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📋 Project Summary - Go REST API Boilerplate

Overview

This is a production-ready, REST API boilerplate written in Go. It demonstrates best practices, clean architecture, and provides everything needed to build scalable REST APIs.

✨ What Makes This Special

1. Clean Architecture

  • Layered structure: Handlers → Services → Repositories
  • Clear separation of concerns
  • Easy to test and maintain
  • Follows Go idioms and best practices

2. Production Ready

  • ✅ JWT Authentication with secure password hashing
  • ✅ PostgreSQL with GORM
  • ✅ Comprehensive error handling
  • ✅ Input validation
  • ✅ Structured logging
  • ✅ Health check endpoint
  • ✅ CORS support

3. Developer Friendly

  • ✅ Complete Swagger/OpenAPI documentation
  • ✅ Docker & Docker Compose setup
  • ✅ Makefile for common tasks
  • ✅ Unit and integration tests
  • ✅ Postman collection included
  • ✅ GitHub Actions CI/CD
  • ✅ Detailed README with examples

4. Easy to Extend

  • Clear domain structure
  • Repository pattern for data access
  • Service layer for business logic
  • DTOs for request/response
  • Middleware pattern for cross-cutting concerns

📁 Project Structure

go-rest-api-boilerplate/
├── .github/workflows/     # CI/CD pipelines
├── api/                   # API documentation
│   ├── docs/             # Swagger docs (generated)
│   └── postman_collection.json
├── bin/                   # Compiled binaries (gitignored)
├── cmd/server/           # Application entry point
├── configs/              # Configuration files
├── docs/                  # Documentation site (MkDocs)
│   ├── docs/             # Documentation source files
│   ├── site/             # Generated documentation site
│   └── mkdocs.yml        # MkDocs configuration
├── internal/             # Private application code
│   ├── auth/            # Authentication logic
│   ├── config/          # Configuration management
│   ├── db/              # Database connection
│   ├── middleware/      # HTTP middleware
│   ├── server/          # Router setup
│   └── user/            # User domain
├── migrations/          # Database migrations info
├── scripts/             # Helper scripts
├── tests/               # Test files
├── tmp/                 # Air hot-reload temp files (gitignored)
├── Dockerfile           # Multi-stage build
├── docker-compose.yml   # Container orchestration
├── docker-compose.prod.yml # Production configuration
├── Makefile            # Build automation
├── README.md           # Main documentation
├── CONTRIBUTING.md     # Contribution guidelines
└── server.log          # Application logs (gitignored)

🚀 Key Features

Authentication & Security

  • JWT tokens with HS256 signing
  • Bcrypt password hashing (cost 10)
  • Token expiration (configurable, default 24h)
  • Authorization middleware for protected routes
  • Input validation on all endpoints
  • No sensitive data in responses

API Endpoints

  • POST /api/v1/auth/register - User registration
  • POST /api/v1/auth/login - User login
  • GET /api/v1/users/:id - Get user (protected)
  • PUT /api/v1/users/:id - Update user (protected)
  • DELETE /api/v1/users/:id - Delete user (protected)
  • GET /health - Health check

Database

  • PostgreSQL as primary database
  • GORM for ORM (with hooks, migrations, associations)
  • SQLite for testing (in-memory)
  • Connection pooling configured
  • Soft deletes enabled
  • Automatic timestamps

Documentation

  • Swagger UI at /swagger/index.html
  • OpenAPI 3.0 spec
  • Interactive API testing
  • Complete curl examples
  • Postman collection

Testing

  • Unit tests for handlers
  • Integration tests with httptest
  • In-memory SQLite for CI (no dependencies)
  • Table-driven tests
  • 90%+ coverage achievable

CI/CD

  • GitHub Actions workflow
  • Multi-version testing (Go 1.23, 1.24)
  • Linting with golangci-lint
  • Automated tests on push/PR
  • Coverage reporting

Docker

  • Multi-stage build for small images
  • Docker Compose for local dev
  • Health checks configured
  • Volume persistence
  • Environment variables support

📊 Technical Stack

Component Technology Purpose
Language Go 1.24 Performance, simplicity, type safety
Web Framework Gin Fast HTTP router, middleware support
ORM GORM Database abstraction, migrations
Database PostgreSQL 15 Reliable, feature-rich RDBMS
Auth JWT (HS256) Stateless authentication
Password bcrypt Secure password hashing
Validation Gin binding Request validation
API Docs Swaggo Swagger/OpenAPI generation
Testing httptest HTTP testing utilities
CI/CD GitHub Actions Automated testing and linting
Containerization Docker Consistent environments

🎯 Use Cases

This boilerplate is perfect for:

  1. New REST API projects - Start with a solid foundation
  2. Microservices - Each service can use this pattern
  3. Learning Go web development - See best practices in action
  4. Prototyping - Quickly build and test APIs
  5. Interview projects - Demonstrate your skills
  6. Team templates - Standardize your team's approach

🔧 Customization Points

Easy to customize:

  • Add new domains: Copy the user package structure
  • Add middleware: JWT auth pattern is reusable
  • Change database: GORM supports MySQL, SQLite, etc.
  • Add rate limiting: Middleware pattern makes it easy
  • Add logging: Service layer is perfect for structured logs
  • Add metrics: Instrument handlers and services

📈 What You Get

For Developers

  • ✅ Skip boilerplate setup
  • ✅ Focus on business logic
  • ✅ Learn Go best practices
  • ✅ Ready-to-use patterns

For Teams

  • ✅ Consistent structure
  • ✅ Easy onboarding
  • ✅ Scalable foundation
  • ✅ Production patterns

For Learning

  • ✅ Real-world examples
  • ✅ Complete test coverage
  • ✅ Best practice patterns
  • ✅ Well-documented code

🚦 Getting Started (30 seconds)

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/vahiiiid/go-rest-api-boilerplate.git
cd go-rest-api-boilerplate

# Run the quick start script
./scripts/quick-start.sh

# Or manually with Docker
docker-compose up --build

That's it! API running at http://localhost:8080 ✨

📚 Documentation

  • README.md - Main documentation with API examples
  • SETUP.md - Detailed setup instructions
  • CONTRIBUTING.md - Contribution guidelines
  • PROJECT_SUMMARY.md - This file (overview)
  • migrations/README.md - Database migration guide
  • Swagger UI - Interactive API documentation

🎓 Learning Resources

This project demonstrates: - RESTful API design - Clean architecture in Go - Repository pattern - Service layer pattern - Middleware pattern - Dependency injection - Unit testing strategies - Integration testing - Docker containerization - CI/CD workflows - API documentation - Security best practices

🌟 Why This Stands Out

  1. Complete - Not a minimal example, but production-ready
  2. Documented - Every feature is explained
  3. Tested - Comprehensive test coverage
  4. Modern - Latest Go features and practices
  5. Maintainable - Clean code, clear structure
  6. Scalable - Patterns that grow with your project
  7. Secure - Security best practices built-in
  8. Developer-Friendly - Great DX with docs, examples, tools

🔄 Development Workflow

# Development
make run          # Run locally
make test         # Run tests
make lint         # Check code quality
make swag         # Generate API docs

# Docker
make docker-up    # Start containers
make docker-down  # Stop containers

# Building
make build        # Build binary
make docker-build # Build Docker image

🎉 Success Metrics

After using this boilerplate, you should be able to:

  • ✅ Build a new REST API endpoint in < 30 minutes
  • ✅ Add authentication to any endpoint in < 5 minutes
  • ✅ Write tests for your endpoints easily
  • ✅ Deploy to production with confidence
  • ✅ Scale your API as your project grows

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for: - Code style guidelines - How to add features - Testing requirements - Pull request process

📄 License

MIT License - free to use, modify, and distribute.

🙏 Credits

Built with ❤️ using: - Gin Web Framework - GORM - golang-jwt - swaggo

Ready to build something awesome? ⭐ Star this repo and start coding!

git clone https://github.com/vahiiiid/go-rest-api-boilerplate.git
cd go-rest-api-boilerplate
docker-compose up --build
# Happy coding! 🚀