proto-plus
Beautiful, Pythonic protocol buffers
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Proto Plus is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, installs with minimal friction, and is widely used (top 1000 on PyPI). Install it if you're working with protocol buffers in Python and want a more Pythonic interface, or if you're using Google Cloud libraries that depend on it.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Low install friction with a single runtime dependency (protobuf).
- Actively maintained with a release 8 days ago and recent commits; the project has 5371 stars and supports current Python versions (3.10–3.14).
License · maintenance · safety
Apache 2.0 (permissive) — Licensed under Apache 2.0 (permissive), allowing free use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and commercial projects with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-08-06 (8 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-14 · 5,371 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 343,786,347 downloads/mo, #120 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install proto-plus
from proto import message
class MyMessage(message.Message):
text = proto.Field(proto.STRING, number=1)
msg = MyMessage(text='hello')
print(msg.text)- Whether proto-plus is the recommended wrapper for all protocol buffer use cases or primarily for Google Cloud API clients.
- Performance characteristics compared to raw protobuf when handling large message volumes.
What it is and what it does
Proto Plus is a wrapper library that makes protocol buffers feel native to Python by providing message classes that behave like regular Python objects while preserving protocol buffer serialization, validation, and schema capabilities. It depends only on protobuf and is designed to simplify working with protocol buffer messages in Python code, particularly within Google Cloud libraries and APIs.
The library lets you define message types as Python classes with typed fields, then instantiate and use them as you would any Python object—accessing fields as attributes, using standard Python operations—while maintaining full protocol buffer compatibility for serialization and schema validation. It's actively maintained, supports modern Python versions, and carries no known security vulnerabilities.
Use it for
- Define and use protocol buffer message types with Pythonic syntax in Google Cloud client libraries.
- Serialize and deserialize structured data while maintaining schema validation across service boundaries.
- Build API clients that work with protocol buffer-based services without writing raw protobuf code.
- Validate message structure and types at runtime using Python class definitions.
- Integrate protocol buffers into Python applications where native object semantics are preferred over raw protobuf APIs.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Proto Plus is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, installs with minimal friction, and is widely used (top 1000 on PyPI). Install it if you're working with protocol buffers in Python and want a more Pythonic interface, or if you're using Google Cloud libraries that depend on it.
Install
proto-plus on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a single runtime dependency (protobuf). Actively maintained with a release 8 days ago and recent commits; the project has 5371 stars and supports current Python versions (3.10–3.14).
Requires Python 3.10 or later.
License in practice
Licensed under Apache 2.0 (permissive), allowing free use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and commercial projects with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install proto-plus
from proto import message
class MyMessage(message.Message):
text = proto.Field(proto.STRING, number=1)
msg = MyMessage(text='hello')
print(msg.text)Verify before relying
- Whether proto-plus is the recommended wrapper for all protocol buffer use cases or primarily for Google Cloud API clients.
- Performance characteristics compared to raw protobuf when handling large message volumes.
Package facts
| License | Apache 2.0 permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packageprotobuf |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 8 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 343,786,347 / month, #120 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Topic :: Software Development :: Code GeneratorsTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules |
Evidence: proto_plus-1.28.3-py3-none-any.whl
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