To implement a circuit breaker in Go, use the sony/gobreaker library. 1. Install the package via go get. 2. Define breaker settings including thresholds for consecutive failures, time windows, and timeouts. 3. Customize the ReadyToTrip function to control failure detection logic, such as considering only specific errors or using failure ratios. 4. Wrap service calls with breaker.Execute to handle failures gracefully. 5. Combine breaker usage with retries, timeouts, and context cancellation for enhanced resilience. 6. Monitor breaker state changes and log events for proactive debugging.
In distributed systems, handling service failures gracefully is crucial. One effective strategy is implementing the circuit breaker pattern, which prevents a system from repeatedly trying to execute an operation that's likely to fail. In Go, this can be done elegantly using some common patterns and libraries.

Here’s how you can implement a circuit breaker in Go effectively without overcomplicating things.

Choose a Circuit Breaker Library
While you can write your own basic version, using a well-maintained library saves time and avoids reinventing the wheel. The most popular package for this in Go is sony/gobreaker
, which is lightweight and easy to integrate.
Install it with:

go get github.com/sony/gobreaker
This library provides a ready-to-use implementation of the circuit breaker pattern based on metrics like request count, success rate, and timeout duration.
Basic Usage of gobreaker
Once installed, you can define and use a circuit breaker in just a few lines.
import ( "github.com/sony/gobreaker" "time" ) // Define the settings settings := gobreaker.Settings{ Name: "http-call", MaxRequests: 3, // How many requests can pass through when half-open Interval: 10 * time.Second, // Time window for error rate calculation Timeout: 30 * time.Second, // How long to stay open before switching to half-open ReadyToTrip: func(counts gobreaker.Counts) bool { return counts.ConsecutiveFailures > 3 }, } breaker := gobreaker.NewCircuitBreaker(settings)
Then wrap your calls:
result, err := breaker.Execute(func() (interface{}, error) { // Your actual call here, e.g., HTTP request or DB query return http.Get("https://some-api.com") })
If the number of consecutive failures exceeds the threshold, the breaker opens, and further calls will immediately fail until the timeout passes and the state becomes half-open again.
Customize Behavior Based on Failure Logic
The real flexibility comes from customizing how failures are detected and handled. For example, not all errors should trip the breaker — maybe timeouts or specific HTTP status codes (like 5xx) are more important than others.
You can adjust the ReadyToTrip
function to include logic like:
- Count only network or timeout errors
- Ignore certain known non-critical errors
- Use thresholds based on recent history instead of just consecutive failures
Example:
ReadyToTrip: func(counts gobreaker.Counts) bool { failureRatio := float64(counts.TotalFailures) / float64(counts.Requests) return counts.Requests >= 5 && failureRatio >= 0.6 }
This means if 60% of the last 5 requests failed, the breaker trips.
Also consider adding logging or alerts when the breaker changes state so you can monitor failures proactively.
Combine With Retries and Context Handling
Using a circuit breaker alone isn’t always enough. Pairing it with:
- Retries – retry once or twice before giving up
- Timeouts – don’t wait forever on failing services
- Context cancellation – propagate cancellation signals properly
makes your service more resilient. For example, wrap your breaker around a call that already uses a context:
ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second) defer cancel() result, err := breaker.Execute(func() (interface{}, error) { req, _ := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, "GET", url, nil) return httpClient.Do(req) })
This ensures even if the breaker allows the request, it won’t hang indefinitely.
Final Notes
Implementing a circuit breaker in Go doesn’t have to be complicated. Using gobreaker
gives you a solid foundation, and customizing thresholds and behaviors helps tailor it to your needs. Just remember:
- Monitor breaker state changes
- Don’t treat all errors the same
- Combine with other resilience techniques like retries and timeouts
That’s basically it — simple but powerful.
The above is the detailed content of How to implement a circuit breaker pattern in golang. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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