# bufbuild/protobuf-es

Protocol Buffers for ECMAScript. The only JavaScript Protobuf library that is fully-compliant with Protobuf conformance tests.

Repository: https://github.com/bufbuild/protobuf-es
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/protobuf-es
Homepage: https://protobufes.com
Language: TypeScript
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: protobuf, protocol-buffers, javascript, protoc-plugin, schema, typescipt
Last push: 2026-08-26T10:35:21+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 98/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 97, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1633, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 20, "gap_med": 20, "n_releases_24m": 28}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1655, forks 209 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:17.852235+00:00)

## What it is
Protobuf-ES is a Protocol Buffers runtime and protoc plugin for JavaScript and TypeScript, generating idiomatic plain-object messages with full proto2/proto3/Editions support. It passes Protobuf conformance tests with zero failures and works in browsers, Node.js, Deno, and Bun.

## Use cases
- serialize protobuf messages to binary in javascript
- generate typescript types from proto files
- parse protobuf binary data in the browser
- convert protobuf messages to and from
- build type-safe rpc clients compatible with grpc
- work with protobuf extensions and custom options in typescript

## When to choose
- you want fully spec-compliant protobuf semantics in JavaScript or TypeScript
- you prefer plain object messages and ESM over getter/setter classes and CommonJS
- you need proto2, proto3, and Editions 2024 support including extensions
- you are building Connect or gRPC services with type-safe clients and servers

## When to avoid
- you need a non-JavaScript/TypeScript language runtime
- your toolchain depends on the legacy google-protobuf CommonJS API
- you only need JSON serialization and do not care about protobuf wire format

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: serialization, sdk, parser
- domain: developer-tools, apis, web-development
- platform: bun, browser, cross-platform
- tags: protobuf, typescript, code-generation, esm, grpc, connect, nodejs, deno, web-server

## Member repositories
- bufbuild/protobuf-es (main) score 98

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:17.852235+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 2026-08-30T03:44:51.970104+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/bufbuild/protobuf-es (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:17.852235+00:00, sha 5060cd79a318)
  - homepage: https://protobufes.com (fetched 2026-08-29T11:17:59.071072+00:00, sha c1dfd2f421ac)
  - site_page: https://protobufes.com/getting-started (fetched 2026-08-29T11:17:59.080322+00:00, sha 242d93b9b72e)
  - site_page: https://protobufes.com/reference/generated-code/features (fetched 2026-08-29T11:17:59.082290+00:00, sha 5b8bd1c2d929)
  - site_page: https://protobufes.com/reference/faq (fetched 2026-08-29T11:17:59.084005+00:00, sha 0967650d72e7)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.