--- title: Announcing Connect-Swift: You’ll actually want to use... description: Buf has launched Connect-Swift, an open-source library that generates idiomatic, typed Swift APIs from Protobuf schemas, eliminating the need to handwrite... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-connect-swift-you-ll-actually-want-to-use-protobuf-on-ios-buf-7vkdqlvii twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Announcing Connect-Swift: You’ll actually want to use Protobuf on iOS · Buf | daily.dev og:description: Buf has launched Connect-Swift, an open-source library that generates idiomatic, typed Swift APIs from Protobuf schemas, eliminating the need to handwrite... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-connect-swift-you-ll-actually-want-to-use-protobuf-on-ios-buf-7vkdqlvii og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/7vkDQLVII.png og:image:alt: Announcing Connect-Swift: You’ll actually want to use Protobuf on iOS · Buf og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Announcing Connect-Swift: You’ll actually want to use Protobuf on iOS · Buf **[Buf Blog](https://daily.dev/sources/buf)** · 7 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Buf has launched Connect-Swift, an open-source library that generates idiomatic, typed Swift APIs from Protobuf schemas, eliminating the need to handwrite Codable models and networking boilerplate on iOS. It uses URLSession under the hood, supports async/await, generates mock implementations for testing, and works with both the Connect protocol and gRPC-Web. The library is small (under 200KB), integrates with the Buf CLI for remote code generation, and is currently in beta. It complements existing Connect-Web (browser) and Connect-Go (backend) libraries, with Connect-Kotlin planned for Android. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is Connect-Swift and how does it work with Protobuf on iOS? Connect-Swift is an open-source library from Buf that generates idiomatic, typed Swift APIs directly from Protobuf schema definitions, removing the need to handwrite Codable models or networking glue code. It uses URLSession by default, supports Swift async/await, generates both production and mock client implementations for testing, and stays under 200KB with no third-party networking dependencies. It supports the Connect protocol and gRPC-Web. _Developers weighing Protobuf tooling for iOS can track library releases like this one on daily.dev._ ### How do I test networking code generated by Connect-Swift without a live server? Connect-Swift generates a protocol interface alongside the production client implementation, allowing a mock implementation conforming to the same interface to be swapped in for unit tests. This avoids manually building test doubles and ensures mocks stay in sync with the exact server API spec, reducing the tedium and error-proneness of hand-rolled networking test code. _Teams building testable iOS networking layers can follow tooling updates like this via daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [The modern Protobuf workflow · Buf](https://daily.dev/posts/the-modern-protobuf-workflow-buf-c2m7gywhe) · Buf Blog · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Better than JSON](https://daily.dev/posts/better-than-json-d2je9kyed) · Hacker News · 250 upvotes · 22 comments - [ConnectRPC: Generate Typed SDKs from Your GraphQL API](https://daily.dev/posts/connectrpc-generate-typed-sdks-from-your-graphql-api-cgx6z8ayk) · WunderGraph · 9 upvotes · 0 comments - [Protobuf, JSON Schema, and OpenAPI · Buf](https://daily.dev/posts/protobuf-json-schema-and-openapi-buf-00wgyenfv) · Buf Blog · 7 upvotes · 0 comments - [gRPC vs REST Is the Wrong Question · Buf](https://daily.dev/posts/grpc-vs-rest-is-the-wrong-question-buf-xe2qehlxz) · Buf Blog · 109 upvotes · 4 comments --- Tags: [#backend](https://daily.dev/tags/backend), [#ios](https://daily.dev/tags/ios), [#swift](https://daily.dev/tags/swift), [#grpc](https://daily.dev/tags/grpc) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-connect-swift-you-ll-actually-want-to-use-protobuf-on-ios-buf-7vkdqlvii) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Announcing Connect-Swift: You’ll actually want to use Protobuf on iOS · Buf","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-connect-swift-you-ll-actually-want-to-use-protobuf-on-ios-buf-7vkdqlvii","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-connect-swift-you-ll-actually-want-to-use-protobuf-on-ios-buf-7vkdqlvii"},"datePublished":"2026-08-23T07:20:12.939Z","dateModified":"2026-08-23T07:21:36.871Z","description":"Buf has launched Connect-Swift, an open-source library that generates idiomatic, typed Swift APIs from Protobuf schemas, eliminating the need to handwrite...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/8b7c099635698189a38ab5c1382bfdfc?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/8b7c099635698189a38ab5c1382bfdfc?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Buf Blog","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Buf Blog","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--2YBgo_Nm--/f_auto,q_auto/v1787469605/logos/buf?_a=BAMAMicg0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/buf"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-connect-swift-you-ll-actually-want-to-use-protobuf-on-ios-buf-7vkdqlvii","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"backend,ios,swift,grpc","timeRequired":"PT7M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Buf Blog","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/buf"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Announcing Connect-Swift: You’ll actually want to use Protobuf on iOS · Buf"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-connect-swift-you-ll-actually-want-to-use-protobuf-on-ios-buf-7vkdqlvii#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is Connect-Swift and how does it work with Protobuf on iOS?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Connect-Swift is an open-source library from Buf that generates idiomatic, typed Swift APIs directly from Protobuf schema definitions, removing the need to handwrite Codable models or networking glue code. 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