--- title: Protobuf-ES: The Protocol Buffers TypeScript/JavaScript... description: Buf announces Protobuf-ES, a new TypeScript/JavaScript runtime and code generator for Protocol Buffers built with full ECMAScript module support, standard... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/protobuf-es-the-protocol-buffers-typescript-javascript-runtime-we-all-deserve-buf-ejpopovbu twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Protobuf-ES: The Protocol Buffers TypeScript/JavaScript runtime we all deserve · Buf | daily.dev og:description: Buf announces Protobuf-ES, a new TypeScript/JavaScript runtime and code generator for Protocol Buffers built with full ECMAScript module support, standard... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/protobuf-es-the-protocol-buffers-typescript-javascript-runtime-we-all-deserve-buf-ejpopovbu og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/ejpoPovbu.png og:image:alt: Protobuf-ES: The Protocol Buffers TypeScript/JavaScript runtime we all deserve · 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. # Protobuf-ES: The Protocol Buffers TypeScript/JavaScript runtime we all deserve · Buf **[Buf Blog](https://daily.dev/sources/buf)** · 10 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Buf announces Protobuf-ES, a new TypeScript/JavaScript runtime and code generator for Protocol Buffers built with full ECMAScript module support, standard JavaScript APIs, descriptor and reflection support, idiomatic generated code, and first-class TypeScript typings. It addresses long-standing pain points in the official Protobuf JavaScript implementation, such as bloated bundle sizes (reduced from 62% to 15% of bundle share in Buf's own app after migration), clunky getter/setter APIs, missing initializers, and lack of TypeScript support. The library passes Google's conformance test suite and offers a decoupled plugin ecosystem, contrasting with alternatives like ts-proto and protobuf-ts that tightly couple type and RPC generation. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is Protobuf-ES and how is it different from the official Protocol Buffers JavaScript library? Protobuf-ES is a Protocol Buffers runtime for TypeScript and JavaScript built by Buf that replaces the official protobuf-javascript generator. It adds ECMAScript module support for tree-shaking, uses standard APIs like TextEncoder and Typed Arrays instead of Google's Closure Library, generates idiomatic code with plain properties instead of getters/setters, supports descriptors and reflection, and provides first-class TypeScript typings, none of which the official generator supports. _Developers weighing protobuf tooling can track ecosystem shifts like this one on daily.dev._ ### How much does migrating from the official Protobuf JavaScript generator to Protobuf-ES reduce bundle size? Migrating to Protobuf-ES cut the Protobuf runtime and generated code's share of a production JavaScript bundle from 62% down to 15%, and the overall bundle size dropped by more than half. The reduction comes from Protobuf-ES's ECMAScript module support enabling tree-shaking and its use of standard JavaScript APIs instead of Google's Closure Library. _Anyone optimizing frontend bundle size can follow real-world case studies like this via daily.dev._ ### How does Protobuf-ES differ from ts-proto and protobuf-ts for generating TypeScript from Protobuf? Protobuf-ES decouples Protobuf type generation from RPC code generation, avoiding the tightly-coupled, option-heavy approach of ts-proto and protobuf-ts, which try to solve both type generation and RPC generation simultaneously with flags like --ts_opt=target=web or nestJs=true. Protobuf-ES instead offers a plugin ecosystem so developers can generate TypeScript, JavaScript, or declaration files independently of RPC concerns. _Teams comparing Protobuf codegen tools can research trade-offs like these on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Protobuf-ES just got a lot faster · Buf](https://daily.dev/posts/protobuf-es-just-got-a-lot-faster-buf-rcovndatq) · Buf Blog · 18 upvotes · 1 comments - [Better than JSON](https://daily.dev/posts/better-than-json-d2je9kyed) · Hacker News · 250 upvotes · 22 comments - [Google Protocol Buffers flaw turns schemas into shells](https://daily.dev/posts/google-protocol-buffers-flaw-turns-schemas-into-shells-ssmnskxpa) · CSO Online · 8 upvotes · 0 comments - [TypeScript 6.0 is your final warning](https://daily.dev/posts/typescript-6-0-is-your-final-warning-2tbdrcemi) · Bytes by ui.dev · 144 upvotes · 15 comments - [Critical flaw in Protobuf library enables JavaScript code execution](https://daily.dev/posts/critical-flaw-in-protobuf-library-enables-javascript-code-execution-1jn7mj8hc) · BleepingComputer · 7 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#javascript](https://daily.dev/tags/javascript), [#backend](https://daily.dev/tags/backend), [#typescript](https://daily.dev/tags/typescript) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/protobuf-es-the-protocol-buffers-typescript-javascript-runtime-we-all-deserve-buf-ejpopovbu) ```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":"Protobuf-ES: The Protocol Buffers TypeScript/JavaScript runtime we all deserve · Buf","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/protobuf-es-the-protocol-buffers-typescript-javascript-runtime-we-all-deserve-buf-ejpopovbu","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/protobuf-es-the-protocol-buffers-typescript-javascript-runtime-we-all-deserve-buf-ejpopovbu"},"datePublished":"2026-08-23T07:20:10.003Z","dateModified":"2026-08-23T07:20:48.064Z","description":"Buf announces Protobuf-ES, a new TypeScript/JavaScript runtime and code generator for Protocol Buffers built with full ECMAScript module support, standard...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/76a1d30226ffee8f567d5b52c6c9ffa3?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/76a1d30226ffee8f567d5b52c6c9ffa3?_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/protobuf-es-the-protocol-buffers-typescript-javascript-runtime-we-all-deserve-buf-ejpopovbu","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"javascript,backend,typescript","timeRequired":"PT10M"} {"@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":"Protobuf-ES: The Protocol Buffers TypeScript/JavaScript runtime we all deserve · Buf"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/protobuf-es-the-protocol-buffers-typescript-javascript-runtime-we-all-deserve-buf-ejpopovbu#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is Protobuf-ES and how is it different from the official Protocol Buffers JavaScript library?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Protobuf-ES is a Protocol Buffers runtime for TypeScript and JavaScript built by Buf that replaces the official protobuf-javascript generator. 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