Read 2026-11-07
micro/go-micro: technical due diligence, read from its repository
What Borehole read in micro/go-micro's code and history at f7e76c1: its licence, security advisories, releases, review practice, tests, dependencies and operations. Every finding cites the file and line it rests on. The full report also covers the team and asks the questions the code cannot answer.
| Dimension | Rating |
|---|---|
| Architecture & Codebase — including AI provenance | adequate |
| Engineering Process & SDLC Maturity | strong |
| Product & Engineering Maturity | strong |
| Security & Reliability Posture | adequate |
| Observability & Operations | strong |
| Fit with the Acquirer | not assessable |
What the repository says
LICENSE: Relicensed: Apache-2.0 → BUSL-1.1 (2024-06-04) → Apache-2.0 (2024-07-07)
Architecture & Codebase — including AI provenance
adequatecmd/protoc-gen-micro/generator/generator.go is 2,758 lines, 26× this codebase's median file
adequateThe median source file here is 106 lines. 6 files exceed 1,060 lines, the largest being 2,758. Size is not a defect on its own — some problems genuinely live in one place — but these are where merge conflicts, review fatigue and single-owner knowledge concentrate, and they are the first thing that slows an inheriting engineer down.
cmd/protoc-gen-micro/generator/generator.go:1 — 2,758 lines (26× median) |
cmd/micro/gateway/server.go:1 — 1,924 lines (18× median) |
gateway/a2a/a2a.go:1 — 1,245 lines (11× median) |
server/grpc/grpc.go:1 — 1,201 lines (11× median) |
model/atlascloud/atlascloud.go:1 — 1,198 lines (11× median) |
1 base image floats: no version, or `latest`
adequate1 of 2 `FROM` lines in product Dockerfiles name an image without a version, or with `latest`. Each build pulls whatever the registry serves that day, so the image that ships can change without a commit, and last month's build cannot be reproduced. Pin a version, or a digest.
Dockerfile:1 — base image without a version |
Engineering Process & SDLC Maturity
strongNo finding.
Product & Engineering Maturity
strongEffort is shifting from building to rewriting
adequateDeleted lines per line added rose from 0.52 to 0.79 between the first and second halves of this history. Rework is normal and often healthy, but a rising ratio means an increasing share of the team's time is spent replacing code that already exists rather than building what does not. Whether that is deliberate repayment or churn is a question for the team.
| first half 0.52, second half 0.79 (split 2020-12-03) |
Security & Reliability Posture
adequate2 Dockerfiles run the application as root
adequateNo USER instruction switches away from root, so the process runs with full privileges inside the container. It is a one-line fix and an ordinary expectation, which is why its absence is worth asking about: it usually says more about whether anyone has reviewed the deployment than about this container specifically.
Dockerfile — runs as root |
internal/website/Dockerfile — runs as root |
The build runs third-party code it does not pin
adequate5 third-party CI actions are referenced by a tag or branch rather than a commit, so they run whatever that tag points to on the day; 2 steps pipe a download straight into a shell. Tags have been moved to malicious commits in real supply-chain attacks, and a piped script is whatever the server returns that minute. Pinning to a commit is the fix, and it is small.
.github/workflows/lint.yaml:28 — action pinned by tag |
.github/workflows/release.yml:29 — action pinned by tag |
internal/website/static/install.sh:3 — download piped into a shell |
2 outbound calls can wait forever
adequate2 HTTP calls use a client with no timeout (Python `requests` without `timeout=`, or Go's default client). When a dependency slows down, each one holds a worker until the connection gives up, and enough of them take the service down with the dependency.
cmd/micro/mcp/mcp.go:671 — outbound call without a timeout |
cmd/micro/run/run.go:209 — outbound call without a timeout |
8 SQL statements built from strings
adequate8 places in product code build SQL by formatting or joining strings rather than passing parameters. In each, what the code shows going in is a table or column name, a constant, or something the line does not show, not a request's value. Ask whether any value reaches these strings, rather than a parameter.
store/mysql/mysql.go:50 — SQL built from a string |
store/mysql/mysql.go:144 — SQL built from a string |
store/mysql/mysql.go:149 — SQL built from a string |
3 locked dependencies have published vulnerabilities, 5 high or critical in what ships
adequate3 of 126 locked dependencies match 17 published advisories in OSV, 6 of them rated high or critical. A lockfile says which version is installed, not whether the flawed code is reachable from this product, so each needs a look. Most are fixed by an upgrade, and the advisory names the version.
Relicensed: Apache-2.0 → BUSL-1.1 (2024-06-04) → Apache-2.0 (2024-07-07)
adequateThe root licence changed 2 time(s). Code taken under earlier terms stays under them; check which terms any fork or customer relied on.
Observability & Operations
strongNo error reporter is wired in
adequateNothing in the service initialises an error reporter (Sentry, Rollbar, Bugsnag, Honeybadger or an APM agent). An exception in production reaches a person only if someone is reading the logs, which usually means a customer reports it first.
| no error reporter initialised |
Fit with the Acquirer
not assessableNot rated: structurally not assessable from a repository.
Read more, or read your own
The full report on micro/go-micro: every dimension, the questions for the room, and the audit log.
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