# @bufbuild/protobuf

This package provides the runtime library for the [protoc-gen-es](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@bufbuild/protoc-gen-es)
code generator plugin.

## Protocol Buffers for ECMAScript

A complete implementation of [Protocol Buffers](https://protobuf.dev/) in TypeScript,
suitable for web browsers, Node.js, Deno, and Bun, created by [Buf](https://buf.build).

**Protobuf-ES** is a solid, modern alternative to existing Protobuf implementations for the JavaScript ecosystem. It's
the first project in this space to provide a comprehensive plugin framework and decouple the base types from RPC
functionality.

Some additional features that set it apart from the others:

- ECMAScript module support
- First-class TypeScript support
- Generation of idiomatic JavaScript and TypeScript code
- Generation of [much smaller bundles](https://github.com/bufbuild/protobuf-es/tree/main/packages/bundle-size/)
- Implementation of all proto3 features, including the [canonical JSON format](https://protobuf.dev/programming-guides/proto3/#json)
- Implementation of all proto2 features, including extensions and the text format
- Usage of standard JavaScript APIs instead of the [Closure Library](http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2009/11/introducing-closure-tools.html)
- Compatibility is covered by the Protocol Buffers [conformance tests](https://github.com/bufbuild/protobuf-es/tree/main/packages/protobuf-conformance/)
- Descriptor and reflection support

## Installation

```bash
npm install @bufbuild/protobuf
```

## Documentation

To learn how to work with `@bufbuild/protobuf`, check out the docs for the [Runtime API](https://protobufes.com/guides/messages/)
and the [generated code](https://protobufes.com/reference/generated-code/).

Official documentation for the Protobuf-ES project can be found at [protobufes.com](https://protobufes.com/).

For more information on Buf, check out the official [Buf documentation](https://buf.build/docs/).

## Examples

A complete code example can be found in the **Protobuf-ES** repo [here](https://github.com/bufbuild/protobuf-es/tree/main/packages/protobuf-example).
