# Mat Ryer

> Mat Ryer is a London-based Go programmer, open-source creator, author, and long-time host of the Go Time podcast. Known for building beloved Go tools like xbar (18k+ GitHub stars), moq, and the `is` testing framework, he has been writing Go since before its v1 release. He authored 'Go Programming Blueprints' and spent years as a principal engineer at Grafana Labs building AI agents and observability tools. His characteristic blend of deep technical craft, game-show energy, and dry British wit has made him one of the Go community's most recognizable voices.

- **Role:** Engineering Director at Grafana Labs
- **Organizations:** Grafana Labs, Pace Software Ltd, Changelog Media
- **From:** Nottinghamshire, England
- **Nationality:** British
- **Known for:** Author of 'Go Programming Blueprints' (2 editions, Packt Publishing), Co-author of 'Go: Building Web Applications' with Nathan Kozyra, Created xbar (formerly BitBar) - macOS menu bar tool with 18,000+ GitHub stars

## Career timeline

- **childhood** — Started coding at age 6 with his father - BASIC on a ZX Spectrum, then AmigaBASIC and AMOS on a Commodore Amiga
- **early career** — Started work at a local agency in Mansfield, England at age 18, building websites and services
- **2006** — Moved to London when his wife Laurie took a job at the Science Museum; joined BT and honed agile development skills
- **pre-2012** — Started programming in Go before its v1 release (when os.Error was still a thing)
- **2015** — Published 'Go Programming Blueprints' (Packt Publishing)
- **2016** — Published 2nd edition of 'Go Programming Blueprints'
- **2016** — Created BitBar, a tool to put any script output in the macOS menu bar
- **2020** — Co-founded Pace Software Ltd with David Hernandez; announced general availability of Pace
- **2021** — Rewrote BitBar in Go and relaunched as xbar; xbar reached 18k+ GitHub stars
- **~2021** — Joined Grafana Labs as Principal Software Engineer on the Machine Learning team
- **2024** — Go Time podcast concluded after 340 episodes and 8 years
- **2024-2025** — Promoted to Engineering Director at Grafana Labs; focused on building AI agents for Grafana Cloud

## Achievements

- Author of 'Go Programming Blueprints' (2 editions, Packt Publishing)
- Co-author of 'Go: Building Web Applications' with Nathan Kozyra
- Created xbar (formerly BitBar) - macOS menu bar tool with 18,000+ GitHub stars
- Created moq - interface mocking tool for Go with 2,200+ GitHub stars
- Created `is` - lightweight testing mini-framework for Go with 2,000+ GitHub stars
- Created gopherize.me - custom Go gopher avatar generator
- Created vice - Go channels at horizontal scale via message queues (1,500+ GitHub stars)
- Long-time host and panelist on Go Time podcast (340 episodes over 8 years)
- Regular panelist on Changelog & Friends podcast
- Hosted 'Gophers Say!' live game show at GopherCon EU Berlin 2024 and other conferences
- Over 4,100 GitHub followers and 111 repositories
- Regular contributor to Testify, Silk, and other major Go open-source projects
- Engineering Director at Grafana Labs leading AI agent development

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Appeared on Changelog & Friends #123 discussing GitHub, AI trends, and 2026 predictions
- **2025-08** — Featured on Changelog & Friends #107 discussing Git tooling
- **2025-04** — Appeared on Changelog & Friends #90 in 'Hello, Matworld!' episode
- **2025-03** — Posted about new AI project cooking at Grafana Labs
- **2024-12** — Go Time podcast ended after 340 episodes and 8 years with the series finale
- **2024-10** — Published blog post 'How I write HTTP services in Go after 13 years' on Grafana Labs blog
- **2024-07** — Hosted 'Gophers Say!' live game show at GopherCon EU Berlin 2024
- **2024-01** — Working as Engineering Director at Grafana Labs focused on AI agents for Grafana Cloud

## Links

- Website: https://matryer.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matryer/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/matryer
- GitHub: https://github.com/matryer

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/mat-ryer
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-21