# golang/protobuf

Go support for Google's protocol buffers

Repository: https://github.com/golang/protobuf
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/protobuf
Language: Go
License: BSD-3-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: go, golang, protobuf, protocol-buffers
Last push: 2024-08-05T20:04:08+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4301, "days_push": 758, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 10085, forks 1571 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:39.510120+00:00)

## What it is
The legacy Go module providing bindings for Google's protocol buffers, including binary, text, and JSON serialization of protobuf messages. It has been superseded by the google.golang.org/protobuf module, which new projects should use instead.

## Use cases
- serialize protobuf messages in Go
- convert protobuf messages to JSON in Go
- clone, merge, or compare protobuf messages
- use protobuf well-known types like timestamp and duration in Go
- maintain legacy Go code depending on github.com/golang/protobuf

## When to choose
- you must maintain an existing codebase that depends on github.com/golang/protobuf
- you need compatibility with both this module and the newer google.golang.org/protobuf module (v1.4+)

## When to avoid
- you are starting a new Go project - use google.golang.org/protobuf instead
- you need protobuf reflection or the latest API improvements

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: serialization, sdk
- domain: developer-tools, apis, backend
- platform: go, cross-platform
- tags: protobuf, protocol-buffers, grpc, legacy-module, jsonpb

## Member repositories
- golang/protobuf (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:39.510120+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 2026-08-29T17:19:45.081471+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/golang/protobuf (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:39.510120+00:00, sha dcabde7df436)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.