Roadmap & Status

This page is the single source of truth for what actually exists in the go-bootloaders organization. It is deliberately conservative: a target is only moved past Planned once its repository contains real, building Go code.

Honest status, last reviewed 2026-08-05

grub and systemd-boot are real, tested Go modules — both build with CGO_ENABLED=0, pass their test suites on all six 64-bit Go architectures, and are already consumed downstream (e.g. go-diskimages/diskimage imports grub). Neither has cut a tagged release yet, so — by the letter of the status legend below — both sit at In progress rather than Released; in practice both are usable today via Go pseudo-version imports, exactly as any untagged module is.

Status legend

State	Meaning
Planned	Named in the roadmap; repository does not yet exist or holds no code.
Scaffolding	Repository exists with placeholder files (README, LICENSE) but no Go code.
In progress	Real Go code is landing; no tagged release yet.
Released	A tagged release exists and the module is importable.

Target bootloaders

Target	Models	State	Notes
`grub`	GRUB multi-OS boot menu	In progress	`github.com/go-bootloaders/grub`, 93.9% test coverage. Opens a GPT disk image, mounts the ESP (FAT32) and a Linux `/boot` (ext4/btrfs) read-write, reads/generates/patches `grub.cfg` on both, registers a UEFI boot entry, and optionally measures `grub.cfg` + kernels/initrds into TPM PCRs. No tagged release yet.
`systemd-boot`	systemd-boot (`sd-boot`), Boot Loader Specification	In progress	`github.com/go-bootloaders/systemd-boot`, 92.9% test coverage. GPT-locates the ESP, parses `loader.conf` + BLS `entries/*.conf` into resolved boot entries, reads/writes UEFI `BootOrder`/`BootNext`, and measures the selected kernel/initrd/cmdline into TPM PCRs with a TCG event log. No tagged release yet.
`limine`	Limine boot protocol (modern x86_64 / UEFI)	Planned	Not yet created.
`refind`	rEFInd graphical UEFI boot manager	Planned	Not yet created.
`syslinux`	Syslinux / ISOLINUX / PXELINUX	Planned	Not yet created.
`u-boot`	U-Boot embedded / SoC bootloader	Planned	Not yet created.

Supporting repositories

These are not bootloaders but are part of the organization:

Repo	What it is	State
`brand`	Logos and icons (the family brand kit)	Populated
`go-bootloaders.github.io`	Organization landing page	Populated
`docs`	This documentation site (MkDocs Material + mike)	Populated

go-bootloaders does not maintain its own interface repo; both grub and systemd-boot consume the shared filesystem/partition contracts from go-filesystems/interface and go-volumes/gpt as ordinary pseudo-version dependencies.

What “done” will look like

A target graduates from Planned → Released when it can, from source with CGO_ENABLED=0:

Parse its native configuration (e.g. grub.cfg, loader.conf, extlinux.conf) into a typed model.
Probe partitions and filesystems enough to locate kernels and initrds.
Load a kernel and initrd and present the appropriate boot menu.
Hand off to the loaded kernel via the right protocol (Multiboot2, Linux boot protocol, EFI stub, …).
Ship with tests and a tagged release.

grub and systemd-boot satisfy 1–3 today (config parsing, filesystem/partition probing, and kernel/initrd discovery); actual kernel handoff (4) is out of scope for both — they operate on disk images ahead of boot (preparing, patching, inspecting, and measuring what a real firmware/bootloader will later load), not as a running bootloader stage themselves. Only step 5 — a tagged release — is outstanding for both before they’d count as Released by this page’s own bar.

Contributing

grub and systemd-boot are in active use; issues and PRs against them follow the normal Go module workflow (tests, CGO_ENABLED=0, all six 64-bit architectures). For the four remaining Planned targets, the most useful contributions right now are design discussion and prototype code in the target repositories. Track progress through the organization directly.