chore: Use go 1.24's 'go tool' support for CLI tooling (#1843)

Co-authored-by: maru <maru.newby@avalabs.org>

Author: alarso16

.github/CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -34,22 +34,22 @@ Mocks are auto-generated using [mockgen](https://pkg.go.dev/go.uber.org/mock/moc
 - To **re-generate all mocks**, use the command below from the root of the project:
 
     ```sh
-    go generate -run "go.uber.org/mock/mockgen" ./...
+    go generate -run mockgen ./...
     ```
 
-- To **add** an interface that needs a corresponding mock generated:
-  - if the file `mocks_generate_test.go` exists in the package where the interface is located, either:
-    - modify its `//go:generate go run go.uber.org/mock/mockgen` to generate a mock for your interface (preferred); or
-    - add another `//go:generate go run go.uber.org/mock/mockgen` to generate a mock for your interface according to specific mock generation settings
-  - if the file `mocks_generate_test.go` does not exist in the package where the interface is located, create it with content (adapt as needed):
+* To **add** an interface that needs a corresponding mock generated:
+  * if the file `mocks_generate_test.go` exists in the package where the interface is located, either:
+    * modify its `//go:generate go tool -modfile=tools/go.mod mockgen` to generate a mock for your interface (preferred); or
+    * add another `//go:generate go tool -modfile=tools/go.mod mockgen` to generate a mock for your interface according to specific mock generation settings
+  * if the file `mocks_generate_test.go` does not exist in the package where the interface is located, create it with content (adapt as needed):
 
     ```go
     // Copyright (C) 2019-2025, Ava Labs, Inc. All rights reserved.
     // See the file LICENSE for licensing terms.
 
     package mypackage
 
-    //go:generate go run go.uber.org/mock/mockgen -package=${GOPACKAGE} -destination=mocks_test.go . YourInterface
+    //go:generate go tool -modfile=tools/go.mod mockgen -package=${GOPACKAGE} -destination=mocks_test.go . YourInterface
     ```
 
     Notes:
@@ -58,22 +58,28 @@ Mocks are auto-generated using [mockgen](https://pkg.go.dev/go.uber.org/mock/moc
 - To **remove** an interface from having a corresponding mock generated:
   1. Edit the `mocks_generate_test.go` file in the directory where the interface is defined
   1. If the `//go:generate` mockgen command line:
-      - generates a mock file for multiple interfaces, remove your interface from the line
-      - generates a mock file only for the interface, remove the entire line. If the file is empty, remove `mocks_generate_test.go` as well.
+      * generates a mock file for multiple interfaces, remove your interface from the line
+      * generates a mock file only for the interface, remove the entire line. If the file is empty, remove `mocks_generate_test.go` as well.
 
-## Documentation guidelines
+## Tool Dependencies
 
-- Code should be well commented, so it is easier to read and maintain.
- Any complex sections or invariants should be documented explicitly.
-- Code must be documented adhering to the official Go
-  [commentary](https://go.dev/doc/effective_go#commentary) guidelines.
-- Changes with user facing impact (e.g., addition or modification of flags and
- options) should be accompanied by a link to a pull request to the [avalanche-docs](https://github.com/ava-labs/avalanche-docs)
- repository. [example](https://github.com/ava-labs/avalanche-docs/pull/1119/files).
-- Changes that modify a package significantly or add new features should
- either update the existing or include a new `README.md` file in that package.
+This project uses `go tool` to manage development tool dependencies in `tools/go.mod`. This isolates tool dependencies from the main application dependencies and provides consistent, version-locked tools across the team.
 
-## Can I have feature X
+### Managing Tools
 
-Before you submit a feature request, please check and make sure that it isn't
-possible through some other means.
+* To **add a new tool**:
+  ```sh
+  go get -tool -modfile=tools/go.mod example.com/tool/cmd/toolname@version
+  ```
+
+* To **upgrade a tool**:
+  ```sh
+  go get -tool -modfile=tools/go.mod example.com/tool/cmd/toolname@newversion
+  ```
+
+* To **run a tool manually**:
+  ```sh
+  go tool -modfile=tools/go.mod toolname [args...]
+  ```
+
+Note: `ginkgo` remains in the main `go.mod` as it is used directly in e2e test code.

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
           go-version-file: "go.mod"
+          cache-dependency-path: |
+            go.sum
+            tools/go.sum
+            tools/legacy-golangci-lint.sum
       - name: Run all lint checks
         run: ./scripts/run_task.sh lint-all-ci
       - name: Check go.mod and go.sum are up-to-date
@@ -40,6 +44,9 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
           go-version-file: "go.mod"
+          cache-dependency-path: |
+            go.sum
+            tools/go.sum
       - run: go mod download
       - name: Check generated codec files are up to date
         run: ./scripts/run_task.sh check-generate-codec
@@ -60,10 +67,6 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
           submodules: recursive
-      - name: Set up Go
-        uses: actions/setup-go@v5
-        with:
-          go-version-file: "go.mod"
       - name: Set up solc
         uses: ARR4N/setup-solc@v0.2.0
         with:

Taskfile.yml

@@ -67,10 +67,14 @@ tasks:
       - task: check-clean-branch
 
   check-go-mod-tidy:
-    desc: Checks that go.mod and go.sum are up-to-date (requires a clean git working tree)
+    desc: Checks that all go.mod and go.sum files are up-to-date (requires a clean git working tree)
     cmds:
       - cmd: go mod tidy
       - task: check-clean-branch
+      - cmd: cd tools && go mod tidy
+      - task: check-clean-branch
+      - cmd: cd tools && go mod tidy -modfile=legacy-golangci-lint.mod
+      - task: check-clean-branch
 
   coverage:
     desc: Display test coverage statistics from coverage.out file
@@ -80,19 +84,19 @@ tasks:
     desc: Generates fjl/gencodec files
     cmds:
       - cmd: grep -lr -E '^// Code generated by github\.com\/fjl\/gencodec\. DO NOT EDIT\.$' . | xargs -r rm
-      - cmd: go generate -run "github.com/fjl/gencodec" ./...
+      - cmd: go generate -run gencodec ./...
 
   generate-mocks:
     desc: Generates testing mocks
     cmds:
       - cmd: grep -lr -E '^// Code generated by MockGen\. DO NOT EDIT\.$' . | xargs -r rm
-      - cmd: go generate -run "go.uber.org/mock/mockgen" ./...
-  
+      - cmd: go generate -run mockgen ./...
+
   generate-rlp:
     desc: Generates rlp files
     cmds:
       - cmd: grep -lr -E '^// Code generated by rlpgen\. DO NOT EDIT.\.$' . | xargs -r rm
-      - cmd: go generate -run "github.com/ava-labs/libevm/rlp/rlpgen" ./...
+      - cmd: go generate -run rlpgen ./...
 
   install-avalanchego-release:
     desc: Download and install AvalancheGo release binary for testing, with fallback to building from source

bin/ginkgo

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../scripts/run_ginkgo.sh

bin/ginkgo

@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/holiman/uint256"
 )
 
-//go:generate go run github.com/fjl/gencodec -type Genesis -field-override genesisSpecMarshaling -out gen_genesis.go
+//go:generate go tool -modfile=../tools/go.mod gencodec -type Genesis -field-override genesisSpecMarshaling -out gen_genesis.go
 
 var errGenesisNoConfig = errors.New("genesis has no chain configuration")
 

core/genesis.go

@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ func NewDefaultConfig() Config {
 	}
 }
 
-//go:generate go run github.com/fjl/gencodec -type Config -formats toml -out gen_config.go
+//go:generate go tool -modfile=../../tools/go.mod gencodec -type Config -formats toml -out gen_config.go
 
 // Config contains configuration options for ETH and LES protocols.
 type Config struct {

eth/ethconfig/config.go

@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 module github.com/ava-labs/subnet-evm
 
+// CLI tools intended for invocation with `go tool` should be added to
+// tools/go.mod to avoid polluting the main module's dependencies. See
+// CONTRIBUTING.md for more details.
+
+// - Changes to the minimum golang version must also be replicated in:
+//   - go.mod (here)
+//   - tools/go.mod
+//   - tools/legacy-golangci-lint.mod
+//
+// - If updating between minor versions (e.g. 1.24.x -> 1.25.x):
+//   - Consider updating the version of golangci-lint (see tools/go.mod)
 go 1.24.9
 
 require (
@@ -189,3 +200,10 @@ require (
 	sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4 v4.4.1 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.3.0 // indirect
 )
+
+// The following tools are managed here instead of in tools/go.mod
+// because they are already direct dependencies of the main module.
+tool (
+	github.com/ava-labs/libevm/rlp/rlpgen
+	github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2/ginkgo
+)

go.mod

@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 package ethapi
 
-//go:generate go run go.uber.org/mock/mockgen -package=$GOPACKAGE -destination=mocks_test.go . Backend
+//go:generate go tool -modfile=../../tools/go.mod mockgen -package=$GOPACKAGE -destination=mocks_test.go . Backend

internal/ethapi/mocks_generate_test.go

@@ -178,8 +178,8 @@ func (h *HeaderSerializable) updateToExtras(extras *HeaderExtra) {
 // NOTE: both generators currently do not support type aliases.
 // We are using custom versions of these programs for now to support type aliases,
 // see https://github.com/ava-labs/coreth/pull/746#discussion_r1969673252
-//go:generate go run github.com/fjl/gencodec -type HeaderSerializable -field-override headerMarshaling -out gen_header_serializable_json.go
-//go:generate go run github.com/ava-labs/libevm/rlp/rlpgen -type HeaderSerializable -out gen_header_serializable_rlp.go
+//go:generate go tool -modfile=../../../tools/go.mod gencodec -type HeaderSerializable -field-override headerMarshaling -out gen_header_serializable_json.go
+//go:generate go tool rlpgen -type HeaderSerializable -out gen_header_serializable_rlp.go
 
 // HeaderSerializable defines the header of a block in the Ethereum blockchain,
 // as it is to be serialized into RLP and JSON. Note it must be exported so that