The len prefix is superficial and causes the invalid utf-8 error:
package main
import (
"encoding/base64"
"fmt"
"log"
)
func main() {
str := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString([]byte("Hello, playground"))
fmt.Println(str)
data, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(str)
if err != nil {
log.Fatal("error:", err)
}
fmt.Printf("%q\n", data)
}
(Also here)
Output
SGVsbG8sIHBsYXlncm91bmQ=
"Hello, playground"
EDIT: I read too fast, the len was not used as a prefix. dystroy got it right.