Pr To Go Linter Agent Skill

PR to Go Linter

Use this skill when a user asks to create a new custom Go linter based on a code pattern fixed in a pull request.

Goal

Convert one concrete PR pattern into a new go/analysis linter under pkg/linters/<name>/ with tests and runner registration.

Inputs

• Repository owner/name
• Pull request number
• Target linter name (kebab-case)

Workflow

• Read PR metadata and changed files.
• Read the PR diff and extract the repeated pattern that was fixed.
• Define one precise diagnostic rule from that pattern.
• Confirm no existing linter in pkg/linters/ already covers it.
• Implement:
• pkg/linters/<name>/<name>.go with exported Analyzer
• pkg/linters/<name>/<name>_test.go using analysistest
• pkg/linters/<name>/testdata/src/<name>/<name>.go fixtures with // want
• cmd/linters/main.go registration in multichecker.Main(...)
• Validate:
• go test ./pkg/linters/<name>/...
• go build ./cmd/linters
• make golint-custom

Rule quality checks

• High signal, low false positives on this repository.
• Diagnostic is specific and fixable.
• Rule scope matches code in the PR (do not generalize beyond evidence).
• Do not change unrelated linter packages.

Example pattern source

For PR #33038 (Refactor pkg mutex sites to use deferred unlocks consistently), derive a linter idea that reports lock/unlock sections that manually unlock instead of deferring unlock immediately after lock when the function body matches the same cache/logger-style critical section pattern.

Output expectations

• Minimal implementation-only diff in pkg/linters/<name>/ and cmd/linters/main.go.
• Tests prove both flagged and non-flagged cases.
• PR summary explains: source PR, extracted pattern, and why the rule is safe.