Global Hooks

Some release cycles may need to run something before or after everything else.

GoReleaser allows this with the global hooks feature.

The before section allows for global hooks that will be executed before the release is started.

The configuration is straightforward, here is an example will all possible options:

.goreleaser.yaml

before:
  # Templates for the commands to be ran.
  hooks:
    - make clean
    - go generate ./...
    - go mod tidy
    - touch {{ .Env.FILE_TO_TOUCH }}

<div class="hx:w-full hx:min-w-0 hx:leading-7">
	<div class="hx:mt-6 hx:leading-7 hx:first:mt-0">
		This feature is exclusively available with
		<a href="/pro/">GoReleaser Pro</a>.
	</div>
</div>

The before section allows for global hooks that will be executed before the release is started. Likewise, the after section allows for global hooks that will be executed after the release is started.

The configuration is straightforward, here is an example will all possible options:

.goreleaser.yaml

# global before hooks
before:
  # Commands to be ran.
  #
  # Templates: allowed.
  hooks:
    - make clean # simple string
    - cmd: "go generate ./..." # specify cmd
    - cmd: "go mod tidy"
      # Always prints command output.
      output: true
      # Specify directory.
      dir: ./submodule # specify command working directory
    - cmd: "touch {{ .Env.FILE_TO_TOUCH }}"
      # Specify extra environment variables.
      env:
        - "FILE_TO_TOUCH=something-{{ .ProjectName }}" # specify hook level environment variables
    - cmd: "dotnet tool install --global wix"
      # Make the hook optional:
      # <a href="/blog/goreleaser-v2.7"
	title="Since v2.7"
	target="_blank"
	rel="noopener noreferrer"
	class="not-prose hx:inline-flex hx:align-middle hx:no-underline hover:hx:no-underline"><div class="hextra-badge ">
  <div class="hx:inline-flex hx:gap-1 hx:items-center hx:rounded-full hx:px-2.5 hx:leading-6 hx:text-[.65rem] hx:border hx:border-indigo-200 hx:bg-indigo-100 hx:text-indigo-900 hx:dark:border-indigo-200/30 hx:dark:bg-indigo-900/30 hx:dark:text-indigo-200"><svg height=12 xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 24 24" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" aria-hidden="true"><path stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M5.636 18.364a9 9 0 010-12.728m12.728 0a9 9 0 010 12.728m-9.9-2.829a5 5 0 010-7.07m7.072 0a5 5 0 010 7.07M13 12a1 1 0 11-2 0 1 1 0 012 0z"/></svg>Since v2.7</div>
</div></a>
      if: '{{ eq .Runtime.Goos "windows" }}'

# global after hooks
after:
  # Commands to be ran.
  #
  # Templates: allowed.
  hooks:
    - make clean
    - cmd: cat *.yaml
      dir: ./submodule
    - cmd: touch {{ .Env.RELEASE_DONE }}
      env:
        - "RELEASE_DONE=something-{{ .ProjectName }}" # specify hook level environment variables
    - cmd: "rm -rf ./something"
      if: '{{ eq .Runtime.Goos "linux" }}'

Note that if any of the hooks fails the release process is aborted.

Complex commands

If you need to do anything more complex, it is recommended to create a shell script and call it instead. You can also go crazy with sh -c "my commands", but it gets ugly really fast.

Learn more about the template language.

Last updated on March 22, 2026

Environment Variables Git