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testing: TestArtifactDirectoryPaths fails in GOPATH mode (no module context) #81263
Description
What version of Go are you using?
go1.27.0 (also reproduced on go1.27rc3)
What operating system and processor architecture are you using?
linux/amd64 (Ubuntu stonking autopkgtest environment)
What did you do?
Run the stdlib testing package tests in GOPATH mode (GO111MODULE=off):
GOPATH=/tmp/gotest GO111MODULE=off go test -run TestArtifactDirectoryPaths -v testing
What did you expect to see?
Test passes, artifact directories include the package path component (e.g. _artifacts/subpkg/TestSubNiceName/...)
What did you see instead?
Test fails — artifact directories are missing the package path component:
testing_test.go:1216: artifact directory for TestSubNiceName: got /tmp/.../001/_artifacts/TestSubNiceName/..., want suffix matching _artifacts/subpkg/TestSubNiceName/[^/]+$
Root cause
In runTests() (src/testing/testing.go:2700), when tests are invoked without module context, both modulePath and importPath are passed as empty strings:
ran, ok := runTests("", "", matchString, tests, deadline)Then in relativeArtifactBase() (line 1535):
pkg := strings.TrimPrefix(c.importPath, c.modulePath) // both empty -> pkg = ""So the artifact directory has no package prefix. The test TestArtifactDirectoryPaths expects the package path to be present.
Impact
This affects Ubuntu's autopkgtest infrastructure (dh-golang), which runs stdlib tests in GOPATH mode. The jacobsa-crypto package's autopkgtest (which runs the stdlib testing tests) fails consistently.
Related to #77763 — the fix for that issue works in module mode but not in GOPATH mode.
Activity
gabyhelp commentedon Sep 1, 2026
Related Issues
(Emoji vote if this was helpful or unhelpful; more detailed feedback welcome in this discussion.)
prattmic commentedon Sep 4, 2026
cc @adonovan @neild
cherrymui commentedon Sep 4, 2026
I'm curious why it does that. Is there a specific reason for that? Just to make sure standard library features work in GOPATH mode, or something else? Thanks.
dmitshur commentedon Sep 4, 2026
It may be helpful to hear back on the question above, but I'll note that testing standard library packages with GO111MODULE=off is documented as not something that's expected to work - see
go help gopathor https://pkg.go.dev/cmd/go#hdr-GOPATH_mode_vendor_directories:(I filed #81364 in case it's viable to make the go command surface this information more readily.)
gopherbot commentedon Oct 4, 2026
Timed out in state WaitingForInfo. Closing.
(I am just a bot, though. Please speak up if this is a mistake or you have the requested information.)