proto-explorer 0.3.4

A tool to visualize .proto file hierarchies

Proto Explorer

A lightweight, interactive browser for exploring Protobuf/gRPC hierarchies

Proto Explorer lets you visually explore Protobuf message hierarchies (*.proto files) using only the compiled Python files (*_pb2.py). No .proto files or regeneration required.

• Expand nested message fields
• Show oneof group hierarchy
• Correctly detect map<key, value> fields
• Load _pb2.py from custom paths
• Runs locally; no server or DB needed

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🌟 Demo Screenshot

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🔧 Installation

Clone the repository and install dependencies:

pip install proto-explorer

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▶️ Run the App

proto-explorer -m <compiled_protobuf_pb2_module> [-p </path/to/compiled/protobuf>]

️✍️ Example

1. Clone a test Protobuf set (example: Google Pub/Sub):

git clone https://github.com/googleapis/googleapis.git
cd googleapis

2. Compile the .proto files to _pb2.py:

python -m grpc_tools.protoc \
  --proto_path=. \
  --python_out=. \
  google/pubsub/v1/*.proto \
  google/api/*.proto

Confirm that the following _pb2.py file exists:

google/pubsub/v1/pubsub_pb2.py

3. Launch Proto Explorer:

proto-explorer -m google.pubsub.v1.pubsub_pb2 -p .

Launching Proto Explorer...

  You can now view your Streamlit app in your browser.

  Local URL: http://localhost:8501

Press 'q' then Enter to quit Proto Explorer.

Now open your browser and go to: http://localhost:8501/ Enjoy exploring your Protobuf message hierarchy!