go-context

Prevent goroutine leaks in Go services by correctly using context.Context to propagate cancellation signals to child operations. Ensure functions accept context as the first parameter and always defer cancel functions to release resources when operations complete or timeout.

Use context timeouts and deadlines in Go HTTP handlers by calling r.Context() and applying WithTimeout or WithDeadline. Allocate timeout budgets for child operations like database queries to ensure they cancel properly and prevent orphaned work.

Pass request-scoped values in Go context by using unexported key types paired with accessor functions. This prevents key collisions and ensures safe retrieval of values like request IDs when propagating context through middleware and handlers.

context.Context should be the first parameter in Go functions to standardize context propagation and ensure cancellation signals reach all operations. Storing context in structs is discouraged because it leads to improper cancellation and unclear lifetimes.

Yes, this Go context guidance applies to background workers and tests. It ensures background workers respect cancellation to prevent leaks, while tests can verify proper context propagation, timeout enforcement, and cancellation behavior across services and libraries.

Improper cancellation in Go programs commonly stems from not deferring cancel functions, storing context fields in structs, or ignoring ctx.Err(). Checking ctx.Err() and correctly applying WithTimeout prevents subtle production failures from deadline mismanagement.