golib/viper

Viper Package

Enhanced configuration management wrapper for spf13/viper with remote provider support, custom decode hooks, and file watching capabilities.

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Table of Contents

• Overview
• Key Features
• Installation
• Architecture
• Quick Start
• Performance
• Use Cases
• Configuration Sources
• Advanced Features
• Best Practices
• Testing
• Contributing
• Future Enhancements
• License

---

Overview

This package provides a production-ready wrapper around spf13/viper for configuration management in Go applications. It extends viper's functionality with remote configuration support, custom type conversion hooks, and enhanced error handling.

Design Philosophy

1. Multi-Source: Support file, environment, remote, and default configurations
2. Type-Safe: Custom decode hooks for complex type conversions
3. Thread-Safe: Atomic operations and proper synchronization for concurrent access
4. Flexible: Support for JSON, YAML, TOML, and other formats
5. Observable: File watching with reload callbacks for dynamic configuration

---

Key Features

• Multiple Configuration Sources:

  • File-based: JSON, YAML, TOML, HCL, INI, ENV, properties
  • Environment Variables: Automatic binding with custom prefix
  • Remote Providers: ETCD support with automatic reloading
  • Default Config: Fallback configuration via io.Reader

• Advanced Unmarshalling:

  • Standard unmarshalling with type conversion
  • Exact unmarshalling (strict mode)
  • Key-specific unmarshalling for nested structures
  • Custom decode hooks for complex types

• Dynamic Configuration:

  • File system watching with change detection
  • Remote configuration polling and updates
  • Reload callbacks for application reconfiguration
  • Key unsetting for runtime modifications

• Type System:

  • Native support for all Go primitives
  • Time and duration parsing
  • Slices and maps
  • Custom type conversion via hooks

• Thread Safety:

  • Atomic operations for state management
  • Concurrent-safe hook registration
  • Thread-safe configuration access

---

Installation

go get github.com/nabbar/golib/viper

Requirements:

• Go 1.18 or higher
• Dependencies automatically managed by Go modules

---

Architecture

Package Structure

viper/
├── interface.go         # Main Viper interface and factory
├── model.go            # Internal implementation and types
├── config.go           # Configuration initialization
├── viper.go            # Getter methods for all types
├── unmarshall.go       # Unmarshalling operations
├── hook.go             # Custom decode hook management
├── cleaner.go          # Configuration key unsetting
├── watch.go            # File and remote watching
├── remote.go           # Remote provider integration
├── errors.go           # Error codes and messages
└── doc.go              # Package documentation

Component Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Viper Interface                       │
│   New(), Config(), Get*(), Unmarshal(), Watch()         │
└──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┬────────────┘
               │              │              │
      ┌────────▼─────┐  ┌────▼─────┐  ┌────▼────────┐
      │ Config Mgmt  │  │  Hooks   │  │   Watch     │
      │              │  │          │  │             │
      │ File, Env    │  │ Custom   │  │ FS, Remote  │
      │ Remote, Def  │  │ Decode   │  │ Callbacks   │
      └──────────────┘  └──────────┘  └─────────────┘

Component	Purpose	Thread-Safe
Config	Multi-source configuration loading	✅
Getters	Type-safe value retrieval	✅
Unmarshalling	Struct binding with hooks	✅
Hooks	Custom type conversion	✅
Watch	Dynamic configuration updates	✅
Remote	ETCD integration	✅

Configuration Priority

Configuration values are resolved in the following order (highest to lowest):

1. Explicit Set() calls
2. Environment variables (with prefix)
3. Configuration file
4. Remote configuration (ETCD)
5. Default values

---

Quick Start

Basic File Configuration

Load configuration from a file:

package main

import (
    "context"
    
    "github.com/nabbar/golib/logger"
    "github.com/nabbar/golib/logger/level"
    "github.com/nabbar/golib/viper"
)

func main() {
    ctx := func() context.Context { return context.Background() }
    log := func() logger.Logger { return logger.New(ctx) }
    
    v := viper.New(ctx, log)
    
    // Set configuration file
    if err := v.SetConfigFile("/etc/myapp/config.yaml"); err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    
    // Load configuration
    if err := v.Config(level.ErrorLevel, level.InfoLevel); err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    
    // Read values
    appName := v.GetString("app.name")
    port := v.GetInt("app.port")
    debug := v.GetBool("app.debug")
}

Environment Variables

Use environment variables with prefix:

v := viper.New(ctx, log)

// Set environment prefix
v.SetEnvVarsPrefix("MYAPP")

// Set home-based config
v.SetHomeBaseName("myapp")
v.SetConfigFile("") // Will look for ~/.myapp

// Load config (env vars override file values)
v.Config(level.ErrorLevel, level.InfoLevel)

// MYAPP_DATABASE_HOST overrides database.host
dbHost := v.GetString("database.host")

Unmarshal to Struct

Bind configuration to Go structs:

type AppConfig struct {
    Name    string
    Version string
    Server  struct {
        Host string
        Port int
    }
    Database struct {
        Driver   string
        Host     string
        Port     int
        User     string
        Password string
    }
}

v := viper.New(ctx, log)
v.SetConfigFile("config.yaml")
v.Config(level.ErrorLevel, level.InfoLevel)

var config AppConfig
if err := v.Unmarshal(&config); err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Or unmarshal specific key
var dbConfig DatabaseConfig
if err := v.UnmarshalKey("database", &dbConfig); err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

Default Configuration

Provide fallback configuration:

import "bytes"

v := viper.New(ctx, log)

// Set default config as fallback
v.SetDefaultConfig(func() io.Reader {
    defaultConfig := `{
        "app": {
            "name": "MyApp",
            "port": 8080,
            "debug": false
        }
    }`
    return bytes.NewReader([]byte(defaultConfig))
})

v.SetConfigFile("/etc/myapp/config.json")

// Will use default if file not found
err := v.Config(level.ErrorLevel, level.InfoLevel)
// err will indicate if default was used

---

Performance

Memory Efficiency

The viper wrapper maintains minimal memory overhead:

• Configuration Storage: O(n) where n is number of keys
• Hook Management: O(h) where h is number of hooks (max 255)
• Watch Operations: O(1) goroutine for file/remote watching

Thread Safety

All operations are thread-safe through:

• Atomic Operations: atomic.Uint32 for hook indexing
• Context Storage: Thread-safe libctx.Config for hook storage
• Viper Core: Underlying viper library is thread-safe

Throughput

Operation	Performance	Notes
Get Value	~100 ns/op	Direct map lookup
Unmarshal	~10 µs/op	Depends on struct size
File Watch	~1 ms/event	fsnotify overhead
Remote Poll	~5s interval	Configurable

Measured on AMD64, Go 1.21

---

Use Cases

This library is designed for scenarios requiring flexible configuration management:

Microservices

• Centralized configuration via ETCD
• Environment-specific overrides
• Dynamic reconfiguration without restart
• Secret management with secure remote providers

Cloud-Native Applications

• 12-factor app compliance (config via environment)
• Container-friendly configuration
• Kubernetes ConfigMap integration
• Multi-environment deployments

CLI Applications

• User home directory configuration
• Command-line flag integration
• Configuration file discovery
• Default values with overrides

Web Services

• Hot-reload configuration changes
• Feature flags and A/B testing
• Multi-tenant configuration
• Environment-based settings

Development Workflows

• Local development overrides
• Test environment configuration
• CI/CD pipeline integration
• Configuration validation

---

Configuration Sources

File-Based Configuration

Supported formats: JSON, YAML, TOML, HCL, INI, ENV, properties

v := viper.New(ctx, log)

// Explicit file path
v.SetConfigFile("/path/to/config.yaml")

// Or search in home directory
v.SetHomeBaseName("myapp")  // Looks for ~/.myapp
v.SetConfigFile("")

// Load configuration
v.Config(level.ErrorLevel, level.InfoLevel)

Environment Variables

Automatic environment variable binding:

v.SetEnvVarsPrefix("MYAPP")
v.SetHomeBaseName("myapp")
v.SetConfigFile("")

// MYAPP_SERVER_PORT overrides server.port
// MYAPP_DATABASE_HOST overrides database.host

Remote Configuration (ETCD)

Dynamic configuration from ETCD:

type Config struct {
    App AppSettings
    DB  DatabaseSettings
}

v := viper.New(ctx, log)

// Configure remote provider
v.SetRemoteProvider("etcd")
v.SetRemoteEndpoint("http://localhost:2379")
v.SetRemotePath("/config/myapp")
v.SetRemoteModel(&Config{})

// Optional: Secure connection
v.SetRemoteSecureKey("/path/to/encryption.key")

// Load and watch for changes
err := v.Config(level.ErrorLevel, level.InfoLevel)
// Configuration will auto-reload every 5 seconds

Default Configuration

Fallback when no config file exists:

v.SetDefaultConfig(func() io.Reader {
    return bytes.NewReader([]byte(`{
        "server": {"port": 8080},
        "database": {"host": "localhost"}
    }`))
})

---

Advanced Features

Custom Decode Hooks

Register custom type conversion hooks:

import (
    "reflect"
    "strings"
    
    "github.com/go-viper/mapstructure/v2"
)

type CustomType string

// Register hook for custom type
hook := func(f reflect.Type, t reflect.Type, data interface{}) (interface{}, error) {
    if t == reflect.TypeOf(CustomType("")) {
        if str, ok := data.(string); ok {
            return CustomType(strings.ToUpper(str)), nil
        }
    }
    return data, nil
}

v.HookRegister(hook)

// Now unmarshal will use the hook
var config MyConfig
v.Unmarshal(&config)

File Watching

Watch for configuration file changes:

v := viper.New(ctx, log)
v.SetConfigFile("config.yaml")
v.Config(level.ErrorLevel, level.InfoLevel)

// Set reload callback
v.SetRemoteReloadFunc(func() {
    log().Info("Configuration reloaded")
    // Reload application components
    reloadApp()
})

// Start watching
v.WatchFS(level.InfoLevel)
// Callback will be triggered on file changes

Configuration Key Unsetting

Remove configuration keys at runtime:

// Unset single key
v.Unset("app.debug")

// Unset multiple keys
v.Unset("cache.enabled", "cache.ttl", "cache.size")

// Unset nested keys
v.Unset("database.connection.pool.max")

// Other keys remain intact
port := v.GetInt("app.port") // Still available

Exact Unmarshalling

Strict mode that fails on unknown fields:

type StrictConfig struct {
    Name string
    Port int
}

// UnmarshalExact returns error if config has extra fields
err := v.UnmarshalExact(&config)
if err != nil {
    // Config contains fields not in StrictConfig
}

---

Best Practices

1. Always Handle Errors

// ✅ Good
func loadConfig() error {
    v := viper.New(ctx, log)
    if err := v.SetConfigFile("config.yaml"); err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("set config file: %w", err)
    }
    if err := v.Config(level.ErrorLevel, level.InfoLevel); err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("load config: %w", err)
    }
    return nil
}

// ❌ Bad: Silent failures
func loadConfigBad() {
    v := viper.New(ctx, log)
    v.SetConfigFile("config.yaml")
    v.Config(level.ErrorLevel, level.InfoLevel) // Ignoring error
}

2. Use Struct Tags for Clarity

// ✅ Good: Clear mapping
type Config struct {
    AppName string `mapstructure:"app_name"`
    Port    int    `mapstructure:"server_port"`
}

// ❌ Bad: Implicit mapping
type Config struct {
    AppName string // Unclear what config key this maps to
    Port    int
}

3. Provide Defaults

// ✅ Good: Fallback configuration
v.SetDefaultConfig(func() io.Reader {
    return bytes.NewReader([]byte(`{"port": 8080}`))
})

// ❌ Bad: No defaults, app may crash
v.SetConfigFile("config.yaml")
v.Config(level.ErrorLevel, level.InfoLevel)
port := v.GetInt("port") // Returns 0 if not set

4. Validate Configuration

// ✅ Good: Validate after loading
type Config struct {
    Port int
    Host string
}

func loadAndValidate() (*Config, error) {
    var cfg Config
    if err := v.Unmarshal(&cfg); err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    
    if cfg.Port < 1 || cfg.Port > 65535 {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid port: %d", cfg.Port)
    }
    if cfg.Host == "" {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("host is required")
    }
    
    return &cfg, nil
}

5. Use Environment-Specific Configs

// ✅ Good: Environment-aware
env := os.Getenv("APP_ENV")
if env == "" {
    env = "development"
}

configFile := fmt.Sprintf("config.%s.yaml", env)
v.SetConfigFile(configFile)

---

Testing

The package includes comprehensive test coverage:

Total Specs:      104
Coverage:         73.3%
Race Detection:   ✅ Zero data races
Execution Time:   ~0.05s (without race), ~1.1s (with race)

Test Categories:

• Creation and initialization (10 specs)
• Getter methods for all types (17 specs)
• Configuration loading (20 specs)
• Unmarshalling operations (18 specs)
• Custom decode hooks (10 specs)
• Key unsetting (15 specs)
• Error handling (11 specs)
• Concurrent access (3 specs)

Quality Assurance:

• ✅ Zero data races (verified with -race)
• ✅ Thread-safe concurrent operations
• ✅ All error codes tested
• ✅ Edge cases covered

See TESTING.md for detailed testing documentation.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow these guidelines:

Code Contributions

• Do not use AI to generate package implementation code
• AI may assist with tests, documentation, and bug fixing
• All contributions must pass go test -race
• Maintain or improve test coverage (≥70%)
• Follow existing code style and patterns

Documentation

• Update README.md for new features
• Add examples for common use cases
• Keep TESTING.md synchronized with test changes
• Document all exported functions with GoDoc

Testing

• Write tests for all new features
• Test edge cases and error conditions
• Verify thread safety with race detector
• Add comments explaining complex scenarios

Pull Requests

• Provide clear description of changes
• Reference related issues
• Include test results
• Update documentation

See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed guidelines.

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Future Enhancements

Potential improvements for future versions:

Configuration Sources

• Consul support
• AWS Parameter Store integration
• Azure Key Vault support
• HashiCorp Vault integration

Features

• Configuration validation framework
• Schema-based validation (JSON Schema)
• Configuration migration tools
• Encrypted configuration values
• Configuration versioning
• Audit logging for config changes

Performance

• Configuration caching layer
• Lazy loading for large configs
• Partial configuration updates
• Optimized remote polling

Developer Experience

• Configuration generator from structs
• Interactive configuration wizard
• Configuration diff tool
• Hot-reload without callbacks

Suggestions and contributions are welcome via GitHub issues.

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AI Transparency Notice

In accordance with Article 50.4 of the EU AI Act, AI assistance has been used for testing, documentation, and bug fixing under human supervision.

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License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details.

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Resources

• Viper Documentation: spf13/viper
• Mapstructure: go-viper/mapstructure
• Issues: GitHub Issues
• GoDoc: pkg.go.dev
• Testing Guide: TESTING.md
• Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
• Logger Package: golib/logger
• Context Package: golib/context