diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index e55bc2c..0106fdd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -15,13 +15,18 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
 
     steps:
+      - name: Checkout Git Repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Determine Go version
+        id: go_version
+        run: |
+          echo "version=$(go mod edit -json | jq -r '.Go')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
       - name: Set up Go
         uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
-          go-version: "1.22"
-
-      - name: Checkout Git Repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+          go-version: ${{ steps.go_version.outputs.version }}
 
       - name: Determine golang-ci version
         run: make test
@@ -37,13 +42,18 @@ jobs:
           - proxy: smart-proxy
 
     steps:
+      - name: Checkout Git Repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Determine Go version
+        id: go_version
+        run: |
+          echo "version=$(go mod edit -json | jq -r '.Go')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
       - name: Set up Go
         uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
-          go-version: "1.22"
-
-      - name: Checkout Git Repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+          go-version: ${{ steps.go_version.outputs.version }}
 
       - name: Run tests
         env:
@@ -57,30 +67,70 @@ jobs:
             make -C "acceptance/test/${{ matrix.proxy }}" test
           echo "##[endgroup]"
 
-  lint-go:
-    name: Lint code
+  go-tidy:
+    name: Tidy go mod
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
 
     steps:
+      - name: Checkout Git Repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Determine Go version
+        id: go_version
+        run: |
+          echo "version=$(go mod edit -json | jq -r '.Go')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
       - name: Set up Go
         uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
-          go-version: "1.22"
+          go-version: ${{ steps.go_version.outputs.version }}
+
+      - name: Ensure go.mod is tidy
+        env:
+          SHA_FILE: ${{ runner.temp }}/go_mod_shas.txt"
+        run: |
+          # generate sha512 for go mod files
+          sha512sum go.mod go.sum > "${SHA_FILE}"
+
+          # run go mod tidy
+          go mod tidy -v
+
+          # check files were left untouched
+          sha512sum -c "${SHA_FILE}"
+          if [ "$?" != 0 ]; then
+            printf "please run go mod tidy to tidy the go.mod\n\n%s\n" "${output}"
+            exit 1
+          fi
 
+  lint-go:
+    name: Lint code
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+
+    steps:
       - name: Checkout Git Repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
+      - name: Determine Go version
+        id: go_version
+        run: |
+          echo "version=$(go mod edit -json | jq -r '.Go')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
       - name: Determine golang-ci version
         id: golangci_version
         run: |
           echo "version=$(go mod edit -json hack/tools/golang-ci/go.mod | \
-            jq '.Require | map(select(.Path == "github.com/golangci/golangci-lint"))[].Version')" \
+            jq -r '.Require | map(select(.Path == "github.com/golangci/golangci-lint"))[].Version')" \
             >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
+      - name: Set up Go
+        uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+        with:
+          go-version: ${{ steps.go_version.outputs.version }}
+
       - name: Lint with golang-ci
         uses: golangci/golangci-lint-action@v6
         with:
-          version: ${{ steps.golangci_version.version }}
+          version: ${{ steps.golangci_version.outputs.version }}
           args: --timeout=5m
 
   lint-yaml: