Build the image's static binary with netgo, osusergo and sqlite_omit_load_extension (closes #525)

The image's static relink linked glibc's getaddrinfo (from Go's cgo DNS
resolver) and dlopen (from SQLite extension loading). A static binary
still needs glibc's shared libraries at run time for both, and the
Alpine runtime has none. The relink now passes the standard build tags
netgo, osusergo and sqlite_omit_load_extension through a GO_TAGS
variable, which the Makefile's build target hands to go build as -tags
next to GO_LDFLAGS, so the version stamp is composed as before.

Model: opus-5-5

Dockerfile

@@ -214,16 +214,22 @@ RUN version="$(make version VERSION="$VERSION")"; \
 # (Alpine.js, extracted from its tarball in 3p/) first.
 RUN make build VERSION="$VERSION"
 
-# Rebuild with static linking for Alpine runtime.
-# make build already verified compilation.
-# The CGO binary from `make build` is dynamically linked against glibc,
-# which doesn't exist on Alpine (musl). Rebuild with static linking so
-# the binary runs on Alpine without glibc.
+# Rebuild with static linking for the Alpine runtime. The cgo binary the
+# step above builds is dynamically linked against glibc, which Alpine
+# (musl) does not have.
 #
-# The static flags go in through GO_LDFLAGS rather than a -ldflags of
-# their own: the build target composes them with the -X that stamps the
-# version, so this relink cannot silently drop the stamp.
-RUN CGO_ENABLED=1 make build VERSION="$VERSION" GO_LDFLAGS='-extldflags "-static"'
+# A statically linked glibc still loads shared libraries at run time for
+# getaddrinfo and dlopen, and Alpine has none to load, so the build tags
+# keep both out of the binary: netgo and osusergo select Go's own DNS
+# resolver and user lookup instead of glibc's, and
+# sqlite_omit_load_extension leaves out SQLite extension loading, which
+# webhooker never uses.
+#
+# The static flags and tags go in through GO_LDFLAGS and GO_TAGS rather
+# than a -ldflags of their own: the build target composes them with the
+# -X that stamps the version, so this relink cannot silently drop the
+# stamp.
+RUN CGO_ENABLED=1 make build VERSION="$VERSION" GO_TAGS=netgo,osusergo,sqlite_omit_load_extension GO_LDFLAGS='-extldflags "-static"'
 
 # Runtime stage
 # alpine:3.21, 2026-03-17

Makefile

@@ -16,14 +16,16 @@ VERSION ?= $(shell script/version)
 # exists to correct.
 override VERSION := $(or $(strip $(VERSION)),$(shell script/version))
 
-# Extra linker flags for the build target. The static relink in the
-# Dockerfile adds -extldflags here rather than passing its own -ldflags,
-# so composing flags cannot drop the version stamp.
+# Extra linker flags and build tags for the build target. The static
+# relink in the Dockerfile passes -extldflags and its build tags through
+# these rather than a -ldflags of its own, so composing flags cannot drop
+# the version stamp.
 #
 # The build target itself always passes -trimpath and -s -w, as the Go
 # Dockerfile in REPO_POLICIES.md does: no build paths, symbol table or
 # debug information in the binary.
 GO_LDFLAGS ?=
+GO_TAGS ?=
 
 bootstrap:
 	@script/bootstrap
@@ -53,7 +55,7 @@ check:
 	@script/check
 
 build: assets
-	go build -trimpath -ldflags '$(strip -s -w -X main.version=$(VERSION) $(GO_LDFLAGS))' -o bin/webhooker ./cmd/webhooker
+	go build -trimpath -tags '$(GO_TAGS)' -ldflags '$(strip -s -w -X main.version=$(VERSION) $(GO_LDFLAGS))' -o bin/webhooker ./cmd/webhooker
 
 run: build
 	./bin/webhooker

README.md

@@ -3419,12 +3419,14 @@ fixed independently of the compiler's:
    phases and the `css-check` and `markdown-check` stages passing (it copies a
    file from each), runs `make build` (which extracts Alpine.js from `3p/`
    first), and then rebuilds the binary with `CGO_ENABLED=1` and static linking
-   so it runs on musl. Both builds go through `make build`, the relink adding
-   its `-extldflags` via `GO_LDFLAGS`, so neither can drop the `-X` that stamps
-   the version. The version is the `VERSION` build arg if one is given,
-   otherwise derived from the `.git` in the context, and the stage fails if a
-   context with `.git` would stamp an empty version, `dev` or `unknown` (see
-   [Version stamping](#version-stamping)).
+   so it runs on musl, with the build tags `netgo`, `osusergo` and
+   `sqlite_omit_load_extension` so it needs none of glibc's shared libraries at
+   run time. Both builds go through `make build`, the relink adding its
+   `-extldflags` via `GO_LDFLAGS` and its tags via `GO_TAGS`, so neither can
+   drop the `-X` that stamps the version. The version is the `VERSION` build arg
+   if one is given, otherwise derived from the `.git` in the context, and the
+   stage fails if a context with `.git` would stamp an empty version, `dev` or
+   `unknown` (see [Version stamping](#version-stamping)).
 7. **Runtime stage** (`alpine:3.21`) — copies the static binary and
    `deploy/docker-entrypoint.sh`, creates the `/var/lib/webhooker` directory for
    all SQLite databases, exposes port 8080, and includes a health check against

internal/versionscript/version_script_test.go

@@ -156,7 +156,8 @@ func TestVersion_IsStableAcrossInvocations(t *testing.T) {
 // The build target is the only place composing linker flags. If a
 // future edit drops either half, the binary silently reports "dev"
 // again (the defect this package exists for) or fails to link on
-// Alpine.
+// Alpine. If it stops passing GO_TAGS, the image's static binary links
+// glibc's getaddrinfo and dlopen again.
 func TestMakefile_BuildComposesVersionAndExtraFlags(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
@@ -164,6 +165,7 @@ func TestMakefile_BuildComposesVersionAndExtraFlags(t *testing.T) {
 
 	require.Contains(t, makefile, "-X main.version=$(VERSION)")
 	require.Contains(t, makefile, "$(GO_LDFLAGS)")
+	require.Contains(t, makefile, "-tags '$(GO_TAGS)'")
 	require.Contains(t, makefile, "VERSION ?= $(shell script/version)")
 }
 
@@ -233,7 +235,9 @@ func TestDockerfile_BuildsThroughTheMakeTarget(t *testing.T) {
 		"a raw go build bypasses the Makefile's -X flag")
 	require.Contains(t, dockerfile, "ARG VERSION")
 	require.Contains(t, dockerfile,
-		`make build VERSION="$VERSION" GO_LDFLAGS='-extldflags "-static"'`)
+		`make build VERSION="$VERSION"`+
+			` GO_TAGS=netgo,osusergo,sqlite_omit_load_extension`+
+			` GO_LDFLAGS='-extldflags "-static"'`)
 }
 
 func read(t *testing.T, path string) string {