Thoughts, insights, and updates from the Buf team on Protobuf, APIs, and the future of schema-driven development.https://buf.buildhttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-es-performancehttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-es-performanceProtobuf-ES v2.14 serializes up to 5x faster and parses up to 2x faster, with no API changes and no new build options. Update the package and your code gets faster.Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/choosing-the-right-protobuf-integer-typehttps://buf.build/blog/choosing-the-right-protobuf-integer-typeProtobuf has ten integer types. Use int64. In Go, even the slow cases decode a thousand integers in a few microseconds, so the choice almost never matters.Mon, 10 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-pyhttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-pyWe're announcing protobuf-py, a complete, 100% conformant Protobuf runtime for Python that feels like Python and matches the performance of Google's C engine on real workloads.Tue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/coreweave-acquires-bufstreamhttps://buf.build/blog/coreweave-acquires-bufstreamToday, we are pleased to share that CoreWeave has acquired Bufstream, our Apache Kafka-compatible streaming platform, from Buf. CoreWeave, a leading AI cloud, has added Bufstream to its internal platform as part of the W&B Models and Weave product lines.Fri, 08 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-lsphttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-lspBuf is proud to announce the first fully-featured, production-grade LSP server for Protobuf. The Language Server Protocol is the standard API for integrating language support into your favorite IDE or text editor, such as VSCode, IntelliJ, or Neovim. An LSP server provides the smarts that power go to definition, code completion, finding references, and semantics-aware syntax highlighting.Wed, 14 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/protovalidate-v1https://buf.build/blog/protovalidate-v1After two years of development, we're proud to announce that Protovalidate has reached v1.0. Protovalidate is the semantic validation library for Protobuf. Protobuf gives you the structure of your data, but Protovalidate ensures the quality of your data. Without semantic validation, you're stuck writing the same validation logic over and over again across every service that consumes your messages. With Protovalidate, you define your validation rules once, directly on your schemas, and they're enforced everywhere.Fri, 12 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/hyperpbhttps://buf.build/blog/hyperpbToday we’re announcing public availability of hyperpb, a fully-dynamic Protobuf parser that is 10x faster than dynamicpb, the standard Go solution for dynamic Protobuf. In fact, it’s so efficient that it’s 3x faster than parsing with generated code! It also matches or beats vtprotobuf’s generated code at almost every benchmark, without skimping on correctness.Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/totw-9-some-numbers-are-more-equal-than-othershttps://buf.build/blog/totw-9-some-numbers-are-more-equal-than-othersThe first 15 field numbers are special: most runtimes will decode them much faster than the other field numbers. When designing a message type for decoding performance, it’s good to use these field numbers on fields that are almost always present.Tue, 17 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/totw-8-never-use-requiredhttps://buf.build/blog/totw-8-never-use-requiredDon’t use 'required' to modify fields—you won’t be able to get rid of it later when you realize it was a bad idea.Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/totw-7-scoping-it-outhttps://buf.build/blog/totw-7-scoping-it-outbuf convert and protoscope are powerful tools for examining and debugging wire format dumps.Mon, 02 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/totw-6-dangers-of-enum-aliaseshttps://buf.build/blog/totw-6-dangers-of-enum-aliasesEnum values are a poorly designed feature and shouldn’t be used.Mon, 19 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/totw-5-avoid-import-public-weakhttps://buf.build/blog/totw-5-avoid-import-public-weakAvoid import public and import weak.Tue, 13 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/totw-4-accepting-mistakeshttps://buf.build/blog/totw-4-accepting-mistakesProtobuf’s distributed nature introduces evolution risks that make it hard to fix some types of mistakes. Sometimes the best thing to do is to just let it be.Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/totw-3-enum-names-need-prefixeshttps://buf.build/blog/totw-3-enum-names-need-prefixesEnums inherit some unfortunate behaviors from C++. Avoid this problem by using the Buf lint rules ENUM_VALUE_PREFIX and ENUM_ZERO_VALUE_SUFFIX.Tue, 22 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/totw-2-compress-protoshttps://buf.build/blog/totw-2-compress-protosCompression is everywhere. This pervasiveness means that wire size tradeoffs matter less than they used to twenty years ago, when Protobuf was designed.Tue, 15 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/totw-1-field-nameshttps://buf.build/blog/totw-1-field-namesDon’t rename fields. Even though there are a slim number of cases you can get away with it, it’s rarely worth doing, and is a potential source of bugs.Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/connect-es-v2https://buf.build/blog/connect-es-v2Today, we’re announcing the 2.0 release of the Connect-ES project, the TypeScript implementation of Connect for Web browsers and Node.js. This release introduces improved support for major frameworks and simplified code generation. Connect-ES 2.0 now uses Protobuf-ES 2.0 APIs to leverage reflection, extension registries, and Protobuf custom options. The 2.0 release is a major version bump and comes with breaking changes. Read on to learn what’s changed and how to migrate to the 2.0 release.Wed, 20 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/connect-swift-v1https://buf.build/blog/connect-swift-v1We’re excited to share that Connect-Swift has officially reached v1.0—its first stable release! With this milestone, the library’s battle-tested APIs will remain stable until its next major release. Projects can rely on Connect-Swift without worrying that future releases will cause breakages or require migrations.Mon, 11 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/buf-custom-lint-breaking-change-pluginshttps://buf.build/blog/buf-custom-lint-breaking-change-pluginsBuf is introducing custom lint and breaking change plugins via the Bufplugin framework. Check it out to see how easy it is to author, test, and consume your own lint and breaking change rules.Wed, 18 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/bsr-generated-sdks-for-cpphttps://buf.build/blog/bsr-generated-sdks-for-cppWe’re excited to announce that in addition to C#, Go, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java/Kotlin, Python, Swift, and Rust, the Buf Schema Registry now provides generated SDKs for C++ via CMake.Wed, 28 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/bsr-generated-sdks-for-csharphttps://buf.build/blog/bsr-generated-sdks-for-csharpWe’re excited to announce that in addition to C++, Go, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java/Kotlin, Python, Swift, and Rust, the Buf Schema Registry now provides generated SDKs for C# via NuGet.Wed, 28 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-es-v2https://buf.build/blog/protobuf-es-v2Today we’re announcing the 2.0 release of the Protobuf-ES project, our fully compliant Protobuf implementation for JavaScript and TypeScript. This release introduces full support for Protobuf Editions, new APIs for field presence & default values, TypeScript typing for Protobuf’s JSON Format, a full reflection API, support for Protobuf custom options, and more convenient APIs for managing extension registries. The 2.0 release is a major version bump, and comes with breaking changes. Read on to learn what’s changed and how to migrate to the 2.0 release.Wed, 14 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/unified-buf-github-action-releasedhttps://buf.build/blog/unified-buf-github-action-releasedToday, we’re launching the 1.0 release of our new unified GitHub Action, powered by the Buf CLI. This integration streamlines the processes of building, formatting, linting, and checking for breaking changes in your Protobuf schemas. It seamlessly integrates with GitHub's pull request workflow and automatically publishes Protobuf schema changes to the Buf Schema Registry when pull requests are merged.Tue, 13 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/bsr-generated-sdks-for-rusthttps://buf.build/blog/bsr-generated-sdks-for-rustWe’re excited to announce that the Buf Schema Registry now supports generated SDKs for Rust. Our Rust SDK crates are available natively to the Rust ecosystem using a custom crate registry that’s powered by our zero-dependency remote plugins platform.Thu, 13 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/connect-rpc-joins-cncfhttps://buf.build/blog/connect-rpc-joins-cncfConnect RPC, Buf’s family of fully protocol-conformant and battle-tested alternatives to Google’s gRPC project, has joined the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. We joined the CNCF to demonstrate our deep commitment to sustainably and responsibly growing Connect as a well-governed and community-led open source project. Today, Connect integrates seamlessly with gRPC systems in production at companies of all sizes, such as CrowdStrike, PlanetScale, RedPanda, Chick-fil-A, BlueSky, and Dropbox.Tue, 04 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/grpc-conformance-deep-divehttps://buf.build/blog/grpc-conformance-deep-diveWe’ve open sourced Connect RPC’s protocol conformance suite. Connect is a multi-protocol RPC project that includes support for the gRPC and gRPC-Web protocols. Anyone can now use it to validate the correctness of a gRPC implementation. This article explores how the test suite operates and details our findings for a selection of Connect RPC and Google’s gRPC runtimes.Thu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/buf-cli-next-generationhttps://buf.build/blog/buf-cli-next-generationThe Buf CLI and its associated configuration have been completely overhauled to support monorepos as first-class citizens. Everything we've changed is 100% backwards compatible.Fri, 17 May 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/enhanced-buf-push-bsr-uihttps://buf.build/blog/enhanced-buf-push-bsr-uiWe've made it easier to onboard and use the BSR with improved support for monorepos, tighter integration with source control providers, and a new BSR UI that is more polished and has improved accessibility.Fri, 17 May 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-editions-are-herehttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-editions-are-hereMost Protobuf users should ignore Editions and continue using proto3. If you become an early adopter, we’ve been working closely with Google to ensure that Buf will support editions as soon as they’re generally available.Thu, 09 May 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/kong-insomnia-grpc-bsr-supporthttps://buf.build/blog/kong-insomnia-grpc-bsr-supportKong Insomnia’s 9.0 release includes integrated support for the Buf Schema Registry. Organizations adopting gRPC can now provide developers first-class GUI tools while keeping schema access simple and secure.Fri, 03 May 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/cloud-marketplaceshttps://buf.build/blog/cloud-marketplacesThe BSR is the source of truth for your Protobuf APIs, and is the best way to share schemas across repositories, generate consistent code, and integrate Protobuf with Kafka. This launch helps Enterprise customers simplify how they purchase the Buf Schema Registry.Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/bsr-generated-sdkshttps://buf.build/blog/bsr-generated-sdksProduce pre-built client libraries in Go, Java, JS, TS, Swift, Kotlin, and Python out of the box for all of your Protobuf APIs with Buf’s generated SDKs. You’ll never have to explain how to use protoc ever again.Mon, 04 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/python-generated-sdkshttps://buf.build/blog/python-generated-sdksPython engineers can now download pre-packaged generated code for their Protobuf schemas from the BSR using package management tools like pip, Poetry, and Conda.Wed, 29 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/why-a-protobuf-schema-registryhttps://buf.build/blog/why-a-protobuf-schema-registryLearn why teams across industries and sizes have chosen the Buf Schema Registry as the home for their Protobuf schemas.Mon, 20 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/the-real-reason-to-use-protobufhttps://buf.build/blog/the-real-reason-to-use-protobufFast serialization and small payloads are nice, but schema-driven development is why you’ll adopt Protobuf.Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/review-governance-workflowhttps://buf.build/blog/review-governance-workflowEnterprise customers can now use the BSR to audit, approve, and reject commits that introduce breaking changes.Mon, 06 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/type-path-uniquenesshttps://buf.build/blog/type-path-uniquenessThe BSR can now enforce type and path uniqueness across all modules.Tue, 05 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/seamless-gradle-integration-with-the-buf-clihttps://buf.build/blog/seamless-gradle-integration-with-the-buf-cliThe Buf CLI can now integrate seamlessly with your Gradle builds.Wed, 09 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/swift-packageshttps://buf.build/blog/swift-packagesSwift engineers can now download pre-packaged generated code for their Protobuf schemas from the BSR using Xcode and Swift Package Manager.Wed, 12 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/breaking-change-governancehttps://buf.build/blog/breaking-change-governanceThe BSR can now enforce breaking change prevention policies across all modules.Mon, 10 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/maven-repositoryhttps://buf.build/blog/maven-repositoryLaunching the Buf Maven repository, supporting Java and Kotlin plugins (including connect-kotlin!)Mon, 08 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/introducing-connect-cacheable-rpcshttps://buf.build/blog/introducing-connect-cacheable-rpcsWe’ve expanded the Connect protocol to support the use of HTTP GET requests, enabling web browsers and CDNs to cache Connect requests with ease.Wed, 03 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/grpc-microservice-with-connecthttps://buf.build/blog/grpc-microservice-with-connect Tutorial that covers creating a service, adding a client, testing, adding a database, and writing tests.Thu, 27 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/protoc-gen-validate-v1-and-v2https://buf.build/blog/protoc-gen-validate-v1-and-v2A look to the future of Protobuf validationMon, 24 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/plans-pricing-updateshttps://buf.build/blog/plans-pricing-updatesThe Buf Schema Registry (BSR) is officially out of beta, and we're launching new pricing plansWed, 12 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-conformancehttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-conformanceThe results are in: Protobuf-ES passes 99.95% of conformance testsTue, 21 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/introducing-bsr-scimhttps://buf.build/blog/introducing-bsr-scimAdmins can now configure SCIM in their BSR to manage organization enrollments based on IdP security groups.Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/connect-opentelemetry-gohttps://buf.build/blog/connect-opentelemetry-goAdd observability to your connect-go applications in just a few lines of codeMon, 06 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/connect-node-betahttps://buf.build/blog/connect-node-betaConnect is now full-stack TypeScriptTue, 28 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/announcing-connect-kotlinhttps://buf.build/blog/announcing-connect-kotlinConnect is now available across mobile for both Android and iOS!Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/introducing-connect-queryhttps://buf.build/blog/introducing-connect-queryA TanStack Query extension to seamlessly integrate ProtobufMon, 06 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/buf-reflection-apihttps://buf.build/blog/buf-reflection-apiA new API and Go library to unlock the power of Protobuf in your data processing.Thu, 02 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/speeding-up-with-draftshttps://buf.build/blog/speeding-up-with-draftsTo enable engineers to begin iterating quickly using generated code without the need to merge Protobuf schemas to main, we support BSR drafts.Wed, 25 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/announcing-connect-swifthttps://buf.build/blog/announcing-connect-swiftEliminate handwritten Codable models by generating idiomatic HTTP APIs with Protobuf and Connect-Swift.Wed, 18 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/buf-curlhttps://buf.build/blog/buf-curlA new tool to call gRPC, gRPC-Web, and Connect endpoints.Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-es-v1https://buf.build/blog/protobuf-es-v1A stable, idiomatic Protocol Buffers library for TypeScript and JavaScript.Wed, 04 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/generated-documentation-protobuf-optionshttps://buf.build/blog/generated-documentation-protobuf-optionsWe are excited to share an update to the Generated Documentation feature within the BSR, which now includes support for most built-in Protobuf options. 🎉Wed, 21 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/studio-now-has-favoriteshttps://buf.build/blog/studio-now-has-favoritesAs of today, Buf Studio supports saving requests to your BSR profile.Fri, 16 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/remote-packages-remote-plugins-approaching-v1https://buf.build/blog/remote-packages-remote-plugins-approaching-v1We've learned a lot from the alpha, and are excited to introduce a new and improved code generation experience.Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-es-the-protocol-buffers-typescript-javascript-runtime-we-all-deservehttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-es-the-protocol-buffers-typescript-javascript-runtime-we-all-deserveAn idiomatic Protocol Buffers library for TypeScript and JavaScript is now available.Fri, 28 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/bufs-new-compilerhttps://buf.build/blog/bufs-new-compilerBuf has a new Protobuf compiler that is faster and more memory-efficient.Wed, 19 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-language-specificationhttps://buf.build/blog/protobuf-language-specificationA comprehensive definition of the language, to empower a vibrant Protobuf ecosystem.Mon, 12 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/bsr-redesignhttps://buf.build/blog/bsr-redesignWelcome to the new BSRThu, 25 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/introducing-the-buf-language-serverhttps://buf.build/blog/introducing-the-buf-language-serverJump to definition with 'bufls'.Fri, 19 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/connect-web-protobuf-grpc-in-the-browserhttps://buf.build/blog/connect-web-protobuf-grpc-in-the-browserUse connect-web to generate compact, idiomatic TypeScript clients for your Protobuf APIs.Thu, 04 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/buf-studiohttps://buf.build/blog/buf-studioBuf studio is an interactive web UI that lets you easily call your gRPC and Protobuf services from a browser.Thu, 28 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/bazel-ruleshttps://buf.build/blog/bazel-rulesUse buf with Bazel.Mon, 20 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/connect-a-better-grpchttps://buf.build/blog/connect-a-better-grpcUse Connect to build simple, stable, browser and gRPC-compatible APIs.Wed, 01 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/introducing-buf-formathttps://buf.build/blog/introducing-buf-formatRewrite Protobuf files in-place with 'buf format'.Mon, 04 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/remote-plugin-executionhttps://buf.build/blog/remote-plugin-executionExecute plugins on the BSR to enforce consistency and simplify code generation.Wed, 09 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/buf-cli-v1https://buf.build/blog/buf-cli-v1A new foundational tool for the Protobuf ecosystem.Wed, 23 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/announcing-bsrhttps://buf.build/blog/announcing-bsrThe Buf Schema Registry: a platform for managing your Protocol Buffer APIs.Wed, 02 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/an-update-on-our-fundraisinghttps://buf.build/blog/an-update-on-our-fundraisingWe've raised $93M across four rounds to fix Protobuf once and for all.Wed, 08 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/buf-cli-now-available-for-windowshttps://buf.build/blog/buf-cli-now-available-for-windowsBinaries for buf, protoc-gen-buf-breaking, and protoc-gen-buf-lint are now available for Windows, starting from v0.54.1!Mon, 30 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/document-your-apishttps://buf.build/blog/document-your-apisDocumentation is a fantastic developer productivity tool that can be applied by all levels of software engineers during the development process.Thu, 19 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/authzed-case-study-maintaining-a-stable-protobuf-apihttps://buf.build/blog/authzed-case-study-maintaining-a-stable-protobuf-apiOur friends at Authzed recently adopted Buf and have given us the honor of writing about their experience.Tue, 15 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/github-actions-for-buf-now-availablehttps://buf.build/blog/github-actions-for-buf-now-availableBuf's officially supported GitHub Actions make it easier than ever to instrument your CI/CD Protocol Buffers workflows with `buf`.Tue, 20 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://buf.build/blog/api-design-is-stuck-in-the-pasthttps://buf.build/blog/api-design-is-stuck-in-the-pastThe industry has embraced statically typed languages, but API design remains twenty years in the past. Schema driven development presents an opportunity to pull API design into the present.Thu, 12 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT