[Proposal] Protobuf → Bob SQL model generator (protoc-gen-go-bob)

[yaroher]

[Proposal] Protobuf → Bob SQL model generator (protoc-gen-go-bob)

I’d like to propose adding support for a new Protobuf code generator: protoc-gen-go-bob.

I’ve started working on an early prototype here:
https://github.com/yaroher/protoc-gen-go-bob
Please note that it is in a very early stage.

This project is heavily inspired by my other generator:
https://github.com/yaroher/protoc-gen-pgx-orm
which generates SQL schema and ORM-like builders.

Motivation

If we could generate Bob SQL models directly from Protobuf definitions, we could:

• Eliminate the tight coupling between API models and database models
• Remove repetitive boilerplate code for translating between Protobuf and DB layers
• Ensure a single source of truth for data structures
• Simplify production code and reduce maintenance overhead

The idea is to use Protobuf as the canonical model and automatically generate Bob-compatible SQL models and helpers from it (such as schema.sql for auto generate migrations from it).

Goal

Enable seamless generation of Bob SQL bindings from Protobuf models, making database integration cleaner and more maintainable.

I’d appreciate feedback on whether this approach aligns with the project’s goals and whether such a generator would be welcome here.

[stephenafamo]

Since Bob treats the database as the source of truth, it would be better to create a schema from the protobuf and use one of the existing generation tools to generate the Bob ORM from the schema.

You could then additionally generate some helper glue code between the models and the protobuf.

[yaroher]

Ok. How i can get "bob" fields types and imports inside protoc plugin? Without this information i can't determine what plugin need to generate. I thought to write glue code utilizing an interfaces (generate same interface in bouth generation process on proto and bob side) but it still required to have types in process. Thank for answer)

[stephenafamo]

If you create a DBInfoPlugin for Bob, the plugin will be passed the drivers.DBInfo which will contain that information