# protobufjs-cli > Translates between file formats and generates static code as well as TypeScript definitions. Latest version **2.7.0** (published 2026-08-27) · BSD-3-Clause license · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install protobufjs-cli pnpm add protobufjs-cli yarn add protobufjs-cli bun add protobufjs-cli ``` Provides the commands `pbjs`, `pbts`, `protoc-gen-pbjs`. ## Health **Score 70/100 (B)** — status: active. Positive: has types; no vulnerabilities; has provenance; recently updated; high maintenance score; popular repo. Warnings: low downloads; no esm support. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 2.7.0 | | Published | 2026-08-27 | | First published | 2022-07-08 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | License | BSD-3-Clause | | TypeScript types | bundled | | Module format | CommonJS | | Node | >=12.0.0 | | Dependencies | 7 | | Unpacked size | 417.6 KB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | Provenance | attested (GitHub Actions) | | GitHub stars | 10589 | | Author | Daniel Wirtz | | Maintainers | dcode, fenster, google-wombot | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/protobufjs-cli - Repository: https://github.com/protobufjs/protobuf.js - Homepage: https://github.com/protobufjs/protobuf.js#readme - Issues: https://github.com/protobufjs/protobuf.js/issues - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/protobufjs-cli ## Dependencies (7) - [tmp](https://npm.io/package/tmp.md) ^0.2.7 - [glob](https://npm.io/package/glob.md) ^8.1.0 - [jsdoc](https://npm.io/package/jsdoc.md) ^4.0.5 - [espree](https://npm.io/package/espree.md) ^9.6.1 - [minimist](https://npm.io/package/minimist.md) ^1.2.8 - [escodegen](https://npm.io/package/escodegen.md) ^2.0.0 - [estraverse](https://npm.io/package/estraverse.md) ^5.1.0 ## Recent versions - 2.7.0 (latest) — 2026-08-27 - 1.3.3 (latest-1) — 2026-06-09 - 2.0.4-experimental (experimental) — 2025-03-28 - 2.6.2 — 2026-08-08 - 2.6.1 — 2026-07-13 - 2.6.0 — 2026-07-06 - 2.5.7 — 2026-07-04 - 2.5.6 — 2026-06-23 - 2.5.5 — 2026-06-16 - 2.5.4 — 2026-06-11 - 2.5.3 — 2026-06-09 - 2.5.2 — 2026-06-07 - 2.5.1 — 2026-06-04 - 1.3.2 — 2026-05-30 - 2.5.0 — 2026-05-29 - … 27 more at https://npm.io/package/protobufjs-cli/versions ## README # protobufjs-cli [![npm](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/protobufjs-cli.svg)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/protobufjs-cli) Command line add-on for [protobuf.js](https://github.com/protobufjs/protobuf.js). Generates static code, reflection bundles, and TypeScript definitions. ```sh npm install --save-dev protobufjs-cli ``` ## pbjs for JavaScript ```sh npx pbjs --help ``` ``` Translates between file formats and generates static code. -t, --target Specifies the target format. Also accepts a path to require a custom target. json JSON bundle json-module JSON bundle as a module proto2 Protocol Buffers, Version 2 proto3 Protocol Buffers, Version 3 static Static code without reflection (non-functional on its own) static-module Static code without reflection as a module -p, --path Adds a directory to the include path. --filter Path to a JSON file listing messages and their dependencies to keep. Example: {"messageNames":["mypackage.Message","Message2"]} -o, --out Saves to a file instead of writing to stdout. -d, --dts Also saves a .d.ts file next to --out for static-module and json-module. --sparse Exports only those types referenced from a main file (experimental). Module targets only: -w, --wrap Specifies the wrapper to use. Also accepts a path to require a custom wrapper. default Default wrapper supporting both CommonJS and AMD commonjs CommonJS wrapper amd AMD wrapper esm ESM wrapper (implies --es6) closure A closure adding to protobuf.roots where protobuf is a global --dependency Specifies which version of protobuf to require. Accepts any valid module id -r, --root Specifies an alternative protobuf.roots name. -l, --lint Linter configuration. Defaults to protobuf.js-compatible rules: eslint-disable block-scoped-var, id-length, no-control-regex, no-magic-numbers, no-prototype-builtins, no-redeclare, no-shadow, no-var, sort-vars, default-case, jsdoc/require-param --es6 Enables ES6 syntax (const/let instead of var) Proto sources only: --keep-case Keeps field casing instead of converting to camel case. --alt-comment Turns on an alternate comment parsing mode that preserves more comments. Static targets only: --no-create Does not generate create functions used for reflection compatibility. --no-encode Does not generate encode functions. --no-decode Does not generate decode functions. --no-verify Does not generate verify functions. --no-convert Does not generate convert functions like from/toObject --no-delimited Does not generate delimited encode/decode functions. --no-typeurl Does not generate getTypeUrl function. --no-beautify Does not beautify generated code. --no-comments Does not output any JSDoc comments. --no-service Does not output service classes. --force-long Enforces the use of 'Long' for s-/u-/int64 and s-/fixed64 fields. --force-number Enforces the use of 'number' for s-/u-/int64 and s-/fixed64 fields. --force-message Enforces the use of message instances instead of plain objects. --null-defaults Default value for optional fields is null instead of zero value. --null-semantics Make nullable fields match protobuf semantics (overrides --null-defaults). usage: pbjs [options] file1.proto file2.json ... (or pipe) other | pbjs [options] - ``` ## pbts for TypeScript ```sh npx pbts --help ``` ``` Generates TypeScript definitions from annotated JavaScript files. -o, --out Saves to a file instead of writing to stdout. -g, --global Name of the global object in browser environments, if any. -i, --import Comma delimited list of imports, optionally as localName=path. --no-constructor Emits private constructors for reflection-backed declarations. --no-comments Does not output any JSDoc comments. Internal flags: -n, --name Wraps everything in a module of the specified name. -m, --main Whether building a standalone file without any imports. usage: pbts [options] file1.js file2.js ... (or) other | pbts [options] - ``` ## Common commands Generate static code and a matching declaration file: ```sh npx pbjs -t static-module -w commonjs -o compiled.js --dts file1.proto file2.proto ``` Generate a reflection bundle and a matching declaration file: ```sh npx pbjs -t json-module -w commonjs -o bundle.js --dts file1.proto file2.proto ``` Note that declarations generated for JSON modules describe reflection-backed message types. Use `MyMessage.create(...)` instead of constructors. For nested reflected properties like `MyMessage.MyEnum`, type, service and enum names must start with an uppercase letter. Otherwise, use reflection lookups such as `root.lookupType(...)`. ## protoc plugin The CLI also provides `protoc-gen-pbjs` for projects that already use `protoc` but prefer protobuf.js code generation. The plugin is an aggregate generator: each invocation writes one JavaScript module and, with `dts`, one matching declaration file. ```sh protoc \ --plugin=protoc-gen-pbjs=./node_modules/.bin/protoc-gen-pbjs \ --pbjs_out=gen \ --pbjs_opt=dts \ proto/awesome.proto ``` By default, the plugin emits `index.js` with `target=static-module` and `wrap=esm`. Use `file=PATH` to choose the aggregate output file, `target=json-module` for a JSON module, `wrap=commonjs` for CommonJS output, and `keep-case` to preserve descriptor field names. Other `pbjs` code generation options can be passed as usual, for example `root=NAME`, `dependency=ID`, `lint=CONFIG`, `no-create`, `force-long`, or `null-semantics`. See the `pbjs` help output above for the full option set. ## Command line API Both utilities can be used programmatically by providing command line arguments and a callback to their respective `main` functions: ```js const { pbjs, pbts } = require("protobufjs-cli"); pbjs.main(["--target", "json-module", "path/to/myproto.proto"], function(err, output) { if (err) throw err; // do something with output }); ``` ## Additional documentation See the [protobuf.js README](https://github.com/protobufjs/protobuf.js) for runtime variants, usage examples, and additional documentation. --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/protobufjs-cli · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._