diff --git a/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
--- a/.golangci.yml
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 linters:
   enable:
     - gofmt          # Enforce standard Go formatting
+    - gofumpt        # Stricter gofmt (extra formatting rules)
+    - goimports      # Check import organization
     - govet          # Examine Go source code and report suspicious constructs
     - errcheck       # Check for unchecked errors
     - staticcheck    # Advanced static analysis
@@ -10,11 +12,19 @@ - ineffassign    # Detect ineffectual assignments
     - typecheck      # Standard Go type checker
 
 linters-settings:
+  gofmt:
+    simplify: true   # Simplify code where possible
+
+  gofumpt:
+    extra-rules: true  # Enable extra formatting rules
+
   errcheck:
-    check-blank: true  # Check for blank error assignments (x, _ = f())
+    check-blank: false  # Don't check blank assignments (allows _ = in defer closures)
 
   govet:
     enable-all: true
+    disable:
+      - shadow  # Disable shadow checking (common pattern in tests)
 
   staticcheck:
     checks: ["all"]
@@ -27,3 +37,6 @@ issues:
   exclude-use-default: false
   max-issues-per-linter: 0
   max-same-issues: 0
+  exclude-dirs:
+    - local_dev_data
+    - vendor
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -136,14 +136,31 @@ @echo "$(GREEN)✓ Test database stopped$(RESET)"
 
 ##@ Code Quality
 
-lint: ## Run golangci-lint on the codebase
+fmt: ## Format all Go code with gofmt
+	@echo "$(GREEN)Formatting Go code...$(RESET)"
+	@gofmt -w ./cmd ./internal ./tests
+	@echo "$(GREEN)✓ Formatting complete$(RESET)"
+
+fmt-check: ## Check if Go code is properly formatted
+	@echo "$(GREEN)Checking code formatting...$(RESET)"
+	@unformatted=$$(gofmt -l ./cmd ./internal ./tests); \
+	if [ -n "$$unformatted" ]; then \
+		echo "$(RED)✗ The following files are not formatted:$(RESET)"; \
+		echo "$$unformatted"; \
+		echo "$(YELLOW)Run 'make fmt' to fix$(RESET)"; \
+		exit 1; \
+	fi
+	@echo "$(GREEN)✓ All files are properly formatted$(RESET)"
+
+lint: fmt-check ## Run golangci-lint on the codebase (includes format check)
 	@echo "$(GREEN)Running linter...$(RESET)"
-	@golangci-lint run
+	@golangci-lint run ./cmd/... ./internal/... ./tests/...
 	@echo "$(GREEN)✓ Linting complete$(RESET)"
 
 lint-fix: ## Run golangci-lint and auto-fix issues
 	@echo "$(GREEN)Running linter with auto-fix...$(RESET)"
-	@golangci-lint run --fix
+	@golangci-lint run --fix ./cmd/... ./internal/... ./tests/...
+	@gofmt -w ./cmd ./internal ./tests
 	@echo "$(GREEN)✓ Linting complete$(RESET)"
 
 ##@ Build & Run