# protobuf-c/protobuf-c

Protocol Buffers implementation in C

Repository: https://github.com/protobuf-c/protobuf-c
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/protobuf-c
Language: C++
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-22T20:33:30+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 74/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 28, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4674, "days_push": 11, "days_rel": 514, "gap_med": 63, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2988, forks 771 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:34.415064+00:00)

## What it is
A pure C implementation of Google's Protocol Buffers data serialization format, including libprotobuf-c for encoding/decoding and protoc-gen-c, a code generator plugin for protoc. It lets C programs serialize and deserialize structured messages defined in .proto files.

## Use cases
- serialize structured data in C programs
- generate C code from .proto files
- decode protobuf messages in embedded C applications
- exchange protobuf-encoded data between C and other languages
- implement binary message formats without writing manual parsers

## When to choose
- you need Protocol Buffers support in pure C without C++ runtime dependencies
- you are building embedded or low-level systems that consume protobuf messages
- you want protoc-generated C descriptors and accessors for your .proto schemas

## When to avoid
- you are working in C++ and can use the official protobuf C++ library
- you need RPC support, which was split out into protobuf-c-rpc
- you need a language with first-party protobuf support like Go, Java, or Python

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: serialization, parser
- domain: developer-tools, apis, files
- platform: windows, cross-platform, c, cpp
- tags: protocol-buffers, protobuf, code-generation, c-library, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- protobuf-c/protobuf-c (main) score 74

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:34.415064+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:47:27.462598+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/protobuf-c/protobuf-c (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:34.415064+00:00, sha 5a977078bfd5)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.