooks while preserving gofmt-compatible output. The README documents vim-go, Visual Studio Code run-on-save, and GoLand file watcher integration.

The batch input records Homebrew, MacPorts, and Nix packages. That packaging profile fits a formatter users expect to install as a standalone command and wire into editor save hooks.

How it is used

Users run `golines [paths]`, pass directories or files, or pipe input through stdin. By default it writes formatted output to stdout; `-w` edits files in place.

The base formatter defaults to goimports when available and falls back to gofmt, so golines is usually an additive formatter step rather than a replacement for the Go formatting toolchain.

Why package nerds care

For package nerds, golines is interesting because it packages a policy that Go intentionally leaves out of gofmt. It is small, editor-friendly, and controversial in the quiet formatter way: valuable for teams with line-length standards, unnecessary for teams that accept gofmt's non-wrapping behavior.

Its archive notice and golangci fork also make it a useful example of formatter lifecycle management: once a developer tool becomes part of save hooks and CI, packagers need to care about maintenance status, Go version requirements, and successor forks.

Timeline

• 2019: `segmentio/golines` repository created for Go line-wrapping formatting.
• 2020-2024: Releases add formatter behavior and editor integration patterns around gofmt/goimports.
• 2024: README states the project had functionally entered maintenance mode.
• 2025: Segment repository archived; README points to a golangci-maintained fork.

Related projects

• gofmt and goimports are the base formatting tools golines builds around.
• The Go issue about shortening long lines is part of the stated motivation.
• The golangci/golines fork is the maintainer-recommended continuation after the Segment archive notice.

Sources

• https://github.com/golang/go/issues/11915
• https://github.com/golangci/golines/
• https://github.com/segmentio/golines
• https://github.com/segmentio/golines/releases