x/tools/imports: introduced breaking change in v0.38.0 by removing VendorlessPath from API

[TomaszBorczyk]

Go version

1.24.7

Output of go env in your module/workspace:

AR='ar'
CC='cc'
CGO_CFLAGS='-O2 -g'
CGO_CPPFLAGS=''
CGO_CXXFLAGS='-O2 -g'
CGO_ENABLED='1'
CGO_FFLAGS='-O2 -g'
CGO_LDFLAGS='-O2 -g'
CXX='c++'
GCCGO='gccgo'
GO111MODULE=''
GOARCH='arm64'
GOARM64='v8.0'
GOAUTH='netrc'
GOBIN=''
GOCACHE='/Users/myuser/Library/Caches/go-build'
GOCACHEPROG=''
GODEBUG=''
GOENV='/Users/myuser/Library/Application Support/go/env'
GOEXE=''
GOEXPERIMENT=''
GOFIPS140='off'
GOFLAGS=''
GOGCCFLAGS='-fPIC -arch arm64 -pthread -fno-caret-diagnostics -Qunused-arguments -fmessage-length=0 -ffile-prefix-map=/var/folders/13/dmjqrg054bj2rksf_fjxshf40000gp/T/go-build1904087244=/tmp/go-build -gno-record-gcc-switches -fno-common'
GOHOSTARCH='arm64'
GOHOSTOS='darwin'
GOINSECURE=''
GOMOD='/Users/myuser/home/project/go.mod'
GOMODCACHE='/Users/myuser/go/pkg/mod'
GONOPROXY=''
GONOSUMDB=''
GOOS='darwin'
GOPATH='/Users/myuser/go'
GOPRIVATE=''
GOPROXY='https://proxy.golang.org,direct'
GOROOT='/opt/homebrew/Cellar/go@1.24/1.24.7/libexec'
GOSUMDB='sum.golang.org'
GOTELEMETRY='local'
GOTELEMETRYDIR='/Users/myuser/Library/Application Support/go/telemetry'
GOTMPDIR=''
GOTOOLCHAIN='auto'
GOTOOLDIR='/opt/homebrew/Cellar/go@1.24/1.24.7/libexec/pkg/tool/darwin_arm64'
GOVCS=''
GOVERSION='go1.24.7'
GOWORK=''
PKG_CONFIG='pkg-config'

What did you do?

As the title says:
https://cs.opensource.google/go/x/tools/+/master:imports/forward.go;bpv=1;bpt=0;drc=be644c74962554e500e5f890413951358e19fbb7;dlc=559c4300daa4efe55422df9bba86d125cdf1d9ef

This function was a part of public API and in my opinion got sneaked into the cleanup mr

I've tried to import VendorlessPath which was available in x/tools 0.37
Compare:
https://pkg.go.dev/golang.org/x/tools@v0.37.0/imports
https://pkg.go.dev/golang.org/x/tools@v0.38.0/imports

What did you see happen?

In 0.38, the function VendorlessPath is not available anymore, thus breaking API

What did you expect to see?

I expected to still be able to import VendorlessPath

[adonovan]

Indeed, this was an oversight. Let's restore it and cherrypick that to the release branch. Apologies for the error. cc: @pjweinb

It might be time for us to install some kind of brake on unintended API changes so that they are easily visible in the Gerrit review and require some affirmative step. @jba, could your apidiff tool fit the bill?

[jba]

apidiff will work for that.

…

On Tue, Oct 14, 2025 at 9:02 AM Alan Donovan ***@***.***> wrote: *adonovan* left a comment (golang/go#75888) <#75888 (comment)> Indeed, this was an oversight. Let's restore it and cherrypick that to the release branch. Apologies for the error. cc: @pjweinb <https://github.com/pjweinb> It might be time for us to install some kinds of brake on unintended API changes so that they are easily visible in the Gerrit review and require some affirmative step. @jba <https://github.com/jba>, could your apidiff tool fit the bill? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#75888 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AENAOZLKLIMRCHT5TXSFAFD3XTYABAVCNFSM6AAAAACJECPMVOVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTIMBRGY4TMNJQGQ> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>