Getting Started

What is protoc-gen-nats-micro?

A Protocol Buffers compiler plugin that generates type-safe NATS microservice code using the official nats.io/micro framework.

Write standard .proto files, run buf generate, and get production-ready NATS microservices with:

Automatic service discovery and load balancing
Type-safe request/response handling
Configurable timeouts, interceptors, and headers
Streaming RPC (server, client, bidirectional)
KV Store and Object Store auto-persistence

Prerequisites

Go 1.21 or later
Buf v2
NATS server (Docker or local install)

Installation

bash

go install github.com/toyz/protoc-gen-nats-micro/cmd/protoc-gen-nats-micro@latest

Proto Dependencies

Add the natsmicro proto options to your buf.yaml:

yaml

deps:
  - buf.build/toyz/natsmicro

This lets you use import "natsmicro/options.proto" in your proto files without copying anything locally.

Why not gRPC / nRPC?

	protoc-gen-nats-micro	gRPC	nRPC
Service discovery	Built-in via NATS	Requires service mesh	Manual
Load balancing	NATS queue groups	External LB	Manual
Streaming	✅ Server/Client/Bidi	✅ All patterns	❌ None
KV/Object auto-persist	✅	❌	❌
Multi-language	Go, TS, Python	Many	Go only
Maintenance	Active	Active	Abandoned
Framework	Official `nats.io/micro`	gRPC	Custom

Next Steps

Quick Start → — Build your first service in 5 minutes
Streaming RPC → — Server, client, and bidi streaming
KV & Object Store → — Auto-persist responses
API Reference → — All proto options