Go

mise can be used to install and manage multiple versions of go on the same system.

Usage

Select a Go release series for the current project:

mise use go@1.25
mise exec -- go version

Use mise use -g go@1.25 for a personal default. mise ls-remote go lists available versions; mise upgrade go updates within the configured request.

Minor go versions 1.20 and below require specifying prefix before the version number because the first version of each series was released without a .0 suffix, making 1.20 an exact version match:

mise use go@prefix:1.20

These instructions use mise's built-in go support. An installed external plugin with the same name can change the behavior; use mise plugins ls to check for overrides. See the core implementation for backend details.

Go version files

Enable Go idiomatic version files to select a version from .go-version, go.mod, or go.work:

mise settings add idiomatic_version_file_enable_tools go

For go.mod and go.work, mise reads a toolchain goX.Y.Z directive as an exact version request. For example, this go.work selects Go 1.24.3 for a workspace containing the api and worker modules:

go 1.24.0

toolchain go1.24.3

use (
    ./api
    ./worker
)

The go directive declares a minimum required version. mise ignores it in go.work; reading it from go.mod is deprecated (see Which fields mise reads).

Workspaces and GOWORK

When a workspace is active, mise uses its go.work instead of the go.mod files beneath it, including when you run mise from a module subdirectory. If the workspace has no supported toolchain directive, neither file supplies a version. Use toolchain goX.Y.Z with a full release version; mise does not read toolchain default, partial versions, or release candidates.

The GOWORK environment variable controls workspace selection:

GOWORK value	mise behavior
Unset, empty, or auto	Search the current directory and its parents for go.work, within mise's configuration search paths.
off	Ignore go.work and read go.mod.
Absolute path	Use only the named workspace file, if mise discovers it; ignore other go.work files and do not fall back to go.mod.

Workspace discovery limits

Setting GOWORK does not make mise read files outside its configuration search paths. If the named workspace is outside those paths or does not exist, it supplies no version. Set the Go version in mise.toml for a workspace outside those paths.

mise ignores a relative GOWORK path and uses its default workspace search. Go rejects relative paths, so use an absolute path when setting GOWORK.

Go toolchain selection

Go also has its own toolchain selection, controlled by GOTOOLCHAIN and module/workspace declarations. It may use a different toolchain after mise starts it. Compare mise exec -- go version with mise exec -- go env GOTOOLCHAIN when investigating unexpected versions.

Default packages

Planned deprecation

Default package files are deprecated. They are still supported for now, but mise will start warning in 2026.11.0 and support will be removed in 2027.11.0.

For Go CLIs, install the tool directly with the go: backend:

[tools]
"go:github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit" = "latest"

For packages that really should be installed into every Go version, use a tool-level postinstall hook:

[tools]
go = { version = "1.25", postinstall = "go install github.com/daixiang0/gci@latest" }

mise can automatically install a default set of packages right after installing a new go version. To use this legacy feature, provide a $HOME/.default-go-packages file that lists one package per line, for example:

github.com/daixiang0/gci # allows comments
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit

Tool Options

The following tool-options are available for the go backend. These options go in the [tools] section in mise.toml.

install_env

Set environment variables for default package installation and install-time verification commands run by the core go backend:

[tools]
go = { version = "latest", install_env = { GOPRIVATE = "github.com/acme/*" } }

Settings

go.default_packages_filedeprecated

• Type: string
• Env: MISE_GO_DEFAULT_PACKAGES_FILE
• Default: ~/.default-go-packages
• Deprecated: Default go package files are deprecated. Use tool-level postinstall hooks for packages that should be installed into every go version, or use the go: backend for CLI tools.

Path to a file containing default go packages to install when installing go.

go.download_mirror

• Type: string
• Env: MISE_GO_DOWNLOAD_MIRROR
• Default: https://dl.google.com/go

Mirror to download go sdk tarballs from.

go.repo

• Type: string
• Env: MISE_GO_REPO
• Default: https://github.com/golang/go

URL to fetch go from.

go.set_gobin

• Type: boolean(optional)
• Env: MISE_GO_SET_GOBIN
• Default: None

Defaults to ~/.local/share/mise/installs/go/.../bin. Set to true to override GOBIN if previously set. Set to false to not set GOBIN (default is ${GOPATH:-$HOME/go}/bin).

go.set_gopathdeprecated

• Type: boolean
• Env: MISE_GO_SET_GOPATH
• Default: false
• Deprecated: mise no longer manages GOPATH. Set GOPATH in [env] if you need a specific value.

[deprecated] Set to true to set GOPATH=~/.local/share/mise/installs/go/.../packages.

go.set_goroot

• Type: boolean
• Env: MISE_GO_SET_GOROOT
• Default: true

Sets GOROOT=~/.local/share/mise/installs/go/.../.

go.skip_checksum

• Type: boolean
• Env: MISE_GO_SKIP_CHECKSUM
• Default: false

Set to true to skip checksum verification when downloading go sdk tarballs.