Using Makefile in Go Projects (The Practical Way)

Go already gives you a solid toolchain, but once a project grows, repeating commands gets old fast. A simple Makefile gives you standardized commands, less typing, and zero dependencies.

This post shows a minimal, useful Makefile for Go projects:

• make build → builds to bin/projectname
• make run → runs the built binary
• make dev → live reload with air
• make clean → removes build artifacts
• make help → self-documented commands

Project Structure

.
├── cmd/
│   └── projectname/
│       └── main.go
├── bin/
├── air.toml
├── go.mod
├── Makefile

Why Use Makefile with Go?

• One command everyone remembers
• Same workflow across OSes
• CI-friendly
• Self-documenting
• No bash scripts scattered around

Go stays simple, Make just glues things together.

The Makefile

APP_NAME := projectname
BIN_DIR := bin
BIN_PATH := $(BIN_DIR)/$(APP_NAME)

.PHONY: build run dev clean help

## build: Build the Go binary
build:
  @mkdir -p $(BIN_DIR)
  go build -o $(BIN_PATH) ./cmd/$(APP_NAME)

## run: Run the built binary
run: build
  @./$(BIN_PATH)

## dev: Run with live reload using air
dev:
  @air

## clean: Remove build artifacts
clean:
  @rm -rf $(BIN_DIR)

## help: Show available commands
help:
  @echo ""
  @echo "Available commands:"
  @grep -E '^[a-zA-Z_-]+:.*?## .*$$' $(MAKEFILE_LIST) \
    | awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*?## "}; {printf "  %-10s %s\n", $$1, $$2}'

make build

make build

• Compiles your app
• Output goes to bin/projectname
• No surprises, no magic paths

This keeps your repo clean and binaries out of the way.

make run

make run

• Ensures the binary is built
• Executes ./bin/projectname

Simple dependency chain:

run: build

make dev (Live Reload)

Uses Air for hot reload.

make dev

Make sure Air is installed:

go install github.com/air-verse/air@latest

And you have an air.toml:

root = "."
tmp_dir = "tmp"

[build]
cmd = "go build -o bin/projectname ./cmd/projectname"
bin = "bin/projectname"

make clean

make clean

Deletes: bin/

Useful for:

• fresh builds
• CI
• sanity resets

make help

make help

Outputs something like:

Available commands:
  build      Build the Go binary
  run        Run the built binary
  dev        Run with live reload using air
  clean      Remove build artifacts
  help       Show available commands

This works because of the ## comments — small trick, big win.

Final Notes

• Keep Makefiles boring
• Don’t over-abstract
• If a command needs explaining, it’s probably wrong

For Go projects, this setup hits the sweet spot: simple, readable, and production-safe.

Done.

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