hatch-protobuf

What it is and what it does

hatch-protobuf is a build-time plugin for the Hatch package manager that automates the generation of Python code from Protocol Buffer definitions. It wraps grpcio-tools' protoc compiler and integrates it into Hatch's build hook system, so `.proto` files are compiled to Python during package builds without manual steps.

The plugin generates Python message classes and gRPC service stubs by default, with optional `.pyi` type stub files for static analysis. It supports custom generators (e.g., for TypeScript or other languages), can import `.proto` definitions from installed packages via site-packages, and allows configuration of input/output paths and protoc options through `pyproject.toml`. It's designed for projects that use Protocol Buffers as part of their build process and want code generation to happen automatically during packaging.

Use it for:

• Generate gRPC service stubs and message classes during package build for microservices that use Protocol Buffers.
• Consume `.proto` definitions from published packages (e.g., googleapis-common-protos) without rebuilding them.
• Integrate custom protoc plugins (TypeScript, Go, etc.) into a Python project's build pipeline.
• Maintain type stubs (.pyi files) alongside generated Protocol Buffer code for IDE and mypy support.
• Automatically compile `.proto` files in src-layout or flat-layout projects with sensible defaults.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

A Hatch build plugin that generates Python files from Protocol Buffers `.proto` files using grpcio-tools, with support for gRPC, type stubs, and custom generators.

Yes, if you use Hatch and Protocol Buffers. Low friction to install, no known vulnerabilities, actively maintained, and solves a real build-automation problem. The pre-alpha status (Development Status :: 2) suggests the API may change, so pin the version in your build dependencies. Not worth installing if you don't use Hatch or don't generate code from `.proto` files.

Install

hatch-protobuf on PyPI

pip install hatch-protobuf

uv add hatch-protobuf

poetry add hatch-protobuf

Installing hatch-protobuf

Before you install

Low install friction; pure Python wheel with only two runtime dependencies (grpcio-tools and hatchling). Repository is active with recent commits and no known vulnerabilities.

License in practice

Licensed under MPL-2.0 (copyleft). You must disclose source code modifications and distribute under the same license if you modify the plugin itself, though generated code is not affected.

Quickstart

# Add to pyproject.toml:
[tool.hatch.build.hooks.protobuf]
dependencies = ["hatch-protobuf"]

# Then run:
pip install hatch-protobuf
hatch build

Requires Hatch as your build system; grpcio-tools must be available in your environment to run protoc.

Verify before relying

• Whether custom protoc plugins (e.g., TypeScript generators) work reliably with non-Python targets.
• Performance characteristics when processing large numbers of .proto files or deeply nested proto_paths.
• Compatibility with editable installs of packages that provide .proto files for import.

Package facts

Evidence: hatch_protobuf-0.5.0-py3-none-any.whl

Keywords: grpc, hatch, protobuf

Tags

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