`gopls` not found if `GOBIN` not defined in environment

[carlosonunez]

What did you do? (required: The issue will be closed when not provided)

1. Install asdf through Homebrew on MacOS and added the golang extension to manage Go versions

brew install asdf
asdf plugin add golang

NOTE: I did not add . ${ASDF_DATA_DIR:-$HOME/.asdf}/plugins/golang/set-env.bash to my bashrc as directed, as I build with Golang in Docker or Podman almost exclusively and only install it for vim-go to work.

2. Create a .tool-versions in my $HOME that installs Golang 1.26.5 by default:

cat >$HOME/.tool-versions <<-EOF
golang 1.26.5

3. Run asdf install to install Golang.

4. Clone a Git project that has a .tool-versions file like the below, then cd'ed into that directory:

golang 1.21.1

4. Open vim and installed :GoInstallBinaries as directed.

5. Confirmed that vim-go binaries install into $(go env GOBIN).

What did you expect to happen?

gopls loads when a .go file is opened.

What happened instead?

could not find 'gopls'. Run :GoInstallBinaries to fix it

Configuration (MUST fill this out):

vim-go version:

v1.29

vimrc you used to reproduce:

vimrc

execute pathogen#infect()
" Golang specific: Lint, test, and vet on save
let g:go_jump_to_error = 0
let g:go_metalinter_autosave = 1
let g:go_metalinter_autosave_enabled = ['bugs', 'error', 'complexity', 'metalinter', 'style']
let g:go_fmt_fail_silently = 0
let g:go_search_bin_path_first = 1

Vim version (first three lines from :version):

VIM - Vi IMproved 9.2 (2026 Feb 14, compiled Jun 28 2026 19:48:02)
macOS version - arm64
Included patches: 1-750

Go version (go version):

go version go1.26.5 darwin/arm64

Go environment

go env Output:

AR='ar'
CC='clang'
CGO_CFLAGS='-O2 -g'
CGO_CPPFLAGS=''
CGO_CXXFLAGS='-O2 -g'
CGO_ENABLED='1'
CGO_FFLAGS='-O2 -g'
CGO_LDFLAGS='-O2 -g'
CXX='clang++'
GCCGO='gccgo'
GO111MODULE=''
GOARCH='arm64'
GOARM64='v8.0'
GOAUTH='netrc'
GOBIN='/Users/cn/.asdf/installs/golang/1.26.5/bin'
GOCACHE='/Users/cn/Library/Caches/go-build'
GOCACHEPROG=''
GODEBUG=''
GOENV='/Users/cn/Library/Application Support/go/env'
GOEXE=''
GOEXPERIMENT=''
GOFIPS140='off'
GOFLAGS=''
GOGCCFLAGS='-fPIC -arch arm64 -pthread -fno-caret-diagnostics -Qunused-arguments -fmessage-length=0 -ffile-prefix-map=/var/folders/40/fq2dtqdx3ks9s0x7z_zd0d9h0000gn/T/go-build902282508=/tmp/go-build -gno-record-gcc-switches -fno-common'
GOHOSTARCH='arm64'
GOHOSTOS='darwin'
GOINSECURE=''
GOMOD='/Users/cn/src/expenses-processor/go.mod'
GOMODCACHE='/Users/cn/.asdf/installs/golang/1.26.5/packages/pkg/mod'
GONOPROXY=''
GONOSUMDB=''
GOOS='darwin'
GOPATH='/Users/cn/.asdf/installs/golang/1.26.5/packages'
GOPRIVATE=''
GOPROXY='https://proxy.golang.org,direct'
GOROOT='/Users/cn/.asdf/installs/golang/1.26.5/go'
GOSUMDB='sum.golang.org'
GOTELEMETRY='local'
GOTELEMETRYDIR='/Users/cn/Library/Application Support/go/telemetry'
GOTMPDIR=''
GOTOOLCHAIN='auto'
GOTOOLDIR='/Users/cn/.asdf/installs/golang/1.26.5/go/pkg/tool/darwin_arm64'
GOVCS=''
GOVERSION='go1.26.5'
GOWORK=''
PKG_CONFIG='pkg-config'

gopls version

gopls version Output:

golang.org/x/tools/gopls v0.23.0

[bhcleek]

This needs reproduction steps if it is to remain open.

[carlosonunez]

ack; will add tomorrow. thanks!On Aug 3, 2026, at 14:35, Billie Cleek ***@***.***> wrote:bhcleek left a comment (fatih/vim-go#3753) This needs reproduction steps if it is to remain open. —Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS and Android. Download it today! You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[carlosonunez]

Repro steps added. Thanks, @bhcleek!

[xiote-dev]

Same root cause here, reproducible on Go 1.27 without asdf.

Root cause — autoload/go/path.vim, go#path#BinPath() (line 83 on master, v1.29 and v1.26):

let l:bin_path = go#util#env('gobin')   " output of `go env GOBIN`
if l:bin_path isnot ''
  let l:bin_path = $GOBIN               " <- overwrites it with the env var, which may be unset in Vim

Whenever go env GOBIN is non-empty but $GOBIN is not exported to Vim, BinPath() returns ''. :GoInstallBinaries then prints Installing ... to folder  (empty) and prepends nothing to $PATH; the install itself
still succeeds (Go falls back to its own default, which is why the binaries show up in $(go env GOBIN)), but go#path#CheckBinPath() fails with could not find 'gopls' unless the tools already happen to be on
$PATH.

Why this is now hitting more people — in the report above, asdf-golang's bin/exec-env exports GOBIN only for the go process launched through the shim, so go env GOBIN is set while $GOBIN is empty in Vim. Since
Go 1.27, no version manager is needed: go env GOBIN now prints the effective default ($GOPATH/bin) even when GOBIN is unset (golang/go#23439, CL 778560, merged 2026-05-25). So on Go 1.27 every user who has not
set g:go_bin_path, has not exported GOBIN, and does not have $GOPATH/bin on PATH gets this.

Repro (Go 1.27.0, $GOBIN unset, $GOPATH/bin not on PATH, vim-go master bd1fcfe):

$ go env GOBIN
/Users/me/go/bin
$ vim -c 'echo string(go#path#BinPath())'            # -> ''
$ vim -c 'echo string(go#path#CheckBinPath("gopls"))' # -> could not find 'gopls'. Run :GoInstallBinaries to fix it

Fix — drop the let l:bin_path = $GOBIN line: l:bin_path already holds the value from go env GOBIN, which is where Go actually installs to (and already reflects $GOBIN when it is exported). Verified on master:
with that one-line change BinPath() returns /Users/me/go/bin, CheckBinPath("gopls") resolves without touching PATH, and an exported GOBIN is still honored.

Workaround until then: let g:go_bin_path = expand('~/go/bin'), or add $(go env GOBIN) to PATH. 

---
Analysis and this comment were drafted with Claude Fable 5 (Anthropic); the repro and the fix were verified on my machine.

[bhcleek]

@xiote-dev thank you for reporting. That's a different issue. I'll break that out into a separate report.

[carlosonunez]

Not a separate issue.

[bhcleek]

@carlosonunez your reproduction steps required asdf and Go 1.26. What @xiote-dev described is new as of Go 1.27 due to changes in how go env GOBIN functions and does not require any kind of asdf usage. While they are superficially the same, the particulars are different and I'm pretty sure that the fix for what @xiote-dev reported here will not solve your use case with asdf.

[bhcleek]

I created and merged #3755 to resolve what you reported @xiote-dev.

@carlosonunez it will likely solve the problem you reported, too, but there may be edge cases where the behavior is not exactly what one would one want with asdf, and in particular there will be cases that won't behave as you desire if I'm reading your last two comments on #3752 correctly.

[carlosonunez]

This will solve my problem given that what @xiote-dev encountered was the same as what I hit if you put asdf aside (GOBIN not defined in vim's environment but is available via go env gobin). Cheers