diff --git a/codecHelpers_test.go b/codecHelpers_test.go
index 857df766..a515f0c4 100644
--- a/codecHelpers_test.go
+++ b/codecHelpers_test.go
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ipld/go-ipld-prime/schema"
 )
 
-func Example_Marshal() {
+func Example_marshal() {
 	type Foobar struct {
 		Foo string
 		Bar string
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ func Example_Marshal() {
 
 // TODO: Example_Unmarshal, which uses nil and infers a typesystem.  However, to match Example_Unmarshal_withSchema, that appears to need more features in bindnode.
 
-func Example_Unmarshal_withSchema() {
+func Example_unmarshal_withSchema() {
 	typesys := schema.MustTypeSystem(
 		schema.SpawnStruct("Foobar",
 			[]schema.StructField{
diff --git a/fluent/qp/qp.go b/fluent/qp/qp.go
index 94b29242..7d7a7d17 100644
--- a/fluent/qp/qp.go
+++ b/fluent/qp/qp.go
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ func (f floatParam) Assemble(na datamodel.NodeAssembler) {
 }
 
 func Float(f float64) Assemble {
-	return intParam(f).Assemble
+	return floatParam(f).Assemble
 }
 
 type stringParam string
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index d838a9e0..f4e17e8f 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.1.0
 	github.com/polydawn/refmt v0.0.0-20201211092308-30ac6d18308e
 	github.com/warpfork/go-testmark v0.3.0
+	golang.org/x/text v0.3.7
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.4.0
 )
 
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 4c43127f..2d56679e 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -66,6 +66,9 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210309074719-68d13333faf2 h1:46ULzRKLh1CwgRq2dC5SlBzEq
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210309074719-68d13333faf2/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
 golang.org/x/term v0.0.0-20201117132131-f5c789dd3221/go.mod h1:Nr5EML6q2oocZ2LXRh80K7BxOlk5/8JxuGnuhpl+muw=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.0/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
+golang.org/x/text v0.3.7 h1:olpwvP2KacW1ZWvsR7uQhoyTYvKAupfQrRGBFM352Gk=
+golang.org/x/text v0.3.7/go.mod h1:u+2+/6zg+i71rQMx5EYifcz6MCKuco9NR6JIITiCfzQ=
+golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20180917221912-90fa682c2a6e/go.mod h1:n7NCudcB/nEzxVGmLbDWY5pfWTLqBcC2KZ6jyYvM4mQ=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20190328211700-ab21143f2384/go.mod h1:LCzVGOaR6xXOjkQ3onu1FJEFr0SW1gC7cKk1uF8kGRs=
 golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20191204190536-9bdfabe68543 h1:E7g+9GITq07hpfrRu66IVDexMakfv52eLZ2CXBWiKr4=
 golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20191204190536-9bdfabe68543/go.mod h1:I/5z698sn9Ka8TeJc9MKroUUfqBBauWjQqLJ2OPfmY0=
diff --git a/linking/cid/cidLink.go b/linking/cid/cidLink.go
index 835e950a..9685ce61 100644
--- a/linking/cid/cidLink.go
+++ b/linking/cid/cidLink.go
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ func (lp LinkPrototype) BuildLink(hashsum []byte) datamodel.Link {
 	p := lp.Prefix
 
 	length := p.MhLength
-	if p.MhType == multihash.ID {
+	if p.MhType == multihash.IDENTITY {
 		length = -1
 	}
 	if p.Version == 0 && (p.MhType != multihash.SHA2_256 ||
diff --git a/node/bindnode/infer.go b/node/bindnode/infer.go
index 92f38b68..c11c7f9e 100644
--- a/node/bindnode/infer.go
+++ b/node/bindnode/infer.go
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ func inferGoType(typ schema.Type, status map[schema.TypeName]inferredStatus, lev
 
 // from IPLD Schema field names like "foo" to Go field names like "Foo".
 func fieldNameFromSchema(name string) string {
-	fieldName := strings.Title(name)
+	fieldName := strings.Title(name) //lint:ignore SA1019 cases.Title doesn't work for this
 	if !token.IsIdentifier(fieldName) {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("bindnode: inferred field name %q is not a valid Go identifier", fieldName))
 	}
@@ -418,10 +418,8 @@ func inferSchema(typ reflect.Type, level int) schema.Type {
 			return schemaTypeBytes
 		}
 
-		etyp := typ.Elem()
 		nullable := false
-		if etyp.Kind() == reflect.Ptr {
-			etyp = etyp.Elem()
+		if typ.Elem().Kind() == reflect.Ptr {
 			nullable = true
 		}
 		etypSchema := inferSchema(typ.Elem(), level+1)
@@ -433,7 +431,7 @@ func inferSchema(typ reflect.Type, level int) schema.Type {
 		defaultTypeSystem.Accumulate(typSchema)
 		return typSchema
 	}
-	panic(fmt.Sprintf("%s", typ.Kind()))
+	panic(fmt.Sprintf("%d", typ.Kind()))
 }
 
 // There are currently 27 reflect.Kind iota values,
diff --git a/node/bindnode/node.go b/node/bindnode/node.go
index 83fe021c..8bf2c6bc 100644
--- a/node/bindnode/node.go
+++ b/node/bindnode/node.go
@@ -905,8 +905,6 @@ type _mapAssembler struct {
 	// TODO: more state checks
 
 	curKey _assembler
-
-	nextIndex int // only used by repr.go
 }
 
 func (w *_mapAssembler) AssembleKey() datamodel.NodeAssembler {
@@ -1000,8 +998,6 @@ type _unionAssembler struct {
 	// TODO: more state checks
 
 	curKey _assembler
-
-	nextIndex int // only used by repr.go
 }
 
 func (w *_unionAssembler) AssembleKey() datamodel.NodeAssembler {
diff --git a/node/tests/schemaLinks.go b/node/tests/schemaLinks.go
index b78f2805..75e2236f 100644
--- a/node/tests/schemaLinks.go
+++ b/node/tests/schemaLinks.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import (
 var store = memstore.Store{}
 
 func encode(n datamodel.Node) (datamodel.Node, datamodel.Link) {
-	lp := cidlink.LinkPrototype{cid.Prefix{
+	lp := cidlink.LinkPrototype{Prefix: cid.Prefix{
 		Version:  1,
 		Codec:    0x0129,
 		MhType:   0x13,
diff --git a/node/tests/testutil.go b/node/tests/testutil.go
index 2c4b92d3..3be37c60 100644
--- a/node/tests/testutil.go
+++ b/node/tests/testutil.go
@@ -10,38 +10,9 @@ import (
 //  they'd probably be much less fragile and give better error messages that way.
 //  On the other hand, the functions for condensing two-arg returns wouldn't go away anyway.
 
-func plz(n datamodel.Node, e error) datamodel.Node {
-	if e != nil {
-		panic(e)
-	}
-	return n
-}
-
-func plzStr(n datamodel.Node, e error) string {
-	if e != nil {
-		panic(e)
-	}
-	if s, ok := n.AsString(); ok == nil {
-		return s
-	} else {
-		panic(ok)
-	}
-}
-
-func str(n datamodel.Node) string {
-	if s, ok := n.AsString(); ok == nil {
-		return s
-	} else {
-		panic(ok)
-	}
-}
-
-func erp(n datamodel.Node, e error) interface{} {
-	if e != nil {
-		return e
-	}
-	return n
-}
+// various benchmarks assign their final result here,
+// in order to defuse the possibility of their work being elided.
+var sink interface{} //lint:ignore U1000 used by benchmarks
 
 // purely to syntactically flip large inline closures so we can see the argument at the top rather than the bottom of the block.
 func withNode(n datamodel.Node, cb func(n datamodel.Node)) {
diff --git a/node/tests/util.go b/node/tests/util.go
index 0ce32e93..4e8ba61b 100644
--- a/node/tests/util.go
+++ b/node/tests/util.go
@@ -9,10 +9,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ipld/go-ipld-prime/traversal/selector"
 )
 
-// various benchmarks assign their final result here,
-// in order to defuse the possibility of their work being elided.
-var sink interface{}
-
 func mustNodeFromJsonString(np datamodel.NodePrototype, str string) datamodel.Node {
 	nb := np.NewBuilder()
 	must.NotError(json.Decode(nb, strings.NewReader(str)))
diff --git a/printer/printer.go b/printer/printer.go
index 21cf355a..763c3543 100644
--- a/printer/printer.go
+++ b/printer/printer.go
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ func (cfg Config) oneline(typ schema.Type, isInKey bool) bool {
 	return isInKey // Future: this could become customizable, with some kind of Always|OnlyInKeys|Never option enum per type.
 }
 
+/* TODO: not implemented or used
 // useRepr decides if a value should be printed using its representation.
 // Sometimes configuring this to be true for structs or unions with stringy representations
 // will cause map printouts using them as keys to become drastically more readable
@@ -114,6 +115,7 @@ func (cfg Config) oneline(typ schema.Type, isInKey bool) bool {
 func (cfg Config) useRepr(typ schema.Type, isInKey bool) bool {
 	return false
 }
+*/
 
 // useCmplxKeys decides if a map should print itself using a multi-line and extra-indented style for keys.
 func (cfg Config) useCmplxKeys(mapn datamodel.Node) bool {
diff --git a/schema/gen/go/adjunctCfg.go b/schema/gen/go/adjunctCfg.go
index 910eeea1..13adbd05 100644
--- a/schema/gen/go/adjunctCfg.go
+++ b/schema/gen/go/adjunctCfg.go
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ func (cfg *AdjunctCfg) FieldSymbolUpper(f schema.StructField) string {
 	if x, ok := cfg.fieldSymbolUpperOverrides[FieldTuple{f.Type().Name(), f.Name()}]; ok {
 		return x
 	}
-	return strings.Title(f.Name())
+	return strings.Title(f.Name()) //lint:ignore SA1019 cases.Title doesn't work for this
 }
 
 // Comments returns a bool for whether comments should be included in gen output or not.
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ func sizeOfSchemaType(t schema.Type) uintptr {
 // and validated more aggressively up front when adjcfg is loaded.
 func (cfg *AdjunctCfg) UnionMemlayout(t schema.Type) string {
 	if t.TypeKind() != schema.TypeKind_Union {
-		panic(fmt.Errorf("%s is not a union!", t.Name()))
+		panic(fmt.Errorf("%s is not a union", t.Name()))
 	}
 	v, ok := cfg.CfgUnionMemlayout[t.Name()]
 	if !ok {
diff --git a/schema/gen/go/genBoolReprBool.go b/schema/gen/go/genBoolReprBool.go
index fe642103..f563292b 100644
--- a/schema/gen/go/genBoolReprBool.go
+++ b/schema/gen/go/genBoolReprBool.go
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func (g boolReprBoolReprGenerator) EmitNodePrototypeType(w io.Writer) {
 	`, w, g.AdjCfg, g)
 }
 func (g boolReprBoolReprGenerator) GetNodeBuilderGenerator() NodeBuilderGenerator {
-	return boolReprBoolReprBuilderGenerator{g.AdjCfg, g.Type}
+	return boolReprBoolReprBuilderGenerator(g)
 }
 
 type boolReprBoolReprBuilderGenerator struct {
diff --git a/schema/gen/go/genBytesReprBytes.go b/schema/gen/go/genBytesReprBytes.go
index d1b404f8..9374bb36 100644
--- a/schema/gen/go/genBytesReprBytes.go
+++ b/schema/gen/go/genBytesReprBytes.go
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func (g bytesReprBytesReprGenerator) EmitNodePrototypeType(w io.Writer) {
 	`, w, g.AdjCfg, g)
 }
 func (g bytesReprBytesReprGenerator) GetNodeBuilderGenerator() NodeBuilderGenerator {
-	return bytesReprBytesReprBuilderGenerator{g.AdjCfg, g.Type}
+	return bytesReprBytesReprBuilderGenerator(g)
 }
 
 type bytesReprBytesReprBuilderGenerator struct {
diff --git a/schema/gen/go/genFloatReprFloat.go b/schema/gen/go/genFloatReprFloat.go
index a7c1c4ee..be0c918c 100644
--- a/schema/gen/go/genFloatReprFloat.go
+++ b/schema/gen/go/genFloatReprFloat.go
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func (g float64ReprFloatReprGenerator) EmitNodePrototypeType(w io.Writer) {
 	`, w, g.AdjCfg, g)
 }
 func (g float64ReprFloatReprGenerator) GetNodeBuilderGenerator() NodeBuilderGenerator {
-	return float64ReprFloatReprBuilderGenerator{g.AdjCfg, g.Type}
+	return float64ReprFloatReprBuilderGenerator(g)
 }
 
 type float64ReprFloatReprBuilderGenerator struct {
diff --git a/schema/gen/go/genIntReprInt.go b/schema/gen/go/genIntReprInt.go
index 06ac3ba4..5991ad91 100644
--- a/schema/gen/go/genIntReprInt.go
+++ b/schema/gen/go/genIntReprInt.go
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func (g intReprIntReprGenerator) EmitNodePrototypeType(w io.Writer) {
 	`, w, g.AdjCfg, g)
 }
 func (g intReprIntReprGenerator) GetNodeBuilderGenerator() NodeBuilderGenerator {
-	return intReprIntReprBuilderGenerator{g.AdjCfg, g.Type}
+	return intReprIntReprBuilderGenerator(g)
 }
 
 type intReprIntReprBuilderGenerator struct {
diff --git a/schema/gen/go/genLinkReprLink.go b/schema/gen/go/genLinkReprLink.go
index 75553b3d..23647c97 100644
--- a/schema/gen/go/genLinkReprLink.go
+++ b/schema/gen/go/genLinkReprLink.go
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func (g linkReprLinkReprGenerator) EmitNodePrototypeType(w io.Writer) {
 	`, w, g.AdjCfg, g)
 }
 func (g linkReprLinkReprGenerator) GetNodeBuilderGenerator() NodeBuilderGenerator {
-	return linkReprLinkReprBuilderGenerator{g.AdjCfg, g.Type}
+	return linkReprLinkReprBuilderGenerator(g)
 }
 
 type linkReprLinkReprBuilderGenerator struct {
diff --git a/schema/gen/go/genStringReprString.go b/schema/gen/go/genStringReprString.go
index 8389f174..05c346df 100644
--- a/schema/gen/go/genStringReprString.go
+++ b/schema/gen/go/genStringReprString.go
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func (g stringReprStringReprGenerator) EmitNodePrototypeType(w io.Writer) {
 	`, w, g.AdjCfg, g)
 }
 func (g stringReprStringReprGenerator) GetNodeBuilderGenerator() NodeBuilderGenerator {
-	return stringReprStringReprBuilderGenerator{g.AdjCfg, g.Type}
+	return stringReprStringReprBuilderGenerator(g)
 }
 
 type stringReprStringReprBuilderGenerator struct {
diff --git a/schema/gen/go/genUnionReprKinded.go b/schema/gen/go/genUnionReprKinded.go
index d98a8fba..6fe32f1a 100644
--- a/schema/gen/go/genUnionReprKinded.go
+++ b/schema/gen/go/genUnionReprKinded.go
@@ -343,11 +343,7 @@ func (g unionKindedReprGenerator) EmitNodePrototypeType(w io.Writer) {
 // --- NodeBuilder and NodeAssembler --->
 
 func (g unionKindedReprGenerator) GetNodeBuilderGenerator() NodeBuilderGenerator {
-	return unionKindedReprBuilderGenerator{
-		g.AdjCfg,
-		g.PkgName,
-		g.Type,
-	}
+	return unionKindedReprBuilderGenerator(g)
 }
 
 type unionKindedReprBuilderGenerator struct {
diff --git a/schema/gen/go/mixins/templateUtil.go b/schema/gen/go/mixins/templateUtil.go
index 267ea129..39389c2e 100644
--- a/schema/gen/go/mixins/templateUtil.go
+++ b/schema/gen/go/mixins/templateUtil.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 func doTemplate(tmplstr string, w io.Writer, data interface{}) {
 	tmpl := template.Must(template.New("").
 		Funcs(template.FuncMap{
-			"title": func(s string) string { return strings.Title(s) },
+			"title": func(s string) string { return strings.Title(s) }, //lint:ignore SA1019 cases.Title doesn't work for this
 		}).
 		Parse(testutil.Dedent(tmplstr)))
 	if err := tmpl.Execute(w, data); err != nil {
diff --git a/schema/gen/go/templateUtil.go b/schema/gen/go/templateUtil.go
index 6cf2282d..ab68f044 100644
--- a/schema/gen/go/templateUtil.go
+++ b/schema/gen/go/templateUtil.go
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func doTemplate(tmplstr string, w io.Writer, adjCfg *AdjunctCfg, data interface{
 				}
 			},
 			"add":   func(a, b int) int { return a + b },
-			"title": func(s string) string { return strings.Title(s) },
+			"title": func(s string) string { return strings.Title(s) }, //lint:ignore SA1019 cases.Title doesn't work for this
 		}).
 		Parse(testutil.Dedent(tmplstr)))
 	if err := tmpl.Execute(w, data); err != nil {
diff --git a/schema/gen/go/testutil_test.go b/schema/gen/go/testutil_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index bb6c1126..00000000
--- a/schema/gen/go/testutil_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-package gengo
-
-import (
-	"github.com/ipld/go-ipld-prime/datamodel"
-)
-
-// This file is full of helper functions.  Most are moderately embarassing.
-//
-// We should probably turn half of this into Wish Checkers;
-//  they'd probably be much less fragile and give better error messages that way.
-//  On the other hand, the functions for condensing two-arg returns wouldn't go away anyway.
-
-func plz(n datamodel.Node, e error) datamodel.Node {
-	if e != nil {
-		panic(e)
-	}
-	return n
-}
-func plzStr(n datamodel.Node, e error) string {
-	if e != nil {
-		panic(e)
-	}
-	if s, ok := n.AsString(); ok == nil {
-		return s
-	} else {
-		panic(ok)
-	}
-}
-func str(n datamodel.Node) string {
-	if s, ok := n.AsString(); ok == nil {
-		return s
-	} else {
-		panic(ok)
-	}
-}
-func erp(n datamodel.Node, e error) interface{} {
-	if e != nil {
-		return e
-	}
-	return n
-}
-
-// purely to syntactically flip large inline closures so we can see the argument at the top rather than the bottom of the block.
-func withNode(n datamodel.Node, cb func(n datamodel.Node)) {
-	cb(n)
-}
diff --git a/schema/type.go b/schema/type.go
index 6912b5f7..7db8720b 100644
--- a/schema/type.go
+++ b/schema/type.go
@@ -185,11 +185,15 @@ type UnionRepresentation_Keyed struct {
 type UnionRepresentation_Kinded struct {
 	table map[datamodel.Kind]TypeName
 }
+
+//lint:ignore U1000 implementation TODO
 type UnionRepresentation_Envelope struct {
 	discriminantKey string
 	contentKey      string
 	table           map[string]TypeName // key is user-defined freetext
 }
+
+//lint:ignore U1000 implementation TODO
 type UnionRepresentation_Inline struct {
 	discriminantKey string
 	table           map[string]TypeName // key is user-defined freetext
@@ -228,6 +232,8 @@ type StructRepresentation_Map struct {
 	implicits map[string]ImplicitValue
 }
 type StructRepresentation_Tuple struct{}
+
+//lint:ignore U1000 implementation TODO
 type StructRepresentation_StringPairs struct{ sep1, sep2 string }
 type StructRepresentation_Stringjoin struct{ sep string }
 
diff --git a/storage/fsstore/fsstore.go b/storage/fsstore/fsstore.go
index f23c301d..7a6b29e5 100644
--- a/storage/fsstore/fsstore.go
+++ b/storage/fsstore/fsstore.go
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ func CheckAndMakeBasepath(basepath string) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("fsstore: failed to make staging dir: %w", err)
 		}
 		if !fi.IsDir() {
-			return fmt.Errorf("fsstore: staging dir path contains not a dir!")
+			return fmt.Errorf("fsstore: staging dir path contains not a dir")
 		}
 	default:
 		return fmt.Errorf("fsstore: failed to make staging dir: %w", err)
diff --git a/storage/sharding/sharding_test.go b/storage/sharding/sharding_test.go
index fd7580e2..6a1e2eed 100644
--- a/storage/sharding/sharding_test.go
+++ b/storage/sharding/sharding_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ func printShard(fn func(string, *[]string), key string) {
 	fmt.Printf("%s => %s\n", key, path.Join(v...))
 }
 
-func Example_Shard_r133() {
+func Example_shard_R133() {
 	printShard(Shard_r133, "abcdefgh")
 	printShard(Shard_r133, "abcdefg")
 	printShard(Shard_r133, "abcdef")
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ func Example_Shard_r133() {
 
 }
 
-func Example_Shard_r122() {
+func Example_shard_r122() {
 	printShard(Shard_r122, "abcdefgh")
 	printShard(Shard_r122, "abcdefg")
 	printShard(Shard_r122, "abcdef")
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ func Example_Shard_r122() {
 	// abc => 00/ab/abc
 }
 
-func Example_Shard_r12() {
+func Example_shard_r12() {
 	printShard(Shard_r12, "abcde")
 	printShard(Shard_r12, "abcd")
 	printShard(Shard_r12, "abc")
diff --git a/traversal/selector/exploreRecursive_test.go b/traversal/selector/exploreRecursive_test.go
index e811edf4..6a55e4d9 100644
--- a/traversal/selector/exploreRecursive_test.go
+++ b/traversal/selector/exploreRecursive_test.go
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ func TestExploreRecursiveExplore(t *testing.T) {
 		qt.Check(t, rs, deepEqualsAllowAllUnexported, ExploreRecursive{subTree, parentsSelector, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_Depth, maxDepth - 2}, nil})
 		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 		rs, _ = rs.Explore(rn, datamodel.PathSegmentOfInt(0))
-		rn, err = rn.LookupByIndex(0)
+		_, err = rn.LookupByIndex(0)
 		qt.Check(t, rs, qt.IsNil)
 		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 	})
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ func TestExploreRecursiveExplore(t *testing.T) {
 		qt.Check(t, rs, deepEqualsAllowAllUnexported, ExploreRecursive{subTree, subTree, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_None, 0}, nil})
 		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 		rs, _ = rs.Explore(rn, datamodel.PathSegmentOfString("Parents"))
-		rn, err = rn.LookupByString("Parents")
+		_, err = rn.LookupByString("Parents")
 		qt.Check(t, rs, deepEqualsAllowAllUnexported, ExploreRecursive{subTree, parentsSelector, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_None, 0}, nil})
 		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 	})
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ func TestExploreRecursiveExplore(t *testing.T) {
 		qt.Check(t, rs, deepEqualsAllowAllUnexported, ExploreRecursive{subTree, subTree, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_Depth, maxDepth - 1}, nil})
 		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 		rs, _ = rs.Explore(rn, datamodel.PathSegmentOfString("Parents"))
-		rn, err = rn.LookupByString("Parents")
+		_, err = rn.LookupByString("Parents")
 		qt.Check(t, rs, deepEqualsAllowAllUnexported, ExploreRecursive{subTree, parentsSelector, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_Depth, maxDepth - 1}, nil})
 		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ func TestExploreRecursiveExplore(t *testing.T) {
 		qt.Check(t, rs, deepEqualsAllowAllUnexported, ExploreRecursive{subTree, ExploreRecursive{sideSelector, sideSelector, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_Depth, maxDepth - 2}, nil}, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_Depth, maxDepth}, nil})
 		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 		rs, _ = rs.Explore(rn, datamodel.PathSegmentOfString("sauce"))
-		rn, err = rn.LookupByString("sauce")
+		_, err = rn.LookupByString("sauce")
 		qt.Check(t, rs, qt.IsNil)
 		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 
@@ -397,7 +397,7 @@ func TestExploreRecursiveExplore(t *testing.T) {
 		qt.Check(t, rs, deepEqualsAllowAllUnexported, ExploreRecursive{subTree, ExploreRecursive{sideSelector, sideSelector, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_Depth, maxDepth - 1}, nil}, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_Depth, maxDepth - 1}, nil})
 		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 		rs, _ = rs.Explore(rn, datamodel.PathSegmentOfString("whiz"))
-		rn, err = rn.LookupByString("whiz")
+		_, err = rn.LookupByString("whiz")
 		qt.Check(t, rs, deepEqualsAllowAllUnexported, ExploreRecursive{subTree, ExploreRecursive{sideSelector, sideSelector, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_Depth, maxDepth - 2}, nil}, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_Depth, maxDepth - 1}, nil})
 		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 	})
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ func TestExploreRecursiveExplore(t *testing.T) {
 		qt.Check(t, rs, deepEqualsAllowAllUnexported, ExploreRecursive{subTree, parentsSelector, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_Depth, maxDepth - 1}, nil})
 		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 		rs, _ = rs.Explore(rn, datamodel.PathSegmentOfInt(0))
-		rn, err = rn.LookupByIndex(0)
+		_, err = rn.LookupByIndex(0)
 		qt.Check(t, rs, deepEqualsAllowAllUnexported, ExploreRecursive{subTree, ExploreUnion{[]Selector{Matcher{}, subTree}}, RecursionLimit{RecursionLimit_Depth, maxDepth - 2}, nil})
 		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 	})
diff --git a/traversal/walk_test.go b/traversal/walk_test.go
index 94dba615..6ea51a6c 100644
--- a/traversal/walk_test.go
+++ b/traversal/walk_test.go
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ func TestWalkMatching(t *testing.T) {
 			ssb.ExploreAll(ssb.ExploreRecursiveEdge()),
 		))
 		s, err := ss.Selector()
+		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 		var order int
 		lsys := cidlink.DefaultLinkSystem()
 		lsys.SetReadStorage(&store)
@@ -173,6 +174,7 @@ func TestWalkMatching(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("traversing lists should work", func(t *testing.T) {
 		ss := ssb.ExploreRange(0, 3, ssb.Matcher())
 		s, err := ss.Selector()
+		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 		var order int
 		lsys := cidlink.DefaultLinkSystem()
 		lsys.SetReadStorage(&store)
@@ -216,6 +218,7 @@ func TestWalkMatching(t *testing.T) {
 			})))
 		})
 		s, err := ss.Selector()
+		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 		var order int
 		lsys := cidlink.DefaultLinkSystem()
 		lsys.SetReadStorage(&store)
@@ -280,6 +283,7 @@ func TestWalkMatching(t *testing.T) {
 			})))
 		})
 		s, err := ss.Selector()
+		qt.Check(t, err, qt.IsNil)
 		var order int
 		lsys := cidlink.DefaultLinkSystem()
 		lsys.SetReadStorage(&store)