Using a local copy of a module

Sometimes, you will work on multiple modules, or you download a module from a repository, make some changes to it, and then want to use the changed version instead of the version available on the repository.

How to do it...

Use the replace directive in go.mod to point to the local directory containing a module.

Let’s return to our example – suppose you want to make some changes to the sqlite package:

1. Clone it:

   $ ls
     webform
   $ git clone [email protected]:cznic/sqlite.git
   $ ls
     sqlite
     webform

2. Modify the go.mod file under your project to point to the local copy of the module. go.mod becomes the following:

   module github.com/PacktPublishing/Go-Recipes-for-Developers/chapter1/webform
   go 1.22.1
   replace modernc.org/sqlite => ../sqlite
   require (
       github.com/gorilla/mux v1.8.1
       modernc.org/sqlite v1.27.0
   )
   ...

3. You can now make changes in the sqlite module on your system, and those changes will be built into your application.