Go developer builds linter to enforce file-level visibility in flat packages

A Go developer has released declscope, an open-source linter designed to enforce file-scoped access boundaries within Go's flat package structure. Go conventionally offers only two visibility levels — exported and unexported — with no native file-scope option, meaning any unexported symbol is accessible across all files in a package. The tool addresses a growing concern that AI coding agents, finding unexported helpers in scope, call or modify them freely since such cross-file conventions exist only as informal comments rather than compiler-enforced rules. The developer noted that even explicit instructions in AI configuration files failed to reliably prevent boundary violations, prompting a machine-checkable solution. declscope can be installed via standard Go tooling and flags violations when declarations are used outside their intended file scope, providing agents and reviewers with clear repair guidance.