Add Cobra Version

Add Cobra Version

Add a version subcommand with full build metadata to an existing Cobra-based Go CLI.

Type: Skill Trigger: /add-cobra-version

Installation

See the marketplace install instructions.

What It Does

Generates a cmd/version.go and coordinates the matching ldflags wiring across main.go, cmd/root.go, .goreleaser.yml, and the Makefile so a Cobra CLI can report:

• Version (from git tag, falling back to "dev")
• Commit hash (short)
• Build date (UTC, ISO 8601)
• Go runtime version (from runtime.Version())

Output is human-readable by default with an optional --json flag for scripts. Cobra's built-in --version flag continues to work and reports the same version string.

Usage

/add-cobra-version

The skill detects the project's existing version wiring (basic var version only versus full version/commit/date) and then:

• Adds cmd/version.go (skips or asks before overwriting if one already exists).
• Adds package-level commit and date variables to cmd/root.go alongside version, exposing a SetVersionInfo(v, c, d string) helper. If only SetVersion exists, it is replaced.
• Detects the root command variable in package cmd and uses that identifier when registering the generated version subcommand.
• Adds commit and date package-level vars to main.go and updates the call to cmd.SetVersionInfo.
• Extends GoReleaser ldflags to include -X main.commit={{.ShortCommit}} and -X main.date={{.Date}}.
• Extends the Makefile LDFLAGS to include matching -X entries plus COMMIT and DATE variables.

Examples

• "add a version subcommand to this CLI": detects state and wires everything up
• "wire up version, commit, and date ldflags": same behavior
• "add --json to the version command": same behavior, ensures the --json flag is present

See Also

• Scaffold Go CLI: scaffolding a brand-new Go CLI (starts with the basic version variable).
• Add GoReleaser Homebrew: adding GoReleaser and the release workflow when those are missing too.
• All plugins