Agent skill

Golang Grpc

by context-labs in context-labs/whip

gRPC usage, protobuf organization, and production patterns for Go microservices.

MITAuto-check passedBackend & APIs

Install Golang Grpc

skills CLI
$ npx skills add context-labs/whip --skill golang-grpc -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install context-labs/whip golang-grpc --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/context-labs/whip.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/golang-grpc .claude/skills/golang-grpc && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
golang-grpc
GitHub stars
1.1k
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~2.5k tokens
SKILL.md length
744 words
Files
4 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
40
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

gRPC usage, protobuf organization, and production patterns for Go microservices.

  • Debugging gRPC servers/clients
  • SKILL.md covers Quick Reference, Proto File Organization, Server Implementation and Client Implementation, plus 7 more sections
  • Calls go and brew
  • Writing proto files

What it does

Golang Grpc is an agent skill from context-labs/whip. gRPC usage, protobuf organization, and production patterns for Go microservices. Use when implementing, reviewing, or debugging gRPC servers/clients, writing proto files, setting up interceptors, handling gRPC errors with status codes, configuring TLS/mTLS, testing with bufconn, or streaming RPCs.

Its SKILL.md is about 2.5k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 5 other files, including reference files (for example `evals/evals.json`, `references/protoc-reference.md` and `references/testing.md`). Compatibility notes: Designed for Claude Code, Codex or similar harness, and for projects using Golang.

It sits in Backend & APIs, covering gRPC and Protobuf. It works with gRPC and Go. The repository describes itself as: A fast coding-agent harness in Go. Tool-use loop, bubbletea TUI, provider-routable models with live catalog discovery, MCP support, background subagents. One binary, no runtime… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Debugging gRPC servers/clients
  • Writing proto files
  • Setting up interceptors
  • Handling gRPC errors with status codes

Example prompts

  • “/golang-grpc”

Requirements

  • Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Designed for Claude Code, Codex or similar harness, and for projects using Golang.
  • Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Edit, Write, Glob, Grep, Bash(go:*), Bash(golangci-lint:*), Bash(git:*), Agent, WebFetch, mcp__context7__resolve-library-id, mcp__context7__query-docs, Bash(protoc:*), AskUserQuestion, Bash(godig:*), Bash(gopls:*), LSP, mcp__gopls__*

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 8876467. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

    • Read
    • Edit
    • Write
    • Glob
    • Grep
    • Bash(go:*)
    • Bash(golangci-lint:*)
    • Bash(git:*)
    • Agent
    • WebFetch

    …and 8 more on the same allowed-tools line.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • go
    • brew

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

  • Compatibility

    Designed for Claude Code, Codex or similar harness, and for projects using Golang.

    From compatibility in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

Context cost

Golang Grpc loads about 2.5k tokens when it runs, and up to ~5.4k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 78 tokens; SKILL.md has 744 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~78
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2.5k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~5.4k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from context-labs/whip at commit 8876467, republished under its MIT licence (© context-labs). 744 words, ~2,511 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/golang-grpc/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 3 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
golang-grpc
description
gRPC usage, protobuf organization, and production patterns for Go microservices. Use when implementing, reviewing, or debugging gRPC servers/clients, writing proto files, setting up interceptors, handling gRPC errors with status codes, configuring TLS/mTLS, testing with bufconn, or streaming RPCs.
allowed-tools
Read, Edit, Write, Glob, Grep, Bash(go:*), Bash(golangci-lint:*), Bash(git:*), Agent, WebFetch, mcp__context7__resolve-library-id, mcp__context7__query-docs, Bash(protoc:*), AskUserQuestion, Bash(godig:*), Bash(gopls:*), LSP, mcp__gopls__*
compatibility
Designed for Claude Code, Codex or similar harness, and for projects using Golang.
user-invocable
true
license
MIT
metadata.author
samber
metadata.version
1.2.0
paths
**/*.go

Persona: You are a Go distributed systems engineer. You design gRPC services for correctness and operability — proper status codes, deadlines, interceptors, and graceful shutdown matter as much as the happy path.

Modes:

  • Build mode — implementing a new gRPC server or client from scratch.
  • Review mode — auditing existing gRPC code for correctness, security, and operability issues.

Dependencies:

  • protoc: brew install protobuf
  • protoc-gen-go: go install google.golang.org/protobuf/cmd/protoc-gen-go@latest
  • protoc-gen-go-grpc: go install google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc@latest

Go gRPC Best Practices

Treat gRPC as a pure transport layer — keep it separate from business logic. The official Go implementation is google.golang.org/grpc.

This skill is not exhaustive. Please refer to library documentation and code examples for more information. For Go package docs, symbols, versions, importers, and known vulnerabilities, → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-pkg-go-dev skill (godig) — prefer it over Context7 for Go package facts. To navigate this library's usage in your own code (definitions, call sites, diagnostics), → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-gopls skill (gopls). Context7 remains a fallback for docs not indexed on pkg.go.dev.

Quick Reference

ConcernPackage / Tool
Service definitionprotoc or buf with .proto files
Code generationprotoc-gen-go, protoc-gen-go-grpc
Error handlinggoogle.golang.org/grpc/status with codes
Rich error detailsgoogle.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc/errdetails
Interceptorsgrpc.ChainUnaryInterceptor, grpc.ChainStreamInterceptor
Middleware ecosystemgithub.com/grpc-ecosystem/go-grpc-middleware
Testinggoogle.golang.org/grpc/test/bufconn
TLS / mTLSgoogle.golang.org/grpc/credentials
Health checksgoogle.golang.org/grpc/health

Proto File Organization

Organize by domain with versioned directories (proto/user/v1/). Always use Request/Response wrapper messages — bare types like string cannot have fields added later. Generate with buf generate or protoc.

Proto & code generation reference

Server Implementation

  • Implement health check service (grpc_health_v1) — Kubernetes probes need it to determine readiness
  • Use interceptors for cross-cutting concerns (logging, auth, recovery) — keeps business logic clean
  • Use GracefulStop() with a timeout fallback to Stop() — drains in-flight RPCs while preventing hangs
  • Disable reflection in production — it exposes your full API surface
go
srv := grpc.NewServer(
    grpc.ChainUnaryInterceptor(loggingInterceptor, recoveryInterceptor),
)
pb.RegisterUserServiceServer(srv, svc)
healthpb.RegisterHealthServer(srv, health.NewServer())

go srv.Serve(lis)

// On shutdown signal:
stopped := make(chan struct{})
go func() { srv.GracefulStop(); close(stopped) }()
select {
case <-stopped:
case <-time.After(15 * time.Second):
    srv.Stop()
}
Interceptor Pattern
go
func loggingInterceptor(ctx context.Context, req any, info *grpc.UnaryServerInfo, handler grpc.UnaryHandler) (any, error) {
    start := time.Now()
    resp, err := handler(ctx, req)
    log.Printf("method=%s duration=%s code=%s", info.FullMethod, time.Since(start), status.Code(err))
    return resp, err
}

Client Implementation

  • Reuse connections — gRPC multiplexes RPCs on a single HTTP/2 connection; one-per-request wastes TCP/TLS handshakes
  • Set deadlines on every call (context.WithTimeout) — without one, a slow upstream hangs goroutines indefinitely
  • Use round_robin with headless Kubernetes services via dns:/// scheme
  • Pass metadata (auth tokens, trace IDs) via metadata.NewOutgoingContext
go
conn, err := grpc.NewClient("dns:///user-service:50051",
    grpc.WithTransportCredentials(creds),
    grpc.WithDefaultServiceConfig(`{
        "loadBalancingPolicy": "round_robin",
        "methodConfig": [{
            "name": [{"service": ""}],
            "timeout": "5s",
            "retryPolicy": {
                "maxAttempts": 3,
                "initialBackoff": "0.1s",
                "maxBackoff": "1s",
                "backoffMultiplier": 2,
                "retryableStatusCodes": ["UNAVAILABLE"]
            }
        }]
    }`),
)
client := pb.NewUserServiceClient(conn)

Error Handling

Always return gRPC errors using status.Error with a specific code — a raw error becomes codes.Unknown, telling the client nothing actionable. Clients use codes to decide retry vs fail-fast vs degrade.

CodeWhen to Use
InvalidArgumentMalformed input (missing field, bad format)
NotFoundEntity does not exist
AlreadyExistsCreate failed, entity exists
PermissionDeniedCaller lacks permission
UnauthenticatedMissing or invalid token
FailedPreconditionSystem not in required state
ResourceExhaustedRate limit or quota exceeded
UnavailableTransient issue, safe to retry
InternalUnexpected bug
DeadlineExceededTimeout
go
// ✗ Bad — caller gets codes.Unknown, can't decide whether to retry
return nil, fmt.Errorf("user not found")

// ✓ Good — specific code lets clients act appropriately
if errors.Is(err, ErrNotFound) {
    return nil, status.Errorf(codes.NotFound, "user %q not found", req.UserId)
}
return nil, status.Errorf(codes.Internal, "lookup failed: %v", err)

For field-level validation errors, attach errdetails.BadRequest via status.WithDetails.

Streaming

PatternUse Case
Server streamingServer sends a sequence (log tailing, result sets)
Client streamingClient sends a sequence, server responds once (file upload, batch)
BidirectionalBoth send independently (chat, real-time sync)

Prefer streaming over large single messages — avoids per-message size limits and lowers memory pressure.

go
func (s *server) ListUsers(req *pb.ListUsersRequest, stream pb.UserService_ListUsersServer) error {
    for _, u := range users {
        if err := stream.Send(u); err != nil {
            return err
        }
    }
    return nil
}
Show full SKILL.md (275 more words)Show less

Testing

Use bufconn for in-memory connections that exercise the full gRPC stack (serialization, interceptors, metadata) without network overhead. Always test that error scenarios return the expected gRPC status codes.

Testing patterns and examples

Security

  • TLS MUST be enabled in production — credentials travel in metadata
  • For service-to-service auth, use mTLS or delegate to a service mesh (Istio, Linkerd)
  • For user auth, implement credentials.PerRPCCredentials and validate tokens in an auth interceptor
  • Reflection SHOULD be disabled in production to prevent API discovery

Performance

SettingPurposeTypical Value
keepalive.ServerParameters.TimePing interval for idle connections30s
keepalive.ServerParameters.TimeoutPing ack timeout10s
grpc.MaxRecvMsgSizeOverride 4 MB default for large payloads16 MB
Connection poolingMultiple conns for high-load streaming4 connections

Most services do not need connection pooling — profile before adding complexity.

Common Mistakes

MistakeFix
Returning raw errorBecomes codes.Unknown — client can't decide whether to retry. Use status.Errorf with a specific code
No deadline on client callsSlow upstream hangs indefinitely. Always context.WithTimeout
New connection per requestWastes TCP/TLS handshakes. Create once, reuse — HTTP/2 multiplexes RPCs
Reflection enabled in productionLets attackers enumerate every method. Enable only in dev/staging
codes.Internal for all errorsWrong codes break client retry logic. Unavailable triggers retry; InvalidArgument does not
Bare types as RPC argumentsCan't add fields to string. Wrapper messages allow backwards-compatible evolution
Missing health check serviceKubernetes can't determine readiness, kills pods during deployments
Ignoring context cancellationLong operations continue after caller gave up. Check ctx.Err()

Cross-References

  • → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-context skill for deadline and cancellation patterns
  • → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-error-handling skill for gRPC error to Go error mapping
  • → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-observability skill for gRPC interceptors (logging, tracing, metrics)
  • → See samber/cc-skills-golang@golang-testing skill for gRPC testing with bufconn

© context-labs, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 3 other files (references) in .agents/skills/golang-grpc of context-labs/whip.

  • SKILL.md
  • evals/evals.json
  • references/protoc-reference.md
  • references/testing.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 8876467

Used in 1 other repository

We found 1 copy of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in context-labs/whip, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

Golang Grpc next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Golang Grpc compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Golang Grpc this skillcontext-labs/whip1.1k1 repos~2.5kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Golang Proantoniopaya22/go-rest-template1723 repos~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Axone Proto Specificationaxone-protocol/axoned176—~828Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Grpc Golangsickn33/agentic-awesome-skills47k2 repos~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Golang Best Practiceskoolamusic/claudefiles130—~935Automated safety check: PassMIT
Use Yaakmountain-loop/yaak19k—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

Similar skills

  • Golang Pro

    antoniopaya22/go-rest-template

    Implements concurrent Go patterns using goroutines and channels, designs and builds microservices with gRPC or REST, optimizes Go application performance with pprof, and enforces idiomatic Go with…

    172 GitHub starsUsed in 3 repos~1.2k tokens
    Backend & APIsAuto-check passed
  • Axone Proto Specification

    axone-protocol/axoned

    Design and evolve protobuf APIs for this repository. An agent skill from axone-protocol/axoned.

    176 GitHub stars~828 tokensUpdated yesterday
    Backend & APIsAuto-check passed
  • Grpc Golang

    sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills

    Build production-ready gRPC services in Go with mTLS, streaming, and observability.

    47k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~1.1k tokens
    Backend & APIsAuto-check passed
  • Golang Best Practices

    koolamusic/claudefiles

    A skill your agent uses when building Go applications requiring concurrent programming, microservices architecture, or high-performance systems.

    130 GitHub stars~935 tokensUpdated today
    Backend & APIsAuto-check passed
  • Use Yaak

    mountain-loop/yaak

    A skill your agent uses when the user mentions Yaak, a Yaak workspace, or the yaak command, or asks to call, hit, or smoke test HTTP/REST endpoints, save or organize API requests for reuse or manual…

    19k GitHub stars~1.9k tokensUpdated 3 days ago
    Backend & APIsAuto-check passed
  • Debug Grpc Connection

    GetBindu/Bindu

    Diagnose gRPC connection issues between the Bindu core and a language SDK.

    10k GitHub stars~1.2k tokensUpdated 1 mo ago
    Backend & APIsAuto-check passed

More from context-labs/whip

All 40 skills in this repo
  • Golang Lint

    context-labs/whip

    Linting best practices and golangci-lint configuration for Go — running linters, configuring .golangci.yml, nolint suppressions, selecting linters.

    1.1k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~1.8k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Golang Project Layout

    context-labs/whip

    Golang project layouts and workspaces. An agent skill from context-labs/whip.

    1.1k GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~1.8k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Golang Pkg Go Dev

    context-labs/whip

    Golang package/module docs via godig, a pkg.go.dev API client (CLI + MCP) — APIs, symbols, versions, importers, licenses, vulnerabilities.

    1.1k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~3k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Golang Stretchr Testify

    context-labs/whip

    Golang testing with stretchr/testify — assert, require, mock, suite: assertions, mock expectations, argument matchers, suite lifecycle, Eventually, JSONEq.

    1.1k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~1.8k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • CI/CD with GitHub Actions for Golang — testing, linting, SAST, security scanning, coverage, Dependabot, Renovate, GoReleaser, release pipelines.

    1.1k GitHub stars~3.5k tokensUpdated 5 days ago
    Auto-check passed
  • Golang Data Structures

    context-labs/whip

    Golang data structures — slices/maps internals (capacity growth, preallocation, hash buckets), slices/maps packages, container/list/heap/ring, strings.Builder vs bytes.Buffer, generic collections…

    1.1k GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~2.6k tokens
    Auto-check passed

Works with

Categories

Questions about Golang Grpc

What does Golang Grpc do?

gRPC usage, protobuf organization, and production patterns for Go microservices. Golang Grpc is an agent skill from context-labs/whip. gRPC usage, protobuf organization, and production patterns for Go microservices.

When should I use Golang Grpc?

Golang Grpc fits situations like: debugging gRPC servers/clients; writing proto files; setting up interceptors; handling gRPC errors with status codes.

How do I install Golang Grpc in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add context-labs/whip --skill golang-grpc -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/golang-grpc in context-labs/whip) into .claude/skills/golang-grpc in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Golang Grpc in Codex?

Run `npx skills add context-labs/whip --skill golang-grpc -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/golang-grpc in context-labs/whip) into .agents/skills/golang-grpc in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Golang Grpc in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add context-labs/whip --skill golang-grpc -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/golang-grpc, .gemini/skills/golang-grpc, .github/skills/golang-grpc and .opencode/skills/golang-grpc in your project.

What does Golang Grpc need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Golang Grpc needs the command-line tools its instructions call (go and brew). Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Read, Edit, Write, Glob, Grep, Bash(go:*), Bash(golangci-lint:*), Bash(git:*), Agent, WebFetch, mcp__context7__resolve-library-id, mcp__context7__query-docs, Bash(protoc:*), AskUserQuestion, Bash(godig:*), Bash(gopls:*), LSP, mcp__gopls__*. Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Designed for Claude Code, Codex or similar harness, and for projects using Golang..

Does Golang Grpc access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Golang Grpc safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Golang Grpc use?

Golang Grpc is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Golang Grpc use?

About 2.5k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 10k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 2.9k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Golang Grpc?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Golang Grpc: Golang Pro (antoniopaya22/go-rest-template, 172 stars), Axone Proto Specification (axone-protocol/axoned, 176 stars), Grpc Golang (sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, 47k stars) and Golang Best Practices (koolamusic/claudefiles, 130 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Golang Grpc?

context-labs (a GitHub organization) maintains it in context-labs/whip, which has 1,083 GitHub stars. The repository holds 40 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 5, 2026.

Source: context-labs/whip on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.