Go Analysis Framework: Modular Static Analysis by Go Team

The `golang.org/x/tools/go/analysis` package defines the interface between modular static analyzers and driver programs in the Go ecosystem. A static analysis function inspects a Go package and reports diagnostics — commonly called a 'checker' — such as the built-in `printf` checker that validates `fmt.Printf` format strings. What makes this framework 'modular' is its fact system: an analyzer can save structured information (Facts) derived from a lower-level package and reuse it when analyzing higher-level packages, mirroring separate compilation in traditional toolchains. For example, if the `printf` checker detects that `log.Fatalf` delegates to `fmt.Printf`, it records this as a Fact, enabling validation of calls to `log.Fatalf` in other packages as well. The common interface allows checkers from diverse sources to be integrated into a wide range of driver programs — including `go vet`, text editors, IDEs, build systems such as Bazel and Buck, code review tools, and code indexers such as Sourcegraph. Published under the BSD-3-Clause license, the package is currently at v0.48.0 (published July 9, 2026) and is imported by 6,564 known packages, reflecting widespread adoption across the Go tooling ecosystem.