This page documents the revive command-line binary: its flags, version embedding, config file discovery logic, and execution flow. It covers everything in cli/main.go and main.go.
For the library API that the CLI delegates to, see page 3.4. For the configuration file format (TOML fields, rule config, etc.), see page 3.2. For output formatters selectable via -formatter, see page 6.
main.go is minimal — it calls into the cli package:
All CLI logic lives in cli/main.go. The RunRevive function accepts optional revivelib.ExtraRule arguments, which allows the CLI to be extended programmatically (e.g., for embedding revive with custom rules).
Sources: main.go1-8 cli/main.go41-92
CLI execution flow diagram
Sources: cli/main.go41-92
All flags are registered in initConfig() cli/main.go147-176
| Flag | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
-config | string | Auto-discovered (see below) | Path to the TOML configuration file |
-exclude | repeatable string | none (falls back to vendor/...) | File/package glob patterns to exclude from linting |
-formatter | string | default | Name of the output formatter |
-set_exit_status | bool | false | Exit with code 1 if any issues found; overrides errorCode/warningCode in config |
-max_open_files | int | 0 (unlimited) | Maximum number of files open simultaneously during linting |
-version | bool | false | Print version info and exit |
-config
Accepts a path to a TOML config file. If not provided, the value comes from buildDefaultConfigPath(). If no file is found, revive falls back to built-in default rules.
-exclude
The flag is backed by revivelib.ArrayFlags revivelib/core.go199-215 which implements flag.Value to allow repeated use:
Patterns are converted into revivelib.LintPattern exclusions. If no exclusions are provided at all, vendor/... is excluded by default.
-formatter
Passed directly to revive.Format(). Valid names: default, json, ndjson, friendly, stylish, checkstyle, plain, unix, sarif. An empty string selects default.
-set_exit_status
When true, it sets both conf.ErrorCode and conf.WarningCode to 1 inside revivelib.New() revivelib/core.go41-44 overriding any values in the config file.
-max_open_files
Forwarded to revivelib.New() as the maxOpenFiles parameter and then into lint.New() revivelib/core.go100-107
Sources: cli/main.go94-176 revivelib/core.go30-71
The function buildDefaultConfigPath() cli/main.go125-145 resolves the default config path using the following priority order:
Config file discovery diagram
| Priority | Path |
|---|---|
| 1st | $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/revive.toml |
| 2nd | $HOME/revive.toml (Linux/macOS) or $USERPROFILE/revive.toml (Windows) |
| Fallback | Empty string → built-in default rules apply |
File existence is checked using AppFs (an afero.Fs instance), which defaults to afero.NewOsFs() but can be swapped in tests cli/main.go32-33 cli/main_test.go16
Sources: cli/main.go125-145 cli/main_test.go20-114
The version string is composed of four variables in cli/main.go cli/main.go19-33:
| Variable | Default | Set By |
|---|---|---|
version | "dev" | -ldflags "-X cli.version=..." |
commit | "none" | -ldflags "-X cli.commit=..." |
date | "unknown" | -ldflags "-X cli.date=..." |
builtBy | "unknown" | -ldflags "-X cli.builtBy=..." |
The getVersion() function cli/main.go179-200 formats these into the output of -version:
Version: v1.5.0
Commit: 7ee4500e125e2d1b12653b2c8e140fec380919b4
Built 2024-11-15 10:52 UTC by builder
If version equals the default "dev", the function falls back to debug.ReadBuildInfo() to read the module version embedded by the Go toolchain at install time (e.g., when installed via go install).
The Makefile injects these variables at build time using VERSION_FLAGS ldflags (see page 7.2).
Sources: cli/main.go19-33 cli/main.go179-200 cli/main_test.go116-127
Color output is controlled by two mechanisms:
| Mechanism | Effect |
|---|---|
REVIVE_FORCE_COLOR=1 | Forces color output even when stdout is not a TTY |
NO_COLOR=true | Disables all color output (standard convention, handled by fatih/color) |
The REVIVE_FORCE_COLOR check occurs inside initConfig() cli/main.go148-150 by setting color.NoColor = false.
Sources: cli/main.go148-150
CLI components and their code locations
Sources: main.go1-8 cli/main.go1-206 revivelib/core.go30-115
When running via Docker, flags are passed identically:
Sources: README.md250-260 cli/main.go112-114
All non-flag arguments after flag parsing (flag.Args()) are treated as include patterns for packages or files to lint cli/main.go66-71:
Each is wrapped as a revivelib.Include(file) lint pattern. If no positional arguments are given, revivelib.getPackages() defaults to "." (current directory) revivelib/core.go172-184
Sources: cli/main.go66-76 revivelib/core.go172-184