Spice Framework for Go

Unified documentation: spiceframework.dev/framework.

Ecosystem migration: Spice is moving to independently versioned core, toolchain, editor, starter, and reference-application repositories under github.com/spice-framework. The history-preserving topology and acceptance ledger are documented in ADR 0012 and the repository migration ledger. Until the first signed preview is published, the project remains pre-alpha.

Organization governance and cross-repository development tooling now live at spice-framework/.github and spice-framework/development. The core module and complete source history now live at spice-framework/spice. Historical repository URLs redirect to the organization. Independent consumer/editor extraction and the first external-service starter wave are complete. The remaining migration stages and exact acceptance evidence are tracked in the repository migration ledger.

Spice is an opinionated, compile-time application platform for Go. Its goal is to bring the breadth, productivity, and operational completeness associated with Spring Boot together with Spring Modulith-style architectural enforcement—without importing JVM runtime magic into Go.

Product direction

Spice is designed around five commitments:

1. Broad application-platform coverage. The roadmap intentionally covers web APIs, configuration, dependency injection, validation, security, data access, transactions, messaging, scheduling, observability, testing, and modular architecture.
2. Excellent developer ergonomics. Common application behavior should be easy to express, errors should point to source, generated behavior should be inspectable, and the happy path should be obvious.
3. Valid Go source. Spice annotations are ordinary Go comments such as // @Controller(prefix="/users"), so standard Go tools continue to parse the project.
4. Compile-time enforcement. Wiring, annotation validation, and module rules should fail before deployment whenever possible.
5. Runnable software, not paper architecture. Every implementation change must compile, execute its relevant smoke path, and pass tests before it is considered complete.

Current foundation

The independently versioned Spice ecosystem currently provides:

• A typed Go package-loading pipeline with stable declaration identities.
• Annotation parsing, resolution, and source-positioned validation.
• Exact concrete bean/configuration providers, constructible service/controller/ repository stereotypes, and explicit @Implements interface bindings with deterministic qualifiers, primary/fallback selection, ordered collection injection, typed optional/lazy/provider handles, and explicit singleton/prototype/request/session ownership.
• Typed provider cleanup and @OnStart/@OnStop lifecycle metadata with a race-safe rollback and shutdown coordinator.
• A preferred annotated package-main func main() that discovers the selected local module scope at compile time, plus a pre-1.0 compatible exact-type parameter-root marker form, both assembled with provider, lifecycle, and typed bootstrap-feature data in one immutable application IR.
• Annotation-driven generated commands with conventional environment configuration, structured command logging, explicit management/logging companions, redacted configuration reporting, stable exit codes, signal ownership, and bounded graceful shutdown.
• A pure deterministic renderer for direct provider/lifecycle calls and SHA-256 ownership manifests.
• Guarded generated-file ownership with manual-edit refusal, freshness checks, bounded diffs, and unchanged-file preservation.
• Import-path application modules with root APIs, named interfaces, explicit dependencies, internal-boundary checks, unassigned-package reporting, and deterministic cycle detection.
• Module-aware synchronous lifecycle observations that generated applications expose without a global tracer or telemetry dependency.
• Reflection-free typed configuration declarations, exact provider injection, generated schema/binders, and a runtime with rooted JSON/profile files, explicit precedence, provenance, environment mapping, defaults, validation, and secret redaction.
• Standard-library SQL transaction management with repository-friendly executors, explicit callback-context executor access, module-owned boundary metadata, rollback-safe error/panic behavior, synchronous observations, and generated @data.Transactional typed HTTP or interface-bound service boundaries.
• Immutable reflection-free repository queries with explicit SQL, typed row decoders, exact single-result cardinality, bounded lists, and safe failures.
• An independently versioned starter-postgres integration with secure URL/TLS policy, explicit pool ownership, and real-container transaction, repository, migration, batch, outbox, and SQL test-slice verification.
• An independently versioned starter-mysql integration with verified TLS, explicit bounded pool ownership, cancellation, secret-safe failures, and real-MySQL acceptance consumed by Petclinic.
• An independently versioned starter-redis integration with secure URL/TLS/authentication policy, deterministic bounded pool ownership, exact cleanup, and a namespaced typed JSON cache store verified against a real Redis server.
• An independently versioned starter-smtp integration with required verified TLS, bounded cancellation/retry, duplicate-safe failure handling, and payload-free observations.
• Deterministic module-owned migration plans with global version ordering, normalized SHA-256 checksums, registry drift detection, and an independently versioned PostgreSQL advisory-lock/transaction backend.
• Immutable generic event topics with exact payload types, deterministic subscriber order, cancellation/failure semantics, module-interaction observations, and compile-time @event.Topic/@event.Listener graph metadata rendered as direct, rollback-safe topic construction.
• A transactional outbox with immutable bounded messages, a driver-neutral SQL store, atomic enqueue/lease contracts, at-least-once dispatch, explicit failure delay, and payload-free observations.
• Immutable bounded external-message envelopes plus explicit publisher, handler, and acknowledgement/retry/reject settlement contracts for isolated broker starters.
• An independently versioned starter-kafka franz-go producer and sequential consumer group with verified TLS/authentication defaults, explicit settlement, bounded polling, lifecycle ownership, payload-free observations, and authenticated Redpanda acceptance. Live TLS broker acceptance remains application/environment-owned.
• An independently versioned starter-grpc integration with TLS-by-default transport, bounded messages and streams, ordinary generated-protobuf registration, standard health, graceful lifecycle drain, and payload-free observations.
• An independently versioned starter-websocket RFC 6455 server/client integration with same-origin and TLS-by-default policy, bounded messages/connections/close, explicit subprotocols and compression, and payload-free session observations.
• Explicit bounded retries with opt-in error classification, capped deterministic backoff, cancellation, typed exhaustion, and attempt observations.
• Generic cache contracts, a bounded in-memory LRU/TTL cache, and compile-time @cache.Cacheable typed-read generation with configured capacity/TTL, deterministic keys, safe route validation, and bounded observations.
• Compile-time @async.Execute tasks with readiness-gated typed generated submit methods, direct provider calls, configured bounded admission, caller-owned lifetime contexts and observers, deterministic failure aggregation, panic containment, snapshots, and lifecycle-owned shutdown.
• Compile-time @schedule.FixedDelay jobs with exact provider ownership, direct generated method calls, non-overlap, explicit failure continuation, graceful drain, panic containment, observations, and virtual-time test seams.
• Restartable ordered batch jobs with atomic attempt/checkpoint contracts, exact completed-prefix validation, fresh failure contexts, panic containment, bounded observations, a concurrency-safe capacity-bounded in-process store, a driver-neutral lease-aware SQL persistence protocol, and a real-container verified backend in the independent PostgreSQL starter.
• An independently versioned starter-otel adapter selected through @otel.Enable, with OpenTelemetry v1.44 HTTP trace/metric integration, exact generated observer-role validation, payload-free module-event spans and metrics, and application-owned providers/exporters.
• Immutable authenticated principals plus compile-time @security.Authorize route and service-method policies that generate deny-by-default guards, stable module/policy identities, and bounded authorization observations.
• Compile-time interface decorators for service-method @data.Transactional, @cache.Cacheable, @security.Authorize, @retry.Retryable, and @observability.Observed policies, with raw concrete injection rejected.
• An independently versioned starter-oidc JWT resource server with strict bearer parsing, signature/issuer/audience/expiry verification, exact claim mapping, required or route-guard-compatible optional authentication, bounded discovery/JWK transport, and safe failures.
• An independently versioned starter-oauth2client client-credentials integration with separate timed transports, HTTPS-only bounded token acquisition, safe failures, and cached Bearer authorization.
• Typed stateless HTTP sessions with AES-256-GCM confidentiality/integrity, bounded key rotation, embedded expiry, strict decoding, secure host-only cookie defaults, and concurrent-use verification.
• Deterministic server-side HTML templates with contextual escaping, strict missing-key execution, duplicate-definition rejection, bounded atomic responses, cancellation, concurrent rendering, and generated form/view adapters with immutable binding results and safe local 303 redirects.
• Immutable transport-neutral mail messages with caller-owned identity and time, stable envelope recipients, Bcc-safe deterministic MIME, text/HTML alternatives, bounded attachments, defensive copies, and no hidden network client.
• An instance-owned mail/mailtest sender with bounded immutable attempts, deterministic injected failures, explicit overflow, payload-free observations, concurrent inspection, and typed MIME snapshots.
• A strict HTTP runtime with RFC 9457 problems, secure error mapping, bounded JSON and URL-encoded decoding, JSON/HTML negotiation, safe scalar binding, and explicit no-content responses.
• Typed controller/route compilation and deterministic generated net/http adapters with exact receiver/mux/renderer providers, request DTO and form binding, closed HTML/redirect outcomes, RFC 9457 errors, ServeMux wildcard checks, and raw escape hatches.
• A runnable spice CLI with version, annotations, verify, modules, generate, build, run, last-known-good dev, and editor-neutral lsp commands.
• An independently versioned GoLand plugin that renders canonical declaration comments as zero-width-prefix annotations, applies configurable native syntax colors, resolves highlighted PSI references to their real Go SDK descriptor declarations, shows descriptor provenance in the gutter, runs applications through spice run, generates before native GoLand package debugging, checks light/dark rendering against committed visual goldens, and launches the same LSP for descriptor documentation, handler implementation navigation, completion, diagnostics, safe edits, and cancellable confirmed hash-guarded go get -tool preview/apply. Interface completion and bean selection come from Spice's typed compiler catalog; the plugin uses GoLand's index only to navigate and generate methods for symbols already in source.
• A supported secondary Zed extension that launches the same LSP beside gopls for completion, diagnostics, hover, modifier-click annotation navigation, safe quick fixes, module/configuration metadata, and structured valid-Go annotation highlighting on Windows and Linux.
• A generated-application HTTP test slice with loopback-only serving, bounded detached responses, strict JSON/problem decoding, construction rollback, and idempotent lifecycle cleanup, plus transaction-scoped generic SQL subjects that always roll back.
• A committed generated HTTP application with real provider, lifecycle, route, and graceful-drain tests.
• An independent, consumer-owned Spring Petclinic port whose go.mod authorizes the annotation tool and whose generated source, manifest, vendor tree, tests, and executable workflow are verified outside the framework module at spice-framework/petclinic.
• A cross-platform Go-owned quality gate with pinned format, lint, nil-safety, security, vulnerability, race, fuzz, coverage, offline-vendor, and executable checks.
• Product, architecture, annotation, and Spring-coverage documents.

Annotation syntax

Annotations are valid declaration comments with explicit file-scoped imports:

// @import { Controller } from "github.com/spice-framework/spice/annotation/web"

// @Controller(prefix="/users")
type UserController struct{}

Named imports keep common annotations clean, aliases resolve local collisions, and namespace imports keep provenance visible:

// @import { Get as GET } from "github.com/spice-framework/spice/annotation/web"
// @import * as security from "github.com/spice-framework/spice/annotation/security"

// @GET("/orders/{id}")
// @security.Authorize(anyRoles=["admin"], allScopes=["orders:write"])
func (*Controller) Get(context.Context, Request) (Response, error)

The application root go.mod authorizes annotation handlers through standard Go tool dependencies:

tool (
    github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice
    github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice-annotation-core
)

Spice statically decodes each one-file Go descriptor and launches only its authorized full package path through go tool; there is no plugin manifest or custom dependency resolver. Editor installation assistance uses the standard Go command against a temporary modfile, shows the exact go.mod/go.sum diff, and requires a separate confirmed action before applying the still-current preview.

spice new creates a minimal valid-Go application and exact Go module without downloads or destructive overwrite. spice add package@version and spice add --tool package@version expose the same temporary-modfile planner to developers: preview is the default, and --apply writes only a freshly validated hash-guarded plan. The clean-room smoke gate generates from zero output, vendors offline, compiles, tests, builds, and executes that scaffold.

The independent modules under testdata/annotationfixture and testdata/annotationapp prove that a third party can use only the public SDK/protocol to supply aliases, namespaces, diagnostics, real editor navigation, provider semantics, and inspectable generated Go.

Explicit bean selection and scopes

Spice never treats general Go assignability as dependency discovery. A concrete result becomes an interface candidate only through @Implements and the compiler's exact go/types verification, while a factory returning the exact interface type is already an interface bean. Spice writes the matching Go compile-time assertion into a manifest-owned source shard beside the implementation; handwritten source stays focused on behavior.

// @import { Implements, Primary, Qualifier, Service } from "github.com/spice-framework/spice/annotation/core"
// @import * as payments from "example.com/commerce/payments"

// @Service(name="stripeProcessor", aliases=["payments"])
// @Implements(payments.Processor)
// @Qualifier("stripe")
// @Primary
type StripeProcessor struct{}

func NewCheckout(
	// @Qualifier("stripe")
	processor payments.Processor,
) *Checkout

Single values first apply requested qualifiers, ignore fallback beans when a regular candidate exists, select a unique candidate or primary, and finally use an exact parameter-name match against bean names and aliases. Ambiguity is a compile error with candidate locations. []T and map[string]T inject all matching beans in @Order, bean-name, and source order.

The generic bean.Optional[T], bean.Lazy[T], and bean.Provider[T] contracts remain ordinary typed Go. Optional permits absence but never ambiguity. Lazy resolves a singleton once. Provider.Acquire(ctx) returns the exact value, an idempotent lifecycle.Cleanup, and an error. Prototype cleanup is caller-owned; request and session beans are cached in an explicit typed bean.Scope attached to context. The generated application installs request scope middleware when required. Session scopes are deliberately created and closed by application code—there is no global session registry.

Run it

Install Go 1.26.5 and GNU Make, then run:

New users should begin with the executable getting-started.md walkthrough. Spring developers can use spring-to-spice.md as a concept and migration map.

make fast
make check
make verify
make verify-release
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice version
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice verify ./...
git clone https://github.com/spice-framework/commerce.git
cd commerce
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice annotations list ./...
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice annotations doctor ./...
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice verify --format=json ./...
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice test --module github.com/spice-framework/commerce/orders --count=1 ./...
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice generate --check --target Commerce .
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice run --target Commerce . -- -check
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice dev --target Commerce .

Use make fast for changed packages and their reverse dependency closure, then make check for the broader core-library loop. Run make verify on the exact tree before committing. make verify-release is the unconditional full-gate entrypoint used by the protected, source-only core release workflow; its trust anchor and approval model are documented in docs/releasing.md. Toolchain binary release automation and performance budgets run in the standalone toolchain repository.

In an application module containing one typed @Application marker:

go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice generate ./...
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice generate --check ./...
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice generate --diff ./...
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice build ./...
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice run ./... -- -check
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice dev ./...

Application-platform conventions live on the ordinary process entrypoint and compile into a directly imported generated target package:

package main

import (
    "os"

    spiceapp "github.com/spice-framework/commerce/internal/spicegen/commerce"
)

// @import { Application } from "github.com/spice-framework/spice/annotation/core"
// @import { Enable } from "github.com/spice-framework/spice/annotation/management"
// @import { Logging } from "github.com/spice-framework/spice/annotation/observability"

// @Application
// @Enable(expose=["health", "liveness", "readiness", "info", "metrics", "configprops", "modules"])
// @Logging
func main() {
    os.Exit(spiceapp.Main(os.Args[1:]))
}

The generated Main returns an exit code and does not call os.Exit. It resolves the generated schema from the SPICE_ environment convention, logs command startup and failures, owns SIGINT/SIGTERM, and creates a fresh bounded shutdown context. spice.shutdown-timeout defaults to 10s and can be set with SPICE_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT.

Controller targets also own artifacts/openapi.json in the internal generated package; generation check/diff verifies it alongside the orchestrator and source-owned units.

Production services opt into only the management routes they intend to expose with @management.Enable(expose=[...]). The endpoint allowlist is exact and validated at compile time; package presence or a go.mod dependency never activates it. See docs/management.md.

The preferred annotated main.go, compile-time discovery scope, explicit generated-package boundary, and legacy migration contract are documented in docs/application.md.

The two-stage self-hosting boundary, production generated CLI graph, and zero-output regeneration/recovery proof are documented in docs/dogfooding-readiness.md.

Pre-1.0 module, generated-source, tool, and editor upgrade procedures are documented in docs/upgrading.md.

Explicit imports, static descriptors, go.mod tool authorization, typed contributions, offline behavior, and extension security are documented in docs/annotation-sdk.md.

Stable text/JSON diagnostic codes, physical and source-mapped ranges, related information, and version-aware safe edit contracts are documented in docs/diagnostics.md.

The isolated overlay-aware analysis API shared by generation, run, dev, and editor clients is documented in docs/compiler-service.md.

The stdio language server, versioned diagnostics, annotation/configuration completion, hover, safe code actions, and workspace settings are documented in docs/lsp.md.

The primary GoLand plugin, exact prefix concealment, native color settings, PSI navigation, language-server setup, installable archive, and repeatable light/Darcula visual acceptance path are owned and documented by the independently versioned spice-framework/goland repository.

The supported secondary Zed extension, PATH/settings setup, modifier-click definition navigation, semantic annotation presentation, supported-API limitation, and diagnostic fixture are documented in docs/zed.md.

The recursive watcher, deterministic debounce policy, unique candidate builds, last-known-good recovery, and graceful restart controls used by spice dev are documented in docs/development-loop.md.

The executable foundation and the remaining reference-application integration debt are tracked explicitly in docs/stable-core-acceptance.md.

Outbound integrations can use the base-scoped, bounded typed JSON client in docs/http-client.md.

OpenTelemetry composition is introduced in docs/observability.md, with release ownership in starter-otel.

WebSocket and gRPC composition are introduced in docs/websocket.md and docs/grpc.md, with release ownership in starter-websocket and starter-grpc.

SQL repositories and generated @data.Transactional HTTP boundaries use the explicit contracts in docs/data.md.

Typed in-process event contracts are documented in docs/events.md.

Context-aware resilience policies are documented in docs/retry.md.

Typed caching and the built-in bounded store are documented in docs/cache.md.

Secure Redis client ownership and distributed typed caching are documented by the independently versioned starter-redis.

Bounded asynchronous task execution is documented in docs/async.md.

Fixed-delay job registration and lifecycle are documented in docs/schedule.md.

Restartable batch jobs and persistence contracts are documented in docs/batch.md.

Authentication boundaries and generated authorization policies are documented in docs/security.md.

OIDC JWT resource-server integration is introduced in docs/oidc-resource-server.md; the canonical module, support contract, and dependency review live in starter-oidc.

OAuth2 service-client integration is introduced in docs/oauth2-client.md; the canonical module, support contract, and dependency review live in starter-oauth2client.

Transactional outbox storage and dispatch semantics are documented in docs/outbox.md.

Transport-neutral external messaging and Kafka composition are documented in docs/messaging.md, with release ownership in starter-kafka.

Module-owned database migration planning is documented in docs/migrations.md.

PostgreSQL pool configuration and integration testing are owned by the independent starter-postgres module.

Portable starter compatibility metadata and qualified annotation definitions are documented in docs/starters.md.

Focused module execution and generated HTTP test slices are documented in docs/testing.md.

For a repository containing package-level @Module roots:

go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice modules --format=json ./...
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice modules --format=mermaid ./...
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice modules --format=plantuml ./...
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice modules --focus=example.com/shop/orders --format=json ./...
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice test --module=example.com/shop/orders --race --count=1 ./...

JSON contains complete portable module canvases. Mermaid and PlantUML aggregate the same verified package-import edges into deterministic module diagrams. --focus retains one module and only its transitively observed dependencies, with dependency-first composition order for module test slices. spice test validates that same graph and invokes ordinary go test -trimpath for exactly its owned packages, excluding unrelated and unassigned packages. See docs/testing.md.

Use --target Name, the command import path, or the stable marker symbol ID when the selected packages contain multiple application markers. Positional Go package patterns provide explicit compile-time scope in a multi-application monorepo; an ordinary single-application module needs no dummy imports or module list. Package-main generation writes an importable internal/spicegen/<target> package split into contracts, configuration, providers, bounded assembly, optional features, HTTP coordination, readable stable per-route files, lifecycle, and command behavior. It mirrors each contributing handwritten file to one nested sources/.../<source>_spice_gen.go unit. No generated Go is written beside handwritten code, and there is no catch-all target file. Every concern role, source origin, and generated range is recorded in the schema-5 .spice/<target>.manifest.json; spice generated queries that mapping in either direction.

To start the example HTTP server:

git clone https://github.com/spice-framework/commerce.git
cd commerce
go tool github.com/spice-framework/toolchain/cmd/spice run --target Commerce .
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{\"quantity\":2}" http://localhost:8081/orders
curl http://localhost:8081/actuator/health/readiness
curl http://localhost:8081/actuator/metrics
curl http://localhost:8081/actuator/configprops
curl http://localhost:8081/actuator/modules

The independently versioned spice-framework/commerce application enables structured request/lifecycle logging and exactly seven management endpoints. Its generated command owns SIGINT/SIGTERM, conventional environment loading, check mode, stable exit codes, and fresh bounded shutdown. Its generated application also owns the fixed-delay audit and exposes a typed, bounded asynchronous inventory verification method that drains before provider cleanup. The generated Application itself never captures process signals. Generated source and OpenAPI are committed under internal/spicegen/commerce in that repository; source-owned application metadata, configuration binders, constructors, and interface checks use mirrored files below internal/spicegen/commerce/sources. The matching ownership manifest is .spice/commerce.manifest.json. Commerce is a separate consuming Go module with its own verification policy, module graph, and vendor tree.

For embedding and specialized policies, the generated application retains NewApplication, NewApplicationWithOptions, Application.Start, Application.Stop, Application.Run, Application.Components, and RunCommand. Components is a typed singleton snapshot for tests and embedding—not a runtime lookup container. These seams support caller-owned contexts, signals, configuration sources, middleware, error mapping, lifecycle/HTTP observers, writers, loggers, and shutdown timing.

Repository map

• annotation/: public annotation descriptors, SDK, protocol, test support, and the canonical external annotation-tool identity.
• bean/, lifecycle/, config/, conversion/, and validation/: typed foundation contracts.
• web/, data/, event/, mail/, messaging/, schedule/, cache/, security/, observability/, and management/: public standard-library-first application capabilities.
• spicetest/: black-box support for generated application contexts and focused HTTP/SQL tests.
• starter/: portable starter-composition metadata, not external clients.
• internal/qualitygate/: the repository verifier and the only retained internal implementation package.
• spice-framework/toolchain: independently versioned compiler, generator, CLI, LSP, development loop, bootstrap, annotation tool, release construction, and toolchain dogfooding.
• spice-framework/goland: primary installed-IDE integration and visual/interaction acceptance.
• spice-framework/zed: independently versioned secondary Rust/WASM adapter that launches spice lsp for Go.
• spice-framework/starter-otel, starter-oauth2client, starter-oidc, starter-websocket, starter-grpc, and starter-kafka: independently versioned opt-in integrations.
• tools/: isolated, pinned development tools module.
• docs/: user and product documentation.
• docs/quality.md: exact verification, tool, linter, and suppression policy.
• docs/dogfooding-readiness.md: bootstrap boundary and self-hosting acceptance.
• rfcs/: proposed designs.
• adrs/: accepted architectural decisions.

Status

Spice is pre-1.0. Its developer-proof core, generated application lifecycle, Modulith enforcement, web/configuration/security/data foundations, and Petclinic reference workflow are executable and locally gated. The primary GoLand integration is independently versioned and gated on Windows, Linux, and macOS from spice-framework/goland. Public contracts may still evolve until every coverage row is resolved and the v1.0 compatibility policy is frozen.