golang/go · error

local imports disallowed

Error message

local imports disallowed

What it means

Thrown by openPackage (src/cmd/compile/internal/noder/import.go) when the import path is a local name (starts with ./ or ../ or /, or is . or ..) and the compiler was invoked with -n / NoLocalImports. This flag forbids imports relative to the local file system, typically used when building the standard library or in constrained build environments.

Source

Thrown at src/cmd/compile/internal/noder/import.go:64

	return pkg, err
}

func isDriveLetter(b byte) bool {
	return 'a' <= b && b <= 'z' || 'A' <= b && b <= 'Z'
}

// is this path a local name? begins with ./ or ../ or /
func islocalname(name string) bool {
	return strings.HasPrefix(name, "/") ||
		runtime.GOOS == "windows" && len(name) >= 3 && isDriveLetter(name[0]) && name[1] == ':' && name[2] == '/' ||
		strings.HasPrefix(name, "./") || name == "." ||
		strings.HasPrefix(name, "../") || name == ".."
}

func openPackage(path string) (*os.File, error) {
	if islocalname(path) {
		if base.Flag.NoLocalImports {
			return nil, errors.New("local imports disallowed")
		}

		if base.Flag.Cfg.PackageFile != nil {
			return os.Open(base.Flag.Cfg.PackageFile[path])
		}

		// try .a before .o.  important for building libraries:
		// if there is an array.o in the array.a library,
		// want to find all of array.a, not just array.o.
		if file, err := os.Open(fmt.Sprintf("%s.a", path)); err == nil {
			return file, nil
		}
		if file, err := os.Open(fmt.Sprintf("%s.o", path)); err == nil {
			return file, nil
		}
		return nil, errors.New("file not found")
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to b6b368adc5)

Solutions

1. Replace the local/relative import with the full canonical module import path.
2. If you control the compiler invocation, do not pass -n (NoLocalImports) unless the build environment requires it.
3. In module mode, ensure go.mod declares the module so you can use the full path.

Example fix

// before
import "./util"
// after
import "example.com/myproject/util"

// Flag relative imports in source before compiling with -n.
import "strings"
func isRelativeImport(p string) bool {
    return strings.HasPrefix(p, "./") || strings.HasPrefix(p, "../") || p == "." || p == ".."
}

When it happens

Trigger: A Go source file contains `import "./sub"` or `import "../sibling"`, the path is recognized as local by islocalname, and base.Flag.NoLocalImports is true (compiler flag -n).

Common situations: Building stdlib or runtime packages where the build system passes -n to enforce canonical import paths; using relative imports in a module-based project (relative imports are discouraged); a build tool that sets NoLocalImports by default.

Related errors

• file not found
• import path cannot be absolute path
• cannot import "main"
• import path is empty
• import path contains NUL

AI-assisted analysis of golang/go@b6b368adc5 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c63bab74f2864c35. Report an issue: GitHub.