Context in Go

From the Go cheat sheet · Context · verified Jul 2026

Context

Cancellation, timeouts, and passing request-scoped data

// With cancel
ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
defer cancel()

// With timeout
ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 5*time.Second)
defer cancel()

// Check if done
select {
case <-ctx.Done():
    fmt.Println(ctx.Err()) // context canceled
}

📌 Always pass context as the first function parameter

🎯 Always defer cancel() to prevent context leaks

💡 Use WithValue sparingly — prefer explicit parameters

⚡ context.TODO() for placeholder when unsure which context to use

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