golangci/golangci-lint · error

forbidigo linter failed on file %q: %w

Error message

forbidigo linter failed on file %q: %w

What it means

After successfully creating the forbidigo linter, runForbidigo runs it per AST file with RunWithConfig. If forbidigo itself errors while matching a file, the error is wrapped as 'forbidigo linter failed on file %q'. This is an internal failure of the linter on a specific file, not a rule violation.

Source

Thrown at pkg/golinters/forbidigo/forbidigo.go:73

	forbid, err := forbidigo.NewLinter(patterns, options...)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create linter %q: %w", linterName, err)
	}

	for _, file := range pass.Files {
		runConfig := forbidigo.RunConfig{
			Fset:     pass.Fset,
			DebugLog: logutils.Debug(logutils.DebugKeyForbidigo),
		}

		if settings.AnalyzeTypes {
			runConfig.TypesInfo = pass.TypesInfo
		}

		hints, err := forbid.RunWithConfig(runConfig, file)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("forbidigo linter failed on file %q: %w", file.Name.String(), err)
		}

		for _, hint := range hints {
			pass.Report(analysis.Diagnostic{
				Pos:     hint.Pos(),
				Message: hint.Details(),
			})
		}
	}

	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to ed7a235d2d)

Solutions

1. Disable settings.forbidigo.analyze-types and re-run to isolate the failure
2. Fix the package so type checking completes (resolve cgo/build-tag/generated-file issues for the named file)
3. Upgrade or pin golangci-lint so golangci-lint's forbidigo wrapper matches the bundled forbidigo API
4. Exclude the problematic file via issues.exclude-files/exclude-dirs and report upstream if it persists

Example fix

# before
linters:
  settings:
    forbidigo:
      analyze-types: true
# after
linters:
  settings:
    forbidigo:
      analyze-types: false

// If using analyze-types, ensure packages type-check first:
for _, pkg := range pkgs {
    for _, e := range pkg.Errors {
        return fmt.Errorf("package %s must type-check before forbidigo analyze-types: %v", pkg.PkgPath, e)
    }
}

if err := golangci.Run(); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "forbidigo linter failed on file") {
        file := extractQuoted(err) // e.g. via regexp "on file \"([^\"]+)\""
        log.Warnf("forbidigo failed on %s; retry with analyze-types: false or exclude the file", file)
        return retryWithoutAnalyzeTypes()
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: forbid.RunWithConfig(runConfig, file) returns an error for one file — e.g. with settings.analyze-types: true, type information is missing or inconsistent in runConfig, or the file node/config combination is invalid.

Common situations: Enabling analyze-types on a run where TypesInfo wasn't fully populated (generated/cgo files, malformed packages), or forbidigo version mismatches where RunConfig fields differ from what golangci-lint passes.

Related errors

• failed to create linter %q: %w
• the configuration contains invalid elements
• unsupported configuration format
• the configuration contains invalid elements
• parallel golangci-lint is running

AI-assisted analysis of golangci/golangci-lint@ed7a235d2d (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5b89d145537c0cfe. Report an issue: GitHub.