Reference: the version number

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# Reference: the version number

> Neutral description of where the version Turbo Golo reports comes from, and what each way of building it produces.

## Where the number comes from

Three sources, consulted in this order. The first that answers wins.

| Order | Source | Set by |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Linker stamps | `make build`, `make install`, `scripts/install.sh`, `03-build-releases.sh` |
| 2 | Go build information | The Go tool, automatically |
| 3 | `unknown` | Nothing — the value reported when no source could name the build |

There is **no version constant in the source**. A number written into a `.go` file has to be edited as part of releasing, and is wrong the moment someone forgets.

## Linker stamps

Three package-level variables in turbo-core's `version` package — the library every Turbo editor shares, so the paths name `turbo-core`, not this repository — set with `-ldflags -X`.

| Variable | Filled from | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `stamp` | `git describe --tags --dirty` | `v0.1.0-14-g88a4c38` |
| `commit` | `git rev-parse --short HEAD` | `88a4c38` |
| `built` | `date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ` | `2026-09-14T18:04:05Z` |

```sh
go build -ldflags "\
  -X 'rickub.com/turbo-editors/turbo-core/version.stamp=v0.1.0' \
  -X 'rickub.com/turbo-editors/turbo-core/version.commit=88a4c38' \
  -X 'rickub.com/turbo-editors/turbo-core/version.built=2026-09-14T18:04:05Z'" .
```

A leading `v` is dropped for display: the tag is `v0.1.0`, the About box says `0.1.0`.

## Go build information

Read from `runtime/debug.ReadBuildInfo()` when nothing was stamped.

| Field read | Used for |
| --- | --- |
| `Main.Version` | The number, unless it is empty, `(devel)`, or a pseudo-version |
| `vcs.revision` | The commit, abbreviated to seven characters |
| `vcs.modified` | Whether `-dirty` is appended |

`vcs.time` is **not** used. It records when the commit was made, not when the binary was linked, so reporting it as a build date would be wrong on every binary built later than its own commit.

A **pseudo-version** — `v0.0.0-20260914120000-0123456789ab` for a module with no tag yet, `v0.1.1-0.20260914120000-0123456789ab` for a commit after one — is the Go tool naming a commit that no tag names. It is reported as `devel`, not shown as written: its `0.1.1` is a patch release that does not exist.

## What each build reports

| Built by | Number | Commit | Built |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `make build`, `make install`, `scripts/install.sh` | `0.1.0-14-g88a4c38` | yes | yes |
| The same, on a tagged commit | `0.1.0` | yes | yes |
| The same, with uncommitted changes | `0.1.0-14-g88a4c38-dirty` | yes | yes |
| The same, in a checkout with no tag at all | `devel` | yes | yes |
| `03-build-releases.sh` | the `TAG` in `release.env`, whatever `git describe` says | yes | yes |
| `go install rickub.com/turbo-editors/turbo-golo@v0.1.0` | `0.1.0` | no | no |
| `go install rickub.com/turbo-editors/turbo-golo@latest`, before any tag exists | `devel` | no | no |
| `go build .` in a checkout | `devel` | yes | no |
| `go build .` in a checkout with uncommitted changes | `devel-dirty` | yes | no |
| `go run .` | `unknown` | no | no |
| A checkout with no git, and no stamps | `unknown` | no | no |

Only the stamped rows can report a tag: the Go build system does not read git tags. Until Turbo Golo's first tag exists, `git describe` answers nothing and the Makefile stamps `devel` — a stamped `devel` still carries the commit and the build date.

## Checked at build time

A linker stamp is a string, and a wrong one is not an error. `-X` naming a symbol that does not exist links happily and stamps nothing; the binary then falls back to Go build information and reports a version the build never meant — often `devel`, on a binary attached to a release. Nothing but running the binary catches it, so every build that produces one runs it.

`scripts/check-version.sh` is what runs.

| Called by | On | A failure fails |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `make build` | `bin/turbo-golo`, with `$(VERSION)` and `$(COMMIT)` | the build |
| `scripts/install.sh` | the staged binary, **before** it is installed | the install, leaving the binary already there untouched |
| `03-build-releases.sh` | the one staged asset this machine can run, with the tag | the release build |

```sh
scripts/check-version.sh bin/turbo-golo v0.1.0 88a4c38   # a stamped build
scripts/check-version.sh bin/turbo-golo                  # nothing to expect
```

| Arguments | Passes when |
| --- | --- |
| binary, version, commit | the reported number **equals** the version with its leading `v` dropped, and the commit appears in the output |
| binary, version | the number equals it |
| binary | the number is anything but `unknown` |

The version comparison is an equality, not a search. `0.1.0` is a substring of `10.1.0`, and of a commit hash that happens to contain it; a stamp that is nearly right is exactly what this exists to catch.

| Exit | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `0` | The binary reports what the build meant. The line it printed is echoed. |
| `1` | It does not run, is not there, or reports something else. |
| `2` | No binary was named. |

## Where it is shown

### `-version`

One line, carrying every part that is known.

```
Turbo Golo 0.1.0 (88a4c38, built 2026-09-14T18:04:05Z)
Turbo Golo 0.1.0 (88a4c38)
Turbo Golo 0.1.0
```

### Help ▸ About

One line per known fact. A fact the build did not record has **no line**, rather than an empty one.

```
Turbo Golo 0.1.0

A Turbo C-style editor for Golo,
written in Go.

Commit: 88a4c38
Built:  2026-09-14 18:04 UTC
Theme:  Turbo Classic
```

`Built` is rendered in UTC as `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM UTC`. A stamp that is not valid RFC 3339 is shown exactly as it was given, rather than dropped.

### `make version`

Prints what this checkout would stamp, without building.

```
$ make version
v0.1.0-14-g88a4c38 (88a4c38)
```

### `make ldflags`

Prints the linker flags a stamped build uses, so a script can reuse them instead of repeating the `-X` paths.

```
$ make ldflags
-X 'rickub.com/turbo-editors/turbo-core/version.stamp=v0.1.0' -X '….commit=7f8b36a' -X '….built=2026-09-14T19:02:03Z'
```

`03-build-releases.sh` reads it for its cross-compiles, overriding the version with the tag it is releasing — `make ldflags VERSION=v0.1.0` — so the binaries say what the release says rather than what `git describe` says. A binary cross-compiled without it reports `devel`, whatever the release it is attached to says.

## See also

- Cutting a release so the number is right: [How to make a release](../how-to/make-a-release.md)
- What `-version` is **not** for: it is written for a person. A script that needs the number should compare with `grep -F`, or ask git, rather than reading a field out of it.
- Why there is no version constant: [Design decisions](../explanation/design-decisions.md#the-version-is-a-property-of-the-build-not-of-the-source)
- The `-version` flag among the others: [Command line](cli.md)