If you want to the local version of a dependency in Go rather than one in a remote repository, use the replace keyword.

The replace line goes above your require statements, like so:

    module github.com/rnemeth90/foo

    replace github.com/rnemeth90/bar => /Users/rnemeth90/Projects/bar

    require (
    	github.com/rnemeth90/bar v1.0.0
    )

Now when you compile this module go build or go install, it will use your local code rather than the remote dependency.

According to the docs, you do need to make sure that the code you’re pointing to also has a go.mod file:

Note: if the right-hand side of a replace directive is a filesystem path, then the target must have a go.mod file at that location. If the go.mod file is not present, you can create one with go mod init.

https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/Modules#when-should-i-use-the-replace-directive

You can also create this line from the command line using the go mod edit command.

$ go mod edit -replace github.com/rnemeth90/bar=/Users/rnemeth90/Projects/bar

Following the -replace is first what you want to replace, then an equals sign, then what you’re replacing it with.

Hopefully this helps someone who was stuck with this like me 🙂