Proto RPC

February 11, 2026 · View on GitHub

Send gRPC requests to services defined in .proto files — directly from VS Code.

✨ Features

Feature	Description
Service Discovery	Automatically scans the workspace for `.proto` files and lists every service & RPC method.
Payload Editor	JSON text area with immediate validation — edit request bodies before sending.
Custom Headers	Attach arbitrary `key: value` metadata (e.g. `authorization: Bearer …`).
Server Override	A project-level default address via settings, overridable per request in the UI.
Unary gRPC Calls	Sends requests through `@grpc/grpc-js` and displays the response inline.
Saved Requests	Persist frequently used payloads as a shareable JSON file committed to the repo.
Response History	Every call is logged to a configurable JSON file for debugging & comparison.

🚀 Quick Start

# clone
git clone https://github.com/r-52/proto-rpc.git
cd proto-rpc

# install & build
make install build

# run tests
make test

Then press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host.

Open the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P) → Proto RPC: Open Client.

⚙️ Extension Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`protoRpc.serverAddress`	`localhost:50051`	Default gRPC server address (`host:port`).
`protoRpc.savedRequestsPath`	`.proto-rpc/saved-requests.json`	Workspace-relative path to saved requests.
`protoRpc.historyPath`	`.proto-rpc/history.json`	Workspace-relative path to response history.

Settings are configured in .vscode/settings.json or VS Code's Settings UI.

🛠️ Development

Prerequisites

Node.js ≥ 18
npm ≥ 9

Makefile Targets

Target	Description
`make install`	Install npm dependencies
`make build`	Compile TypeScript → `dist/`
`make watch`	Compile in watch mode
`make test`	Build + run unit tests (mocha)
`make lint`	Lint sources with ESLint
`make clean`	Remove `dist/` and `.vsix` files
`make package`	Build + package into a `.vsix`
`make publish`	Build + publish to the VS Code Marketplace

Project Structure

src/
├── extension.ts        Activation & command registration
├── protoRpcPanel.ts    Webview panel lifecycle & message handling
├── protoParser.ts      .proto file discovery & regex-based parsing
├── grpcClient.ts       Unary gRPC request logic
├── storage.ts          Read/write saved requests & history JSON
├── utils.ts            Workspace helpers
└── test/
    └── protoRpc.test.ts  Unit tests (mocha)
media/
├── main.js             Webview UI logic
├── styles.css          Webview styles (VS Code theme variables)
├── icon.svg            Extension icon (source)
└── icon.png            Extension icon (256 × 256)

📦 Packaging & Publishing

# Package into a .vsix
make package

# Publish (requires `npx vsce login <publisher>` first)
make publish