Version Command Customization¶

HexaGo includes a built-in version command in all generated projects. This page explains how to customize the ASCII art splash that displays when running myapp version.

Default Splash¶

The default splash displays version information in ASCII art format:

┓┏      ┏┓    Version: 1.0.0
┣┫┏┓┓┏┏┓┃┓┏┓  Build: 2026-04-06T12:00:00Z
┛┗┗ ┛┗┗┻┗┛┗┛  Commit: abc1234

The splash is generated by pkg/version/splash.go using fmt.Fprintf with the version data.

Customizing the ASCII Art¶

To customize the splash for your project, edit pkg/version/splash.go:

1. Generate Your ASCII Art¶

Use online tools to create custom ASCII art:

ASCII Art EU - Large collection of fonts and styles
patorjk TAAG - Interactive font preview with many options

2. Update the Splash Function¶

Replace the Splash() function in pkg/version/splash.go:

func Splash() {
    v := CurrentVersion()
    extra := ""
    if v.Extra != "" {
        extra = "-" + v.Extra
    }

    fmt.Fprintf(os.Stdout, `
 __  __ 
|  \/  |
| \  / |_   _    __ _ _ __  _ __ 
| |\/| | | | |  / _` | '_ \| '_ \ 
| |  | | |_| | | (_| | |_) | |_) |
|_|  |_|\__, |  \__,_| .__/| .__/   Version: %d.%d.%d%s
         __/ |       | |   | |      Build: %s
        |___/        |_|   |_|      Commit: %s

`, v.Major, v.Minor, v.Patch, extra, v.BuildDate, v.Commit)
}

3. Variables Available¶

The VersionInfo struct provides these fields:

Field	Type	Description
`Major`	`int`	Major version number
`Minor`	`int`	Minor version number
`Patch`	`int`	Patch version number
`Extra`	`string`	Extra version suffix (e.g., "rc1", "beta")
`Version`	`string`	Raw version string (e.g., "v1.0.0-rc1")
`BuildDate`	`string`	Build timestamp (RFC3339 format)
`Commit`	`string`	Git commit hash

Using --simple Flag¶

For scripting or CI pipelines, use the --simple flag to output just the version:

$ myapp version --simple
v1.0.0

Build-Time Version Injection¶

Version info is injected at build time via Makefile ldflags:

build: pkg=github.com/your-org/your-app/pkg/version
build: ldflags = -X $(pkg).version=$(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty)
build: ldflags += -X $(pkg).commit=$(shell git rev-parse HEAD)
build: ldflags += -X $(pkg).buildDate=$(shell date -Iseconds)

build: ## Build the application
    @echo "Building $(SERVICE_NAME)..."
    @CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o $(SERVICE_NAME) -ldflags "$(ldflags)" main.go

To build with a specific version:

Override it directly:

go build -ldflags "-X github.com/your-org/your-app/pkg/version.version=v2.0.0" -o myapp main.go