Conditional assignment can be replaced with 'min' or 'max'

Syntax update: replace conditional assignment with min or max

Reports if statements that assign one of two values to the same variable and can be replaced with the built-in min or max function (Go 1.21 or later).

Using min and max makes the intent explicit and reduces branching code.

Example with max:

func MaxInt(a, b int) int {
	var m int
	if a > b {
		m = a
	} else {
		m = b
	}
	return m
}

To fix the code, use the Replace if statement with max quick-fix.

After the quick-fix is applied:

func MaxInt(a, b int) int {
	var m int
	m = max(a, b)
	return m
}

Example with min:

func ClampHigh(x, hi int) int {
	var out int
	if x > hi {
		out = hi
	} else {
		out = x
	}
	return out
}

To fix the code, use the Replace if statement with min quick-fix.

After the quick-fix is applied:

func ClampHigh(x, hi int) int {
	var out int
	out = min(x, hi)
	return out
}

Locating this inspection

By ID

Can be used to locate inspection in e.g. Qodana configuration files, where you can quickly enable or disable it, or adjust its settings.

GoFixMinMax

Via Settings dialog

Path to the inspection settings via IntelliJ Platform IDE Settings dialog, when you need to adjust inspection settings directly from your IDE.

Settings or Preferences | Editor | Inspections | Go | Go fix

Inspection ID: GoFixMinMax

Suppressing Inspection

You can suppress this inspection by placing the following comment marker before the code fragment where you no longer want messages from this inspection to appear:

//noinspection GoFixMinMax

More detailed instructions as well as other ways and options that you have can be found in the product documentation:

GoLand 2026.2

Inspection Details
By default bundled with:	GoLand 2026.2, Qodana for Go 2026.2,

Last modified: 30 June 2026