goutils

README

goutils

Collection of GoLang Utilities for Windows, Linux and macOS.

Packages

Package	Description
clipboard	Cross-platform clipboard read/write
color	Cross-platform console text coloring
keyboard	Cross-platform keyboard key press simulation
prutils	Console utilities (input validation, random, title, rect)

Requirements

• Go 1.26 or later
• Windows: no extra tools needed
• macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools (for CGo in keyboard package)
• Linux: xsel, xclip, or wl-clipboard (for clipboard); kernel uinput module (for keyboard)

Installation

go get github.com/PrabhakarRai/goutils

Cross-Compilation & CGo

Important: The keyboard package uses CGo on Linux and macOS. This has implications for cross-compilation.

What is CGo?

CGo allows Go packages to call C code. The keyboard package on Linux uses linux/uinput.h and on macOS uses the Cocoa framework via Objective-C. This means:

• A C compiler (gcc / clang) must be available when building.
• Cross-compiling from one OS to another does not work by default for the keyboard package.

Cross-Compilation Instructions

Windows (pure Go — no CGo)

The keyboard package on Windows is pure Go. You can cross-compile to Windows from any OS:

GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 CGO_ENABLED=0 go build ./...

Linux → Linux (same arch)

Standard build — CGo is enabled by default:

go build ./...

Linux → macOS / macOS → Linux

Cross-compiling with CGo requires a cross-toolchain. Options:

1. Use Docker: Build inside a container matching the target OS.
2. Disable the keyboard package: If you don't need keyboard, you can exclude it:

   go build $(go list ./... | grep -v keyboard)
   

3. Use CGO_ENABLED=0: Only works if your code does not import the keyboard package.

macOS builds (CGo required)

Ensure Xcode Command Line Tools are installed:

xcode-select --install

Then build normally:

go build ./...

Linux uinput Setup

The keyboard package on Linux requires the uinput kernel module and write access:

# Load the uinput module (once per boot)
sudo modprobe uinput

# Grant write access (adjust as needed for your distro)
sudo chmod +0666 /dev/uinput

go vet Note

The clipboard/clipboard_windows.go file contains intentional unsafe.Pointer conversions required for the Windows Clipboard API (GlobalLock). These trigger the unsafeptr go vet analyzer. To run vet without this false-positive:

go vet -unsafeptr=false ./...

All other vet checks pass cleanly.

License

See LICENSE.