diff --git a/boilerplate/flyte/golang_support_tools/go.mod b/boilerplate/flyte/golang_support_tools/go.mod
index 692db82f..53f64515 100644
--- a/boilerplate/flyte/golang_support_tools/go.mod
+++ b/boilerplate/flyte/golang_support_tools/go.mod
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module github.com/flyteorg/boilerplate
 
-go 1.17
+go 1.16
 
 require (
 	github.com/alvaroloes/enumer v1.1.2
diff --git a/boilerplate/flyte/golang_support_tools/tools.go b/boilerplate/flyte/golang_support_tools/tools.go
index da7b9333..eee691d8 100644
--- a/boilerplate/flyte/golang_support_tools/tools.go
+++ b/boilerplate/flyte/golang_support_tools/tools.go
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-//go:build tools
 // +build tools
 
 package tools
@@ -7,6 +6,6 @@ import (
 	_ "github.com/alvaroloes/enumer"
 	_ "github.com/flyteorg/flytestdlib/cli/pflags"
 	_ "github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint"
-	_ "github.com/pseudomuto/protoc-gen-doc/cmd/protoc-gen-doc"
 	_ "github.com/vektra/mockery/cmd/mockery"
+	- "github.com/pseudomuto/protoc-gen-doc/cmd/protoc-gen-doc"
 )
diff --git a/boilerplate/flyte/golang_test_targets/Makefile b/boilerplate/flyte/golang_test_targets/Makefile
index 21d8b5b7..280e1e55 100644
--- a/boilerplate/flyte/golang_test_targets/Makefile
+++ b/boilerplate/flyte/golang_test_targets/Makefile
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
 download_tooling: #download dependencies (including test deps) for the package
 	@boilerplate/flyte/golang_test_targets/download_tooling.sh
 
+.PHONY: generate
+generate: download_tooling #generate go code
+	@boilerplate/flyte/golang_test_targets/go-gen.sh
+
 .PHONY: lint
 lint: download_tooling #lints the package for common code smells
 	GL_DEBUG=linters_output,env golangci-lint run --deadline=5m --exclude deprecated -v
diff --git a/boilerplate/flyte/golang_test_targets/go-gen.sh b/boilerplate/flyte/golang_test_targets/go-gen.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..54bd6af6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boilerplate/flyte/golang_test_targets/go-gen.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -ex
+
+echo "Running go generate"
+go generate ./...
+
+# This section is used by GitHub workflow to ensure that the generation step was run
+if [ -n "$DELTA_CHECK" ]; then
+  DIRTY=$(git status --porcelain)
+  if [ -n "$DIRTY" ]; then
+    echo "FAILED: Go code updated without commiting generated code."
+    echo "Ensure make generate has run and all changes are committed."
+    DIFF=$(git diff)
+    echo "diff detected: $DIFF"
+    DIFF=$(git diff --name-only)
+    echo "files different: $DIFF"
+    exit 1
+  else
+    echo "SUCCESS: Generated code is up to date."
+  fi
+fi