job-search/CODE_CONVENTIONS.md

# Code conventions

These are the conventions for Go code in this repository. Most formatting
is enforced by `golangci-lint` (see [Tooling](#tooling)); the rest are
applied by hand and checked in review.

Generated code is never edited to follow these conventions. It is
recognised by Go's standard marker, a comment before the package clause:

```go
// Code generated by ocdsgen from extensions.json. DO NOT EDIT.
```


## Tooling

```bash
golangci-lint run --build-tags sqlite_fts5 ./...   # lint
golangci-lint fmt ./...                            # format (gofmt, goimports, gci, golines)
```

- Anything that touches the store needs the `sqlite_fts5` build tag (the
  title search uses SQLite FTS5); `scripts/build.sh` passes it.
- `golines` limits lines to 100 characters, counting a tab as 2. See
  [Line length](#line-length) for the length to aim for.
- In `_test.go` files, `.golangci.json` turns off `errcheck` and
  `cyclop`, and gosec's G104 only (it duplicates errcheck). Every other
  linter still runs on tests.

### Linters that check these conventions

Several of the conventions below are checked by linters enabled in
`.golangci.json`, so `golangci-lint run` reports them rather than review:

| Linter | Checks | Settings |
|---|---|---|
| `revive` | doc comments on exported names ([Doc comments](#doc-comments)), consistent receiver names, `ctx` first ([Functions and types](#functions-and-types)), [initialisms](#initialisms), lowercase error strings and `Err…` names ([Error messages](#error-messages)), [no `else` after a `return`](#no-else-after-a-return) | Only these rules are enabled. `context-as-argument` allows a `*testing.T` before `ctx`, for test helpers. |
| `errorlint` | errors are compared with `errors.Is` and `errors.As`, not `==` or a type assertion, so wrapped errors still match | |
| `misspell` | British spelling ([Spelling](#spelling)) in comments, strings and names | `locale: UK`. `organization` and `humanize` are ignored: they are external names (OCDS's `Organization`, the `go-humanize` package). |
| `sloglint` | snake_case keys, no mixing of key/value pairs with `slog.Attr`, constant messages ([Logging](#logging)); `slog.DiscardHandler` for discarded output | |
| `thelper` | test helpers call `t.Helper()` first ([Tests](#tests)) | |
| `gocritic` | neighbouring parameters and results of the same type share one type name, and strings are tested against `""` ([Functions and types](#functions-and-types)); no names shadowing built-ins ([Naming](#naming)) | Only `paramTypeCombine`, `emptyStringTest` and `builtinShadow` are enabled. |
| `wsl_v5` | no blank line between a call and the `if err != nil` that checks it ([Blank lines](#blank-lines)) | Only the `err` check is enabled; the rest of wsl's rules conflict with the Blank lines convention. |
| `varnamelen` | short names used over a wide scope ([Naming](#naming)) | Off in `_test.go` files. The short names in the Naming table are allowed. |

A finding that is a false positive is silenced with a `//nolint`
directive and a reason, as for any linter (see
[Other `//nolint` directives](#other-nolint-directives)).


## Files and packages

- File names are lowercase. Compound names run together (`findatender`,
  `ftsmock`, `ratelimits`); underscores separate parts
  (`conf_source_ftsmock.go`, `confirm_action.go`).
- Never end a file name in `_<GOOS>` or `_<GOARCH>` (e.g. `_js`, `_arm`):
  Go treats it as a build constraint.
- Package directories are lowercase, with no underscores.


## Imports

Three groups, each separated by a blank line: the standard library, then
third-party packages, then this module's own packages.

```go
import (
	"context"
	"net/http"

	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"

	"git.avsdev.uk/Go/job-search/internal/config"
)
```

`golangci-lint fmt` applies this (gci sections `standard`, `default`,
`localmodule`; goimports' local prefix is the module path).


## Naming

Variables and parameters in application code have descriptive full-word
names, not single letters or abbreviations.

| Use | Not |
|---|---|
| `listen`, `newConn`, `client`, `limiter` | `ln`, `nc`, `c`, `lim` |
| `shutdownCtx`, `writeCtx` | `shCtx`, `wctx` |
| `release`, `opportunity`, `entry`, `value` | `r`, `t`, `e`, `v` |

These short names are conventional enough to keep:

| Name | For |
|---|---|
| a short method receiver | e.g. `h *Hub`, `t *tcpConn`, `s *Store` |
| `err`, `ctx` | errors and contexts |
| `i`, `idx` | a plain index loop |
| `msg` | a message |
| `w`, `r` | `http.ResponseWriter` and `*http.Request` in HTTP handlers and middleware, as in the standard library |
| `req`, `res` | a request and a response elsewhere, e.g. building an `*http.Request` or receiving an `*http.Response` in client code |
| `db`, `tx` | `*sql.DB` and a database transaction (`*sql.Tx`, `*sqlx.Tx`) |
| `wg`, `mu` | `sync.WaitGroup` and `sync.Mutex` |
| `t` | `*testing.T`, including in test helper packages such as `internal/cli/cmdtest` |

`w` and `r` are used for nothing else: a release is `release`, an
`io.Writer` is `out`, a `*rand.Rand` is `rng`.

Names never shadow Go's predeclared identifiers: not `min`, `max`,
`len`, `cap`, `new`, `copy`, `clear`, `close`, `error`, `string` and so
on. A gap's bounds are `minGap` and `maxGap`, not `min` and `max`, so the
built-in `min` and `max` still work inside the function.

`tx` means only a database transaction. It is not used for transmit (or
`rx` for receive), as in tx/rx: name those `transmit` and `receive`, or
more specifically (e.g. `sent`, `received`).

Test files are exempt from this rule: short names (`h`, `c`, `e`, `ln`,
`tc`) are fine there, and existing ones shouldn't be renamed.

### Initialisms

Initialisms and acronyms keep one case throughout a name, as in the
standard library: `ID`, `URL`, `URI`, `JSON`, `HTTP`, `API`, `UUID`,
`SQL`. So `ReleaseID`, `APIRoot`, `UUIDType` and `baseURL`, not
`ReleaseId`, `ApiRoot` or `baseUrl`. At the start of an unexported name
the whole initialism is lowercase: `uuid`, `apiRoot`, `jsonHandler`.

`revive` checks this (`var-naming`).

### `must` functions

A name starting with `must` (or `Must`) promises that the function never
returns an error to its caller, as in the standard library's
`regexp.MustCompile` and `template.Must`:

- In tests, a `must…` helper takes `t` first, calls `t.Helper()`, and
  stops the test with `t.Fatal` on error: `mustSave(t, s, opportunity)`.
- In application code, a `must…` function panics on error, and is only
  used where the input is known to be valid, such as constants or
  package-level setup.
- A function that hides an error some other way, such as returning a zero
  value or `nil`, isn't named `must…`: `rawJSON` returns `nil` for a value
  it can't marshal.


## Functions and types

- A function that takes a context takes it first, named `ctx`:
  `func (s *Store) Get(ctx context.Context, id string)`.
- Constructors are `New` when a package has one main type
  (`tcpserver.New`), otherwise `NewX` (`NewHub`, `NewKeyedLimiter`).
- All of a type's methods use the same receiver name, usually its first
  letter (`h *Hub`, `t *tcpConn`), for value and pointer receivers alike.
- A string is tested for emptiness against `""`, not with `len`:
  `if file == ""`, not `if len(file) == 0`. It says what is meant, and
  reads the same as any other string comparison.
- Neighbouring parameters or results of the same type share one type
  name, as in the standard library: `func f(ocid, id string)`, not
  `func f(ocid string, id string)`. Parameters are never reordered just
  to share a type.

### No `else` after a `return`

When an `if` block ends in a `return` (or `break`, `continue`, `panic`),
there is no `else`: the code that would be in it follows the `if`,
un-indented. The usual path then reads straight down the left edge of
the function, with the early exits indented, which is how Go code is
normally read (see Effective Go and the Go Code Review Comments, "Indent
Error Flow").

```go
if blockShutdown {
	return sleep(taskCtx, true, sleepDuration)
}
return sleep(ctx, false, sleepDuration)
```

Not:

```go
if blockShutdown {
	return sleep(taskCtx, true, sleepDuration)
} else {
	return sleep(ctx, false, sleepDuration)
}
```

Where there are several outcomes, none of which is the usual path, a
`switch` with no condition reads better than nested `if`/`else`:

```go
switch {
case errors.As(err, &notFound):
	slog.Warn("no config file found; using defaults")
case err != nil:
	return err
default:
	slog.Info("using config file", "file", viper.ConfigFileUsed())
}
```

`revive` checks this (`indent-error-flow`, `superfluous-else`).


## Layout

These rules are applied by hand and checked in review; `golines` only
enforces the 100-character limit. They apply to tests as well as
application code, except where a rule says otherwise.

### Line length

Lines should be at most 80 characters (counting a tab as 2), so code
reads well side by side and in diffs. 100 is the absolute maximum,
enforced by `golines`.

Go past 80 only when breaking the line would make it harder to read:

- a line ending in a `//nolint` directive, which must stay on the line it
  applies to;
- struct tags;
- string literals that would lose meaning or searchability if split:
  URLs, error messages, regular expressions, JSON fixtures, help text;
- rows of table-driven tests.

Don't run `golines` at 80 to do this: it splits method chains, separates
slog keys from their values and moves `//nolint` directives off their
lines.

### Assignments in `if` and `for`

When an `if` statement's assignment and check don't fit within the line
length together, the assignment is taken out of the `if`, rather than the
call being wrapped inside it. That keeps the condition readable,
particularly an `if err != nil`, which would otherwise be left on the
call's closing line, after its arguments:

```go
_, err = tx.ExecContext(
	ctx,
	deleteOpportunityClassifications,
	opportunity.UUID,
)
if err != nil {
	return err
}
```

Not:

```go
if _, err := tx.ExecContext(
	ctx,
	deleteOpportunityClassifications,
	opportunity.UUID,
); err != nil {
	return err
}
```

The same applies to a `for` statement's init statement, and to a range
expression that doesn't fit on the `for` line: it is assigned to a
variable first, so the loop's header stays on one line, next to its body.

```go
marks := []struct {
	filter MarkFilter
	clause string
}{
	{filter: filter.Hidden, clause: filterOpportunityMarkHidden},
	{filter: filter.Skipped, clause: filterOpportunityMarkSkipped},
}
for _, mark := range marks {
```

Tests are exempt from this rule.

### Wrapped calls and declarations

When a call doesn't fit on one line, it breaks straight after the opening
bracket and the closing bracket goes on a line of its own. If the
arguments all fit on one line between them, they may stay together on
that line, followed by a comma:

```go
ctx, stop := signal.NotifyContext(
	context.Background(), os.Interrupt, syscall.SIGTERM,
)
```

Otherwise each argument goes on its own line, followed by a comma. The
arguments are either all on one line or one per line, never grouped two
or three to a line:

```go
server := tcpserver.New(
	&conf.Server,
	websocket.NewHub(conf.Server.WebSocket, websocket.WithLogger(log)),
	tcpserver.WithLogger(log),
)
```

Not:

```go
server := tcpserver.New(&conf.Server,
	websocket.NewHub(conf.Server.WebSocket, websocket.WithLogger(log)),
	tcpserver.WithLogger(log))
```

A function declaration whose parameters don't fit on one line wraps the
same way:

```go
func insertReleaseWithTags(
	ctx context.Context, tx *sqlx.Tx, release types.OpportunityRelease,
) (bool, error) {
```

A `log/slog` call that fits on one line stays on one line, like any other
call. When it doesn't, its attributes are the exception to the rule above:
the message goes on its own line, then each field name stays on the same
line as its value, one field per line, even when the fields would all fit
together on one line.

```go
slog.Info(
	"fetched opportunities",
	"source", "find_a_tender",
	"count", len(opportunities),
	"since", since,
)
```

A `//nolint` directive on a wrapped call goes on its first line, after the
opening bracket (see [Ignoring an error](#ignoring-an-error)).

### Method chains

A chain of calls that fits on one line stays on one line. One that
doesn't breaks after each `.`, one call per line, indented once, with
the dot at the end of the line:

```go
findATender.httpClient = resty.New().
	SetTimeout(60 * time.Second).
	SetRetryCount(1)
```

A short accessor at the start of a chain, such as `h.logger()` or
`cmd.Flags()`, stays with the call after it; if that call doesn't fit,
its arguments are wrapped instead (see
[Wrapped calls and declarations](#wrapped-calls-and-declarations)):

```go
h.logger().Info(
	"client connected",
	"client", client.id,
	"ip", ip,
)
```

Not:

```go
h.logger().
	Info("client connected", "client", client.id, "ip", ip)
```

### Long conditions

A condition that doesn't fit on one line breaks after a `||` or `&&`,
which ends the line, and continues indented once. Each line is filled up
to the line length, keeping related comparisons together, rather than
one comparison per line:

```go
if len(cat.Buyers) == 0 || len(cat.Suppliers) == 0 ||
	len(cat.Subjects) == 0 || len(cat.Methods) == 0 {
```

A condition is never broken inside a call's brackets; if a call in it
doesn't fit, its result is assigned to a variable first (see
[Assignments in `if` and `for`](#assignments-in-if-and-for)). A
condition that runs to more than about three lines is better given a
name, as a boolean variable or a small function.

### Blank lines

A function body is split into steps, with one blank line between them. A
step is a statement, or a few closely related ones, together with its
error handling. Go itself has no rule for this (`gofmt` only collapses
several blank lines into one, and the `whitespace` linter only rejects
blank lines at the start or end of a block), so it is applied by hand.

- A call and the `if err != nil` that checks it are never separated by a
  blank line. `wsl_v5` checks this; the rest of the rule is applied
  by hand.
- A `defer` that releases something goes straight after the check of the
  call that acquired it, with no blank line, so acquiring and releasing
  read as one step.
- A function or block of only one or two steps needs no blank lines.
- A final `return` after several (three or more) steps is set off by a
  blank line. The `return` itself isn't counted as a step.

```go
statement, err := tx.PrepareNamedContext(
	ctx, upsertClassificationCodeReturningID,
)
if err != nil {
	return err
}
defer func() {
	err = errors.Join(err, statement.Close())
}()

for i := range opportunity.Classifications {
	...
}

return nil
```

### Function literals

A function literal (`func(...) { ... }` written inline) is never written on
one line, however short its body:

```go
t.Cleanup(func() {
	server.Close()
})
```

Not `t.Cleanup(func() { server.Close() })`.

This is about function literals only. Named one-line functions and methods,
such as a config section's `Map() map[string]any { return mapOf(c) }`, are
unaffected.

### Struct literals

A struct literal is always wrapped, one field per line, and names its
fields:

```go
envelope := websocket.Envelope{
	Type: websocket.TypePing,
	ID:   "1",
}
```

Not `websocket.Envelope{Type: websocket.TypePing, ID: "1"}`, and never
positional (`websocket.Envelope{"ping", "1", nil, ""}`).

- Empty struct literals (`netip.Addr{}`, `time.Time{}`, `struct{}{}`,
  `&Server{}`) have nothing to wrap and stay on one line.
- Rows of a table-driven test (`{"size", "4096", "4KiB"},`) stay one row per
  line, so the table stays easy to scan. A struct literal used as a value
  inside a row is still wrapped.
- Rows of a short lookup table in application code (a slice or map
  literal of small structs, used as data) may each stay on one line if
  they fit within the line length, so the table is easy to scan. They
  still name their fields:
  `{filter: filter.Hidden, clause: filterOpportunityMarkHidden},`.
- This is about struct literals only; slice and map literals
  (`[]string{"a", "b"}`) may stay on one line.


## Comments

### Doc comments

Every exported identifier has a doc comment, and it starts with the name
it documents.

```go
// NewHub creates a hub.
func NewHub(conf config.JSCServerWebSocket, opts ...Option) *Hub {
```

### Grouped declarations

Related package-level constants and variables go in one block, with a
comment for the group and one for each member.

```go
// Errors returned by CSRF.Validate for a token that is rejected.
var (
	// ErrCSRFMissing is returned when no token is presented.
	ErrCSRFMissing = errors.New("csrf token missing")
	// ErrCSRFExpired is returned for a token older than the token TTL.
	ErrCSRFExpired = errors.New("csrf token expired")
)
```

### Section banners

A file is divided into sections with a banner, followed by a blank line
so godoc doesn't attach the banner to the next declaration:

```go
// ---------- tcpConn ----------

// tcpConn adapts a net.Conn ...
type tcpConn struct {
```

In a file with more than one type (such as a config section and its
nested section), each type gets a `==========` sub-section, which then
has its own `----------` banners:

```go
// ========== HSTS Headers ==========

// JSCServerHeadersHSTS configures the Strict-Transport-Security header.
type JSCServerHeadersHSTS struct {
	...
}

// ---------- Section methods (see Section) ----------
```

`internal/store/queries.go` uses `----------` banners for its per-table
groups of queries.

### Trailing comments

A comment after code on the same line is for a short note, and only when
the line still fits within the [line length](#line-length). Otherwise
the comment goes on its own line above the code it describes:

```go
	// location is the zone for updatedFrom/updatedTo without an offset;
	// nil means UTC.
	location *time.Location
```

Not a trailing comment that runs the line past 80, and never a comment
after the closing bracket of a wrapped call.

A comment on a row of a table-driven test stays on the row, like the row
itself (see [Line length](#line-length)).

`//nolint` directives are exempt: a directive must be on the line the
linter reports, so it stays a trailing comment even when that takes the
line past 80 (see [Ignoring an error](#ignoring-an-error)).

### Spelling

Comments and documentation use British English ("normalised", "honoured",
"recognise", "behaviour"). Identifiers, and anything that must match an
external name, keep their own spelling (`Authorization`, `Color` in a
third-party API).


## Errors

### Error messages

- Error strings are lowercase and don't end with punctuation, as they are
  usually wrapped into a longer message (`revive`'s `error-strings`
  reports capitalised ones): `errors.New("store: not found")`.
- An error from another call is wrapped with `%w`, adding what was being
  done, so the chain reads as a sentence:
  `fmt.Errorf("listen %s: %w", addr, err)`.

### Package prefixes

An error names the package it came from once, where it is created, as
the standard library does (`sql: no rows in result set`, `http: server
closed`) and Effective Go recommends:

- An error a package creates itself, a sentinel, `errors.New`, or
  `fmt.Errorf` without `%w`, starts with the package name:
  `errors.New("store: not found")`,
  `fmt.Errorf("util: byte size %q is too large", text)`.
- Wrapping an error adds what was being done, never a package name:
  `fmt.Errorf("inserting release %s/%s: %w", uuid, id, err)`, not
  `"store: inserting release …"`. The wrapped error already says where it
  came from, so a chain reads `writing opportunity ocds-1: store: …`
  rather than repeating `store:` at every level.

Two kinds of error are exempt and have no prefix:

- Errors from `package main` and the command packages in `internal/cli`.
  Their text is the final message shown to the user, who has no use for
  an internal package name.
- Error text that is part of a protocol sent to a client, such as the
  mock Find a Tender API's error responses, which match the real API's.

### Sentinel errors

Errors that callers test for are sentinel values named `Err…` (exported)
or `err…` (unexported), checked with `errors.Is`. The sentinels in a file
go in one commented `var` block (see
[Grouped declarations](#grouped-declarations)).

They are declared near the top of the file: straight after the imports
and any constants, before the file's types and functions. A reader then
sees what the file can fail with before reading how, and finds a
sentinel without searching the file. This applies to every package-level
error variable, in tests as well.

```go
import (
	"errors"
	"time"
)

// ErrWonAndLost is returned by OpportunityMarks.Validate when both Won and
// Lost are set.
var ErrWonAndLost = errors.New("types: an opportunity cannot be both won and lost")

// Opportunity is a procurement opportunity ...
type Opportunity struct {
```

Not declared next to the type or function that returns it, partway down
the file.

### Ignoring an error

An error is never ignored with `_ = f()`. Instead, the call says why
with a `//nolint` directive naming only the linters that actually report
the line (`nolintlint` reports any that don't):

```go
json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(problem) //nolint:errcheck,gosec // the client may have gone
```

- Most calls need `errcheck,gosec`. `hash.Write` needs only `gosec`
  (errcheck excludes it); `fmt.Fprint*` needs only `errcheck` (gosec
  excludes it).
- A deferred call needs only `errcheck`, since gosec doesn't check
  deferred calls:

  ```go
  defer rows.Close() //nolint:errcheck // read only
  ```

- For a call spanning several lines, the directive goes on the first
  line, after the opening parenthesis:

  ```go
  tcpSocket.SetKeepAliveConfig(net.KeepAliveConfig{ //nolint:errcheck,gosec // best effort
  ```

  A linter that reports one argument rather than the call (such as
  `sloglint` on a message that isn't a constant) needs the directive on
  that argument's line instead. One that reports several lines of a
  statement, such as a table of test cases, takes the directive on a line
  of its own directly above the statement.

- A call whose error both linters already exclude (such as
  `crypto/rand.Read`, which never returns one) gets a plain comment
  rather than a directive, which would be reported as unused:

  ```go
  rand.Read(key) // crypto/rand.Read never returns an error
  ```

- A multi-value assignment such as `value, _ := f()` can't take a
  directive (errcheck doesn't check blank assignments, so the directive
  would be unused) and stays as it is. These are mostly cobra flag
  getters, which only fail for an undefined flag. Where ignoring the
  error is ambiguous or potentially dangerous in future, an explanation
  comment can be added.

### Errors that matter

When closing something can lose data (a file being written, a database
handle), its error is joined into the function's returned error with
`errors.Join`, through a named return.

### Named results

A function names its results only when it needs to:

- **A deferred function changes the error.** This is the only reason to
  name `err` for its own sake (see [Errors that matter](#errors-that-matter)).
- **The names say which result is which.** When several results share a
  type, naming them documents the order, as the Go Code Review Comments
  suggest: `func releaseIDs(raw json.RawMessage) (ocid, id string, err error)`.
  Go names all of a function's results or none, so `err` is named here too.

Otherwise results are unnamed. A function with named results:

- never uses a bare `return`: each `return` lists what it returns, so a
  reader doesn't have to track the named variables to know;
- where a deferred function changes `err`, assigns to it with `=`, never
  `:=`, in nested blocks. `err :=` there declares a new variable that
  shadows the result, and the error assigned to it never reaches the
  deferred `errors.Join`:

  ```go
  for i := range opportunity.Classifications {
  	err = statement.GetContext(ctx, &classification.ID, classification)
  	if err != nil {
  		return err
  	}
  }
  ```

### Other `//nolint` directives

Otherwise `//nolint` is only for false positives that the code can't
express, always with a reason. For example, a seeded `math/rand` in the
mock, or a gosec finding explained in the comment above it:

```go
// Secure is false only on plain HTTP (local development), where
// browsers refuse Secure cookies; HttpOnly and SameSite are always set.
http.SetCookie(w, &http.Cookie{ //nolint:gosec // G124: see above
```


## Logging

- Logging uses `log/slog`. A component (a type such as `Hub`, or a
  package-level entry point such as `fetcher.Run`) logs to `slog.Default()`
  unless it is given a logger with a `WithLogger` option, so callers that
  are happy with the default pass nothing, and tests can still capture or
  discard its output.
- The logger is given to the constructor (or entry point) as an option,
  never set afterwards: a setter called once goroutines are running would
  be a data race. Options follow the functional options pattern used by
  `store.Open`.
- With no logger given, the component looks up `slog.Default()` when it
  logs, not when it is created, so it follows `logging.Setup` and a test's
  `slog.SetDefault` even if it was created first.

  ```go
  // WithLogger makes the hub log to logger instead of slog.Default().
  func WithLogger(logger *slog.Logger) Option {
  	return func(h *Hub) {
  		h.log = logger
  	}
  }

  // logger returns the logger the hub logs to, tagged with its component.
  func (h *Hub) logger() *slog.Logger {
  	log := h.log
  	if log == nil {
  		log = slog.Default()
  	}
  	return log.With("component", "ws")
  }
  ```

  ```go
  hub := websocket.NewHub(conf.Server.WebSocket)                            // slog.Default()
  hub := websocket.NewHub(conf.Server.WebSocket, websocket.WithLogger(log)) // given logger
  ```

- Field keys are snake_case and name one thing each: `client`, `ip`,
  `request_id`, `retry_in`. Durations, sizes and counts are logged with
  the matching `slog` type, not as pre-formatted strings.
- A component tags its logger with `"component"` in one place (its
  `logger()` method, as above), whether the logger was given or is the
  default, rather than on every line.
- Messages are short lowercase phrases ("client connected", "tcp accept
  failed"); the details go in fields.


## Configuration

### Keys

Configuration keys (the `cfg` struct tags) are snake_case:
`max_message_size`, `connection_limit`. Viper lowercases every key it
reads, so a camelCase key such as `minVersion` is never loaded from a
config file or environment variable.

### Zero values

Every setting's doc comment (and its row in `internal/config/README.md`)
says what 0 or empty means, and the code treats it consistently:

- A timeout of 0 or less means **no limit**, and an interval of 0 or less
  means **off** (e.g. `ping_interval`), never "already expired". Where off
  makes no sense, or no limit is unsafe, the setting rejects 0 instead (a
  source's `interval`: a source is turned off with `enabled`;
  `server.timeouts.read_header`: a client could hold a connection open for
  ever). Code applies a timeout with a helper rather than
  `context.WithTimeout(ctx, 0)`:

  ```go
  writeCtx, cancel := util.WithTimeout(ctx, conf.WriteTimeout) // no deadline if 0 or less
  ```

  Where a library reads 0 as some other timeout (`http.Server`'s
  `IdleTimeout` uses `ReadTimeout`), the code passes it a negative timeout
  instead, which such libraries read as no limit.

- A size of 0 means **the default** (`max_message_size` of `0B` reads
  32KiB), and -1 means **no limit** (`util.ByteSizeNoLimit`); no other size
  may be negative. A setting for which no limit is unsafe rejects -1 in its
  validation and says why (`max_message_size` does: a client could exhaust
  the server's memory).
- An empty list means **none** (no trusted origins, no exempt paths), and
  is stored as `nil`.


## Tests

- Tests are table-driven where several cases share a check, with a name
  or input field identifying each case in failure messages.
- Helpers call `t.Helper()` first, and register their own teardown with
  `t.Cleanup` rather than returning a cleanup function.
- Tests that touch global state (Viper, `slog.Default`, the working
  directory, environment variables) don't call `t.Parallel()`, and reset
  what they change: `resetViper(t)`, `t.Chdir`, `t.Setenv`.
- Network tests listen on `127.0.0.1:0` and use the address they were
  given, never a fixed port.
- Short names are fine in tests (see [Naming](#naming)), and setup calls
  may ignore errors with a bare call (errcheck is off for tests).