Run/debug configurations

GoLand uses run/debug configurations to run, debug, and test your code. Each configuration is a named set of startup properties that define what to execute and what parameters and environment should be used.

There are two types of run/debug configurations:

Temporary — created every time you run or debug functions or tests.
Permanent — created explicitly from a template or by saving a temporary configuration. Permanent configurations remain as part of your project until you remove them.

Whenever you run, debug, or test your code, GoLand either uses an existing permanent run/debug configuration or creates a new temporary one.

Permanent configurations have opaque icons while the icons of temporary configurations are semi-transparent. The red cross over the configuration icon indicates an error in configuration settings.

The maximum number of temporary configurations is 5. The older ones are automatically deleted when new ones are added. If necessary, you can increase this limit in Settings | Advanced Settings | Run/Debug | Temporary configurations limit.

Permanent and temporary configurations have different icons

Create temporary run/debug configurations

To create a temporary run/debug configuration, you can run your code from the gutter or from the context menu.

Run from the editor

If you are not going to pass any parameters to your program, and your program does not require any specific actions to be performed before start, you can run it right from the editor.

Click in the gutter near the mainfunction and select Run.
To run a script, open it in the editor or select it in the Project tool window, and then select Run <script file name> from the context menu.

Create permanent run/debug configurations

GoLand provides the following ways to create a permanent run/debug configuration:

Save a temporary run/debug configuration as permanent.
Create from a template or copy an existing configuration.

Save a temporary configuration as permanent

Select a temporary configuration in the run/debug configuration switcher, click / and select Save Configuration.
Alternatively, select a temporary configuration in the Run/debug configurations dialog and click on the toolbar.

GoLand provides run/debug configuration templates for different languages, tools, and frameworks. The list of available templates varies depending on the installed and enabled plugins.

Create a run/debug configuration from a template

Go to Run | Edit Configurations. Alternatively, press Alt+Shift+F10, then 0.
In the Run/Debug Configurations dialog, click on the toolbar or press Alt+Insert. The list shows the run/debug configuration templates. Select Go build.
Specify the run/debug configuration name in the Name field. This name will be used to identify the run/debug configuration in lists and menus.
On the Configuration tab, you can set the following options:
In the Before launch section, define whether you want to perform any specific actions before launching the application, for example, launch an external tool or another build configuration before run. To skip the build stage, remove Build from the Before launch list .
You can either run the configuration right away or save the configuration to run it later.
- To save the run configuration for later, click OK.
- To run the configuration right away, click Run.

List of fields in Go Build configuration

Name	Description
Run kind	Building scope for your application. File and Package scopes work similarly in tests and compilation/running configurations (in terms of the scope they cover). Directory: build an application in the specified directory as a package, without processing any subdirectories. For test configurations, GoLand runs all the tests in the specified directory and all its subdirectories. File: build an application from files specified in the Files field. To pass multiple file paths, use the vertical bar (`\|`) as a delimiter. This configuration is automatically selected when you run your program from scratch files. Package: build a single package with all its dependencies. Specify a full import path to the package that you want to build in the Package path field (for example, `github.com/gorilla/mux`). This configuration is automatically selected when you run the `main` function or a separate test by using the Run Application icon () in the gutter.
Package path	Full import path of the package that you want to compile (for example, `myServerApp`). This field is available only when you select the Package run kind. You can press `Ctrl+Space` to see a list of available packages.
Output directory	Path to a directory where you want to output the executable file.
Run after build	Execute the application after the build.
Emulate terminal in output console	Executes the application and displays the output in the Run tool window as it would appear in the terminal.
Redirect input from	File to read the input from.
Working directory	Directory that is used for the built application. If you have any code that creates relative files or directories, they will be relative to this directory.
Environment	Environment variables for your application. To edit environment variables, click the Browse button at the end of the field. In the Environment Variables dialog, click the Add button and add the environment variables that you need.
Go tool arguments	Arguments for the go tool (for example, `-o`). Also, you can use macros in this field.
Use all custom build tags	All tags that are applied during the build. Tags are listed in settings `Ctrl+Alt+S` under Go \| Build Tags.
Program arguments	Arguments for the built application. Also, you can use macros in this field.
Run with sudo	Run the application with elevated privileges.
Module	Name of the current module.
Before launch	Add tasks that you want to launch before the launch of the selected run/debug configuration. To add a task click the Add button `Alt+Insert` and select the tool that you want to add.
Store as project file	Enable this option to save your configuration as a project file and share it with team members through VCS.

List of fields in Go Test configurations

Name	Description
Test framework	Select the package that you want to use to run tests. gotest: use for running standard unit tests. For more information about `go test`, refer to Package testing. gocheck: use to have extended functionality of `go check` and running more complex tests. For more information about `go check`, refer to go check. gobench: use for running performance tests. For more information about `gobench`, refer to Package testing: Benchmarks. go test -fuzz: use an automated testing technique that involves generating and feeding a large volume of random or semi-random data as input to a Go program. The goal of fuzzing is to explore the program's code and surface potential bugs, vulnerabilities, or unexpected behaviors that may not be apparent with traditional testing methods. For more information about `gobench`, refer to Go Fuzzing.
Test kind	Select the scope from which you want to run tests: Directory: to run all the tests in the specified directory. In the Directory field, specify a path to a directory that includes an application file and a test file (for example, applicationFolder/ with main.go and main_test.go). Package: to run all the tests that belong to a package. In the Package path field, select a path to the package with tests that you want to run (for example, `github.com/rcrowley/go-metrics`). To enable package tests, open setting by pressing `Ctrl+Alt+S`, navigate to Go \| Go modules, and select the Enable Go modules integration checkbox. File: to run all tests from a testing file. In the Files field, type a path to a testing file. Ensure that the Files field does not include other paths.
Pattern	Type a regular expression that defines what tests to run. GoLand will execute only the tests, examples, and fuzz tests that conform to the regular expression provided. For tests, the expression is divided by slashes (`/`) not enclosed in brackets into a series of regular expressions. Each segment of a test's identifier must align with the corresponding part of the sequence. For instance, to execute a specific test named `add_positive_and_negative` within the `TestAdd` table test, the regular expression would be: `^\QTestAdd\E$/^\Qadd_positive_and_negative\E$`. For a convenient way to generate a template for the Pattern field, use a quick way to run the test or set of tests from the gutter. Then, you can modify the automatically created regular expression as needed.
Working directory	Directory that is used for the built application. If you have any code that creates relative files or directories, they will be relative to this directory.
Output directory	Directory that stores your test results if any.
Run after build	Execute a test after the build.
Redirect input from	Path to the file that will to take program input instead of the console.
Working directory	Directory that is used for the built application. If you have any code that creates relative files or directories, they will be relative to this directory.
Environment	: environment variables that you need to run the test. To edit environment variables, click the Browse button at the end of the field. In the Environment Variables dialog, click the Add button and add the environment variables that you need.
Go tool arguments	Arguments for the go tool (for example, `-tags`).
Use all custom build tags	All tags that are applied during the build. Tags are listed in settings `Ctrl+Alt+S` under Go \| Build Tags.
Program arguments	Arguments for the test.
Run with sudo	Grant sudo privileges to the test.
Before launch: Activate tool window	Add tasks that you want to launch before the launch of the selected run/debug configuration. To add a task, click the Add button `Alt+Insert` and select the tool that you want to add.

Before launch

In this area, you can specify tasks to be performed before starting the selected run/debug configuration. The tasks are performed in the order they appear in the list.

Item	Shortcut	Description
	`Alt+Insert`	Click this icon to add one of the following available tasks: Run External tool: select to run an external application. In the dialog that opens, select one or multiple applications you want to run. If it is not defined in GoLand yet, add its definition. Run Another Configuration: select to execute another run/debug configuration and wait until it finishes before starting the current configuration. If you want to run several configurations in parallel, use a compound run/debug configuration. Launch Web Browser: select this option to have a browser started. In the dialog that opens, select the type of the browser and provide the start URL. Also, specify if you want the browser to be launched with the JavaScript debugger. Run File Watchers: select this option to have GoLand apply all the currently active File Watchers. Run Grunt task: select this option to run a Grunt task. In the Grunt task dialog that opens, specify the Gruntfile.js where the required task is defined, select the task to execute, and specify the arguments to pass to the Grunt tool. Specify the location of the Node.js interpreter, the parameters to pass to it, and the path to the grunt-cli package. Run gulp task: select this option to run a Gulp task. In the Gulp task dialog that opens, specify the Gulpfile.js where the required task is defined, select the task to execute, and specify the arguments to pass to the Gulp tool. Specify the location of the Node.js interpreter, the parameters to pass to it, and the path to the gulp package. Run npm script: select this option to execute an npm script. In the NPM Script dialog that opens, specify the npm run/debug configuration settings. Compile TypeScript: select to run the built-in TypeScript compiler and thus make sure that all the changes you made to your TypeScript code are reflected in the generated JavaScript files. In the TypeScript Compile Settings dialog that opens, select or clear the Check errors checkbox to configure the behaviour of the compiler in case any errors are detected: If the Check errors checkbox is selected, the compiler will show all the errors and the run configuration will not start. If the Check errors checkbox is cleared, the compiler will show all the detected errors but the run configuration still will be launched. Run Go Command: select to run a Go command before running your program. For example, you can run `go generate` to generate source code before compilation. In the Edit Go Command Task dialog, you can use auto-completion. Auto-completion supports the following commands `generate`, `vet`, `test -i`. You can use your own commands. Run Remote External Tool: adds a remote SSH external tool. Disconnect Data Source: select this option if you want to disrupt the connection to a data source before the run/debug configuration is run.
	`Alt+Delete`	Click this icon to remove the selected task from the list.
	`Enter`	Click this icon to edit the selected task. Make the necessary changes in the dialog that opens.
	`Alt+Up` `Alt+Down`	Click these icons to move the selected task one line up or down in the list. The tasks are performed in the order that they appear in the list.
Show this page		Select this checkbox to show the run/debug configuration settings prior to actually starting the run/debug configuration.
Activate tool window		By default this checkbox is selected and the Run or the Debug tool window opens when you start the run/debug configuration. Otherwise, if the checkbox is cleared, the tool window is hidden. However, when the configuration is running, you can open the corresponding tool window for it yourself by pressing `Alt+4` or `Alt+5`.

You might want to share your run/debug configurations so that your teammates could run the application using the same configuration or enable them to remotely attach to the process you are running.

GoLand provides a mechanism to store your run/debug configurations as project files and share them through VCS. The same mechanism can also be used when you want to send your configuration as a file to someone else, create a local backup of your run/debug configurations, or import them from a file.

Go to Run | Edit Configurations. Alternatively, press Alt+Shift+F10, then 0.
Select the run/debug configuration you want to share, enable the Store as project file option, and specify the location where the configuration file will be stored.
You can configure any location unless compatibility with GoLand 2019.3 and earlier is required. For compatibility with these versions, store the file in the suggested location.
(Optional) If the .idea directory is added to VCS ignored files, the .idea/runConfigurations subfolder will be ignored, too. If the project uses Git, you can share .idea/runConfigurations and leave .idea ignored by modifying .gitignore as follows:
/.idea/* !/.idea/runConfigurations

Run/debug configuration templates

All run/debug configurations are based on templates, which implement the startup logic, define the list of parameters and their default values. The list of available templates is predefined in the installation and can only be extended via plugins. However, you can edit default parameter values in each template to facilitate the setup of new run/debug configurations.

Configure the default values for a template

Go to Run | Edit Configurations. Alternatively, press Alt+Shift+F10, then 0.
In the left-hand pane of the run/debug configuration dialog, click Edit configuration templates.
In the Run/Debug Configuration Templates dialog that opens, select a configuration type.
Specify the desired default parameters and click OK to save the template.

Run/debug configuration folders

When there are many run/debug configurations of the same type, you can group them in folders for easier access.

Create a folder for run/debug configurations

Go to Run | Edit Configurations. Alternatively, press Alt+Shift+F10, then 0.
In the Run/Debug Configurations dialog, select a configuration type and click on the toolbar. A new empty folder for the selected type is created.
Specify the folder name in the text field to the right or accept the default name.
Select the desired run/debug configurations and move them under the target folder.
Apply the changes. If a folder is empty, it will not be saved.

When you no longer need a folder, you can delete it Delete. The run/debug configurations grouped under this folder will be moved under the root of the corresponding run/debug configuration type.

Last modified: 02 December 2024