go-version-file enforces the minimum required Go version instead of opting for the maximum allowed one

[azazeal]

Given the following go.mod & setup-go configurations:

module github.com/actions/setup-go/example

go 1.23.3

- name: Setup Go
  uses: actions/setup-go
  with:
    go-version-file: go.mod

the action would determine, today, that the version of Go it should setup is 1.23.3, instead of 1.24.0, which is the latest available Go version matching the go constraint the author opted for, as explained by the go directive documentation here:

go minimum-go-version

minimum-go-version
The minimum version of Go required to compile packages in this module.

Perhaps there's good reason as to why the action determines the version as it does today, and if that's the case please let me know, but I think that, when go-version-file is used, the action should opt for the greatest available Go version matching the author's specification (perhaps only in cases where check-latest is set), instead of opting for the provided minimum required version.

[priya-kinthali]

Hello @azazeal👋,
Thank you for this feature request. We will investigate it and get back to you as soon as we have some feedback.

[azazeal]

Hello @azazeal👋, Thank you for this feature request. We will investigate it and get back to you as soon as we have some feedback.

Thank you for your response. I'd also like to point out the following:

Given two different go.mod files, carrying the constraints go 1.23 & go 1.23.4, the action would determine, today and unless mistaken, the following Go versions, respectively: 1.23.6 & 1.23.4 but, perhaps, it should be 1.23.6 in both cases.

I can see how I'd like for my builds to run on the same minor version of a go.mod file (1.23 in this example), just not quite sure why adding a patch constraint to the value the go directive carries, freezes the determined version to be exactly that patch, instead of it being determined as at least that patch, especially in reference to the go directive's documentation.

This, of course, is just personal preference—just pointing it out.