golang/go · error

%s: argument must be a package path, not a meta-package

Error message

%s: argument must be a package path, not a meta-package

What it means

Returned by PackagesAndErrorsOutsideModule (line 3409) when, after stripping @version, search.IsMetaPackage(p) is true. Meta-packages are the special wildcards `all`, `cmd`, `main`, and `std`. They expand to many packages across modules and cannot be pinned to a single module@version, so `go install <meta>@version` is rejected. The arg as written is echoed.

Source

Thrown at src/cmd/go/internal/load/pkg.go:3409

			if version == "" {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: version must not be empty", arg)
			}
			break
		}
	}
	patterns := make([]string, len(args))
	for i, arg := range args {
		p, found := strings.CutSuffix(arg, "@"+version)
		if !found {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: all arguments must refer to packages in the same module at the same version (@%s)", arg, version)
		}
		switch {
		case build.IsLocalImport(p):
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: argument must be a package path, not a relative path", arg)
		case filepath.IsAbs(p):
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: argument must be a package path, not an absolute path", arg)
		case search.IsMetaPackage(p):
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: argument must be a package path, not a meta-package", arg)
		case pathpkg.Clean(p) != p:
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: argument must be a clean package path", arg)
		case !strings.Contains(p, "...") && search.IsStandardImportPath(p) && modindex.IsStandardPackage(cfg.GOROOT, cfg.BuildContext.Compiler, p):
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: argument must not be a package in the standard library", arg)
		default:
			patterns[i] = p
		}
	}
	patterns = search.CleanPatterns(patterns)

	// Query the module providing the first argument, load its go.mod file, and
	// check that it doesn't contain directives that would cause it to be
	// interpreted differently if it were the main module.
	//
	// If multiple modules match the first argument, accept the longest match
	// (first result). It's possible this module won't provide packages named by
	// later arguments, and other modules would. Let's not try to be too
	// magical though.

View on GitHub (pinned to b6b368adc5)

Solutions

1. List each binary explicitly with its module path and version: `go install golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports@latest`.
2. For a local `all`/`cmd` build (no @version), use `go install ./cmd/...` from the module root.

Example fix

# before
go install cmd@latest
# after
go install golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports@latest github.com/user/proj/cmd/app@latest

// Reject meta-packages ('all', 'cmd', 'main', 'std') in go install pkg@version.
package argcheck

import (
	"errors"
	"strings"
)

func NotMetaPackage(arg string) error {
	p := arg
	if i := strings.Index(arg, "@"); i >= 0 {
		p = arg[:i]
	}
	switch p {
	case "all", "cmd", "main", "std":
		return errors.New("meta-package not allowed with @version: " + arg)
	}
	return nil
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `go install all@v1.0.0`, `go install cmd@latest`, `go install std@v1.2.0`, or `go install main@v1.0.0`. These expansions have no single owning module/version.

Common situations: Trying to reinstall every command via `go install cmd@latest`; confusing `go install ./cmd/...` (allowed) with `go install cmd@version` (rejected); tutorials suggesting `all@latest`.

Related errors

• %s: version must not be empty
• %s: all arguments must refer to packages in the same module
• %s: argument must be a package path, not a relative path
• %s: argument must be a package path, not an absolute path
• tool %q is ambiguous; choose one of:

AI-assisted analysis of golang/go@b6b368adc5 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cc61ed71847eecae. Report an issue: GitHub.