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:exclamation: Please read release notes before upgrading the plugin, as usage or compatibility requirements may change.

Protobuf Plugin for Gradle

The Gradle plugin that compiles Protocol Buffer (aka. Protobuf) definition files (*.proto) in your project. There are two pieces of its job:

  1. It assembles the Protobuf Compiler (protoc) command line and uses it to generate Java source files out of your proto files.
  2. It adds the generated Java source files to the input of the corresponding Java compilation unit (sourceSet in a Java project; variant in an Android project), so that they can be compiled along with your Java sources.
    • Note if you are generating non-Java/Kotlin source files, they will not be included for compilation automatically, you will need to add them to sources for language-specific compilations. See details in Default options section.

For more information about the Protobuf Compiler, please refer to Google Developers Site.

Latest Version

The latest version is 0.9.4. It requires at least Gradle 5.6 and Java 8. To use it with Groovy DSL:

plugins {
  id "com.google.protobuf" version "0.9.4"
}

Development Version

To try out the head version, you can download the source and build it with ./gradlew publishToMavenLocal -x test (we skip tests here because they require Android SDK), then in settings.gradle:

pluginManagement {
  repositories {
    gradlePluginPortal()
    mavenLocal()
  }
}

And in build.gradle:

plugins {
  id "com.google.protobuf" version "0.9.5-SNAPSHOT"
}

Examples

Stand-alone examples are available for each of gradle's supported languages.

Directories that start with testProject can also serve as usage examples for advanced options, although they cannot be compiled as individual projects.

Adding the plugin to your project

This plugin must work with either the Java plugin or the Android plugin.

Configuring Protobuf compilation

The Protobuf plugin assumes Protobuf files (*.proto) are organized in the same way as Java source files, in sourceSets. The Protobuf files of a sourceSet (or variant in an Android project) are compiled in a single protoc run, and the generated files are added to the input of the Java compilation run of that sourceSet (or variant).

Customizing source directories

The plugin adds a new sources block named proto alongside java to every sourceSet. By default, it includes all *.proto files under src/$sourceSetName/proto. You can customize it in the same way as you would customize the java sources.

Java projects: use the top-level sourceSet:

sourceSets {
  main {
    proto {
      // In addition to the default 'src/main/proto'
      srcDir 'src/main/protobuf'
      srcDir 'src/main/protocolbuffers'
      // In addition to the default '**/*.proto' (use with caution).
      // Using an extension other than 'proto' is NOT recommended,
      // because when proto files are published along with class files, we can
      // only tell the type of a file from its extension.
      include '**/*.protodevel'
    }
    java {
      ...
    }
  }
  test {
    proto {
      // In addition to the default 'src/test/proto'
      srcDir 'src/test/protocolbuffers'
    }
  }
}

Android projects: use android.sourceSets:

android {
  sourceSets {
    main {
      proto {
        ...
      }
      java {
        ...
      }
    }
  }
}

Customizing Protobuf compilation

The plugin adds a protobuf block to the project. It provides all the configuration knobs.

Locate external executables

By default the plugin will search for the protoc executable in the system search path. We recommend you to take the advantage of pre-compiled protoc that we have published on Maven Central:

protobuf {
  ...
  // Configure the protoc executable
  protoc {
    // Download from repositories
    artifact = 'com.google.protobuf:protoc:3.0.0'
  }
  ...
}

You may also specify a local path.

protobuf {
  ...
  protoc {
    path = '/usr/local/bin/protoc'
  }
  ...
}

Multiple assignments are allowed in the protoc block. The last one wins.

You may also run protoc with codegen plugins. For a codegen plugin named as "foo", protoc will by default use protoc-gen-foo from system search path. You can also specify a downloadable artifact or a local path for it in the plugins block, in the same syntax as in the protoc block above. This will not apply the plugins. You need to configure the tasks in the generateProtoTasks block introduced below to apply the plugins defined here.

protobuf {
  ...
  // Locate the codegen plugins
  plugins {
    // Locate a plugin with name 'grpc'. This step is optional.
    // If you leave it empty, it uses the current directory.
    // If you don't specify it, protoc will try to use "protoc-gen-grpc" from
    // system search path.
    grpc {
      artifact = 'io.grpc:protoc-gen-grpc-java:1.0.0-pre2'
      // or
      // path = 'tools/protoc-gen-grpc-java'
    }
    // Any other plugins
    ...
  }
  ...
}

The syntax for artifact follows Artifact Classifiers where the default classifier is project.osdetector.classifier (ie "${project.osdetector.os}-${project.osdetector.arch}") and the default extension is "exe". Non-C++ implementations of codegen plugins can be used if a constant classifier is specified (eg "com.example:example-generator:1.0.0:-jvm8_32").

Customize code generation tasks

The Protobuf plugin generates a task for each protoc run, which is for a sourceSet in a Java project, or a variant in an Android project. The task has configuration interfaces that allow you to control the type of outputs, the codegen plugins to use, and parameters.

You must configure these tasks in the generateProtoTasks block, which provides you helper functions to conveniently access tasks that are tied to a certain build element, and also ensures you configuration will be picked up correctly by the plugin.

DONOTs:

protobuf {
  ...
  generateProtoTasks {
    // all() returns the collection of all protoc tasks
    all().configureEach { task ->
      // Here you can configure the task
    }

    // In addition to all(), you may select tasks by various criteria:

    // (Java-only) returns tasks for a sourceSet
    ofSourceSet('main')

    // (Android-only selectors)
    // Returns tasks for a flavor
    ofFlavor('demo')
    // Returns tasks for a buildType
    ofBuildType('release')
    // Returns tasks for a variant
    ofVariant('demoRelease')
    // Returns non-androidTest tasks
    ofNonTest()
    // Return androidTest tasks
    ofTest()
  }
}

Each code generation task has two collections:

Configure what to generate

Code generation is done by protoc builtins and plugins. Each builtin/plugin generates a certain type of code. To add or configure a builtin/plugin on a task, list its name followed by a braces block. Put options in the braces if wanted. For example:

task.builtins {
  // This yields
  // "--java_out=example_option1=true,example_option2:/path/to/output"
  // on the protoc commandline, which is equivalent to
  // "--java_out=/path/to/output --java_opt=example_option1=true,example_option2"
  // with the latest version of protoc.
  java {
    option 'example_option1=true'
    option 'example_option2'
  }
  // Add cpp output without any option.
  // DO NOT omit the braces if you want this builtin to be added.
  // This yields
  // "--cpp_out=/path/to/output" on the protoc commandline.
  cpp { }
}

task.plugins {
  // Add grpc output without any option.  grpc must have been defined in the
  // protobuf.plugins block.
  // This yields
  // "--grpc_out=/path/to/output" on the protoc commandline.
  grpc { }
}

Default outputs

Java projects: the java builtin is added by default: without any further specification, Java classes will be generated during the build process.

Python output can be generated by adding the python builtin:

protobuf {
  generateProtoTasks {
    all().configureEach { task ->
      task.builtins {
        // Generates Python code
        python { }

        // If you wish to avoid generating Java files:
        remove java
      }
    }
  }
}

Note the generated Python code will not be included for compilation, you will need to add them as sources to Python's compilation tasks manually. See this section for details about where the code will be generated.

Android projects: no default output will be added. Since Protobuf 3.0.0, the lite runtime is the recommended Protobuf library for Android.

For Protobuf versions from 3.0.x through 3.7.x, lite code generation is provided as a protoc plugin (protobuf-lite). Example:


dependencies {
  // You need to depend on the lite runtime library, not protobuf-java
  implementation 'com.google.protobuf:protobuf-lite:3.0.0'
}

protobuf {
  protoc {
    // You still need protoc like in the non-Android case
    artifact = 'com.google.protobuf:protoc:3.7.0'
  }
  plugins {
    javalite {
      // The codegen for lite comes as a separate artifact
      artifact = 'com.google.protobuf:protoc-gen-javalite:3.0.0'
    }
  }
  generateProtoTasks {
    all().configureEach { task ->
      task.builtins {
        // In most cases you don't need the full Java output
        // if you use the lite output.
        remove java
      }
      task.plugins {
        javalite { }
      }
    }
  }
}

Starting from Protobuf 3.8.0, lite code generation is built into protoc's "java" output. Example:

dependencies {
  // You need to depend on the lite runtime library, not protobuf-java
  implementation 'com.google.protobuf:protobuf-javalite:3.8.0'
}

protobuf {
  protoc {
    artifact = 'com.google.protobuf:protoc:3.8.0'
  }
  generateProtoTasks {
    all().configureEach { task ->
      task.builtins {
        java {
          option "lite"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Generate descriptor set files

{ task ->
  // If true, will generate a descriptor_set.desc file under
  // task.outputBaseDir. Default is false.
  // See --descriptor_set_out in protoc documentation about what it is.
  task.generateDescriptorSet = true

  // Allows to override the default for the descriptor set location
  task.descriptorSetOptions.path =
    "${projectDir}/build/descriptors/${task.sourceSet.name}.dsc"

  // If true, the descriptor set will contain line number information
  // and comments. Default is false.
  task.descriptorSetOptions.includeSourceInfo = true

  // If true, the descriptor set will contain all transitive imports and
  // is therefore self-contained. Default is false.
  task.descriptorSetOptions.includeImports = true
}

Change where files are generated

Generated files are under task.outputBaseDir with a subdirectory per builtin and plugin. This produces a folder structure of $buildDir/generated/source/proto/$sourceSet/$builtinPluginName.

The subdirectory name, which is by default $builtinPluginName, can be changed by setting the outputSubDir property in the builtins or plugins block of a task configuration within generateProtoTasks block (see previous section). E.g.,

{ task ->
  task.plugins {
    grpc {
      // Use subdirectory 'grpcjava' instead of the default 'grpc'
      outputSubDir = 'grpcjava'
    }
  }
}

Protos in dependencies

If a Java project contains proto files, they will be packaged in the jar files along with the compiled classes.

Protos in dependencies (e.g. upstream jars) can be put in either in the compile configuration or the protobuf configuration.

If the dependency is put in the compile configuration, the proto files are extracted to an extracted-include-protos directory and added to the --proto_path flag of the protoc command line, so that they can be imported by the proto files of the current project. The imported proto files will not be compiled since they have already been compiled in their own projects. Example:

dependencies {
  implementation project(':someProjectWithProtos')
  testImplementation files("lib/some-testlib-with-protos.jar")
}

If the dependency is put in the protobuf configuration, the proto files are extracted to a extracted-protos directory and added to the protoc command line as files to compile, in the same protoc invocation as the current project's proto files (if any). Example:

dependencies {
  // protos can be from a local package,
  protobuf files('lib/protos.tar.gz')
  // ... a local directory,
  protobuf files('ext/')   // NEVER use fileTree(). See issue #248.
  // ... or an artifact from a repository
  testProtobuf 'com.example:published-protos:1.0.0'
}

Pre-compiled protoc artifacts

This Maven Central directory lists pre-compiled protoc artifacts that can be used by this plugin.

Tips for IDEs

IntelliJ IDEA

Be sure to enable delegate IDE build/run actions to Gradle so that Intellij does not use its internal build mechanism to compile source code. This plugin ensures that code generation happens before Gradle's build step. If the setting is off, Intellij's own build system will be used instead of Gradle.

Enable the setting with:

Settings -> Build, Execution, Deployment
  -> Build Tools -> Gradle -> Runner
  -> Delegate IDE build/run actions to gradle.

This plugin integrates with the idea plugin and automatically registers the proto files and generated Java code as sources.

Testing the plugin

testProject* are testing projects that uses this plugin to compile .proto files. Because the tests include an Android project, you need to install Android SDK Tools.

After you made any change to the plugin, be sure to run these tests.

$ ./gradlew test