How to Update All Go Modules with Examples: A Complete Guide for Developers

Published: Mar 19, 2025 Last Updated: Mar 19, 2025

As I continue my journey with Go, one of the key challenges I encountered was managing dependencies efficiently.

Keeping Go modules up to date ensures stability, security, and compatibility with newer versions of packages.

Here’s what I learned along the way about updating all Go modules.

Understanding Go Modules

Go modules are the way Go handles dependencies.

They help define the project’s required packages, ensuring a consistent development environment.

The key files involved are:

go.mod – Defines the module and dependencies.
go.sum – Stores checksums of dependencies for verification.

Learn How to Update All Go Modules with Examples

The Basic Update: `go get -u ./...`

When I first started updating dependencies, I used the following command:

go get -u ./...

This command updates all dependencies to their latest minor and patch versions.

It was a quick way to bring everything up to date without worrying about breaking changes introduced by major version upgrades.

Cleaning Up with `go mod tidy`

After updating dependencies, I found that my go.mod and go.sum files sometimes contained unused or redundant entries. Running:

go mod tidy

helped clean up unnecessary dependencies and ensured my project had only what was required.

Verifying Dependencies with `go mod verify`

To make sure everything was correctly downloaded and validated, I ran:

go mod verify

This confirmed that all dependencies matched their expected checksums, which reassured me that I wasn’t accidentally pulling in corrupted or modified packages.

Upgrading to Latest Major Versions

One thing I learned the hard way is that go get -u only updates to the latest minor or patch versions, but it doesn’t automatically upgrade to newer major versions.

To upgrade to the latest major version, I needed to explicitly specify it, like this:

go get example.com/somepackage@latest

If I wanted to update all dependencies, including major versions, I used this handy command:

go list -m -u all | awk '{print $1}' | xargs -n 1 go get -u

This iterated over all dependencies and upgraded them to their latest versions.

Different Ways to Update Go Modules

As I explored Go further, I learned that go get -u can be used in different ways depending on the use case:

go get -t -u ./...: This walks all packages in the project and also downloads test files of these dependencies. In most cases, I found that I didn’t need this unless I was dealing with test dependencies explicitly.
go get -u: This updates dependencies only in the current directory. I found this useful for small single-package projects but preferred go get -u ./... for larger projects.
go get -u specific.com/package: This allows updating a single package or multiple specific packages (separated by spaces). I used this when I only wanted to update a particular dependency without affecting others.
go get -u specific.com/package@version: This works similarly but allows updating to a specific version. I found this helpful when a new major version introduced breaking changes, and I wanted to test a specific release.
go get -u all: This updates modules from the build list defined in go.mod. While it’s useful for listing outdated dependencies (go list -m -u all), I found it not particularly useful for actual updates.

Testing After Updates

After updating dependencies, I always make sure my code still works as expected by running:

go build

and

go test ./...

This ensures that any breaking changes are caught early before deploying the application.

Hands-On Example: Updating Go Modules in a Sample Project

To put everything into practice, I created a simple Go project to experiment with updating modules. Here’s how I set it up:

Step 1: Initialize a Go Module

I started by creating a new project directory and initializing a Go module:

mkdir modules
cd modules
go mod init github.com/arungudelli/go-update-module-demo/modules

Step 2: Add Some Dependencies

Next, I installed a few popular Go packages:

go get github.com/gin-gonic/gin@v1.8.2
go get github.com/spf13/cobra@v1.6.1
go get golang.org/x/text@v0.5.0

These packages provided:

gin – A web framework.
cobra – A CLI framework.
golang.org/x/text – Text processing utilities.

Step 3: Create a Simple Go File

Then, I created a main.go file using these dependencies:

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
	"golang.org/x/text/language"
)

func main() {
	// Initialize Gin router
	r := gin.Default()
	r.GET("/", func(c *gin.Context) {
		c.JSON(200, gin.H{"message": "Hello, Go Modules!"})
	})

	// Initialize Cobra CLI command
	var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
		Use:   "hello",
		Short: "Prints a greeting message",
		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
			fmt.Println("Hello from Cobra CLI!")
		},
	}

	// Use golang.org/x/text package
	lang := language.English
	fmt.Println("Default Language:", lang)

	// Start Gin server in a goroutine
	go r.Run(":8080")

	// Execute Cobra CLI
	rootCmd.Execute()
}

Step 4: Check for Available Updates

To see outdated dependencies, I ran:

go list -m -u all

It listed all the modules which are outdated.

github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.2 [v2.0.6]
github.com/creack/pty v1.1.9 [v1.1.24]
github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1
github.com/gin-contrib/sse v0.1.0 [v1.0.0]
github.com/gin-gonic/gin v1.8.2 [v1.10.0]
github.com/go-playground/assert/v2 v2.0.1 [v2.2.0]
github.com/go-playground/locales v0.14.0 [v0.14.1]
github.com/go-playground/universal-translator v0.18.0 [v0.18.1]
github.com/go-playground/validator/v10 v10.11.1 [v10.25.0]
github.com/goccy/go-json v0.9.11 [v0.10.5]
github.com/golang/protobuf v1.5.0 [v1.5.4] (deprecated)
github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.5 [v0.7.0]
github.com/google/gofuzz v1.0.0 [v1.2.0]
github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.0.1 [v1.1.0]
github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12
github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.0 [v0.3.1]
github.com/kr/pty v1.1.1 [v1.1.8]
github.com/kr/text v0.2.0
github.com/leodido/go-urn v1.2.1 [v1.4.0]
github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.16 [v0.0.20]
github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421 [v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd]
github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2
github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.0.6 [v2.2.3]
github.com/pkg/diff v0.0.0-20210226163009-20ebb0f2a09e [v0.0.0-20241224192749-4e6772a4315c]
github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0
github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.8.0 [v1.14.1]
github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0
github.com/spf13/cobra v1.6.1 [v1.9.1]
github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 [v1.0.6]
github.com/stretchr/objx v0.5.0 [v0.5.2]
github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.1 [v1.10.0]
github.com/ugorji/go v1.2.7 [v1.2.12]
github.com/ugorji/go/codec v1.2.7 [v1.2.12]
golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20211215153901-e495a2d5b3d3 [v0.36.0]
golang.org/x/mod v0.6.0-dev.0.20220419223038-86c51ed26bb4 [v0.24.0]
golang.org/x/net v0.4.0 [v0.37.0]
golang.org/x/sys v0.3.0 [v0.31.0]
golang.org/x/term v0.3.0 [v0.30.0]
golang.org/x/text v0.5.0 [v0.23.0]
golang.org/x/tools v0.1.12 [v0.31.0]
golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20191204190536-9bdfabe68543 [v0.0.0-20240903120638-7835f813f4da]
google.golang.org/protobuf v1.28.1 [v1.36.5]
gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20201130134442-10cb98267c6c
gopkg.in/errgo.v2 v2.1.0
gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.4.0
gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1

Step 5: Update Dependencies

To update everything to the latest minor/patch versions:

go get -u ./...

And the above command gets the latest go modules.

go: downloading github.com/spf13/cobra v1.9.1
go: downloading golang.org/x/text v0.23.0
go: downloading github.com/gin-gonic/gin v1.10.0
go: downloading github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.6
go: downloading golang.org/x/net v0.37.0
go: downloading github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20
go: downloading github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0
go: downloading github.com/gin-contrib/sse v1.0.0
go: downloading github.com/goccy/go-json v0.10.5
go: downloading github.com/ugorji/go v1.2.12
go: downloading github.com/go-playground/validator/v10 v10.25.0
go: downloading google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.5
go: downloading github.com/ugorji/go/codec v1.2.12
go: downloading github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.2.3
go: downloading golang.org/x/sys v0.31.0
go: downloading github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd
go: downloading github.com/go-playground/validator v9.31.0+incompatible
go: downloading github.com/pelletier/go-toml v1.9.5
go: downloading golang.org/x/crypto v0.36.0
go: downloading github.com/go-playground/universal-translator v0.18.1
go: downloading github.com/leodido/go-urn v1.4.0
go: downloading github.com/go-playground/locales v0.14.1
go: downloading github.com/bytedance/sonic v1.11.6
go: downloading gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
go: downloading github.com/gabriel-vasile/mimetype v1.4.8
go: downloading github.com/bytedance/sonic v1.13.1
go: downloading github.com/cloudwego/base64x v0.1.4
go: downloading golang.org/x/arch v0.8.0
go: downloading github.com/twitchyliquid64/golang-asm v0.15.1
go: downloading github.com/bytedance/sonic/loader v0.1.1
go: downloading github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.2.7
go: downloading golang.org/x/arch v0.15.0
go: downloading github.com/cloudwego/base64x v0.1.5
go: downloading github.com/bytedance/sonic/loader v0.2.4
go: downloading github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.2.10
go: downloading github.com/klauspost/cpuid v1.3.1
go: downloading github.com/cloudwego/iasm v0.2.0
go: added github.com/bytedance/sonic v1.13.1
go: added github.com/bytedance/sonic/loader v0.2.4
go: added github.com/cloudwego/base64x v0.1.5
go: added github.com/cloudwego/iasm v0.2.0
go: added github.com/gabriel-vasile/mimetype v1.4.8
go: upgraded github.com/gin-contrib/sse v0.1.0 => v1.0.0
go: upgraded github.com/gin-gonic/gin v1.8.2 => v1.10.0
go: upgraded github.com/go-playground/locales v0.14.0 => v0.14.1
go: upgraded github.com/go-playground/universal-translator v0.18.0 => v0.18.1
go: upgraded github.com/go-playground/validator/v10 v10.11.1 => v10.25.0
go: upgraded github.com/goccy/go-json v0.9.11 => v0.10.5
go: upgraded github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.0.1 => v1.1.0
go: added github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.2.10
go: upgraded github.com/leodido/go-urn v1.2.1 => v1.4.0
go: upgraded github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.16 => v0.0.20
go: upgraded github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421 => v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd
go: upgraded github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.0.6 => v2.2.3
go: upgraded github.com/spf13/cobra v1.6.1 => v1.9.1
go: upgraded github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 => v1.0.6
go: added github.com/twitchyliquid64/golang-asm v0.15.1
go: upgraded github.com/ugorji/go/codec v1.2.7 => v1.2.12
go: added golang.org/x/arch v0.15.0
go: upgraded golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20211215153901-e495a2d5b3d3 => v0.36.0
go: upgraded golang.org/x/net v0.4.0 => v0.37.0
go: upgraded golang.org/x/sys v0.3.0 => v0.31.0
go: upgraded golang.org/x/text v0.5.0 => v0.23.0
go: upgraded google.golang.org/protobuf v1.28.1 => v1.36.5
PS D:\Blogging\go-learning\go-update-module-demo\modules> go mod tidy
go: downloading github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
go: downloading github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.5
go: downloading github.com/go-playground/assert/v2 v2.2.0
go: downloading gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405
go: downloading github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1
go: downloading golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20191204190536-9bdfabe68543
go: downloading github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0

To clean up unused dependencies:

go mod tidy

For verifying module integrity:

go mod verify

output:

all modules verified

Step 6: Update Specific Modules

For major version updates, I used:

go get github.com/gin-gonic/gin@latest

Step 7: Testing the Updates

After updating, I built and tested the project:

go build
./go-update-demo

Everything worked as expected, proving that managing and updating Go modules can be streamlined with these commands.

Here is the Github link for the example

https://github.com/arungudelli/go-update-module-demo

Key Takeaways

Use go get -u ./... to update all dependencies to the latest compatible versions.
Run go mod tidy to clean up unused dependencies.
Verify dependencies with go mod verify to ensure integrity.
Manually update major versions using go get package@latest when necessary.
Different go get -u options exist for updating specific packages, test dependencies, or entire module lists.
Always test your code after updates with go build and go test ./....

Learning to manage Go modules effectively has helped me avoid dependency issues and ensure my projects remain up-to-date. Hopefully, my experience can help others streamline their Go module updates as well!

Edit this page on GitHub

How to Update All Go Modules with Examples: A Complete Guide for Developers

Understanding Go Modules #

The Basic Update: go get -u ./... #

Cleaning Up with go mod tidy #

Verifying Dependencies with go mod verify #

Upgrading to Latest Major Versions #

Different Ways to Update Go Modules #

Testing After Updates #

Hands-On Example: Updating Go Modules in a Sample Project #

Step 1: Initialize a Go Module #

Step 2: Add Some Dependencies #

Step 3: Create a Simple Go File #

Step 4: Check for Available Updates #

Step 5: Update Dependencies #

Step 6: Update Specific Modules #

Step 7: Testing the Updates #

Key Takeaways #