Input

-I, --desc-root DIRECTORY

Root directory for resolving relative DESCRIPTOR_FILES paths and for locating imports (repeatable; like protoc -I).

Output

-O, --proto-out DIRECTORY

Output directory for generated .proto files (created if absent). Not required when using --schema-db-out, --scoring-html-out, or --dry-run. When --schema-db-out is also given, DIR may not be inside its stub directory unless DIR is that stub´s immediate ´proto´ child.

-b, --emit-binary

Also write binary descriptor files (.pb) alongside .proto output

--source-info

Embed a SourceCodeInfo synthesized from the reconstructed .proto text in binary descriptor output (-b, --schema-db-out). On by default.

--dry-run

Do not actually create .proto files

Variant / Schema

--proto-variant FILE

Path to a variant specification YAML file. If omitted, $REPROTO_VARIANT is used; otherwise the built-in google.protobuf default applies.

--use-variant CHOICE

Use the variant´s embedded copy of a well-known file instead of whatever the input .pb files contain. Accepts: any, empty, timestamp, duration, struct, wrappers, descriptor, all. May be repeated.

--keep-descriptor-path

Keep the variant descriptor import path as-is (do not rewrite to google/protobuf/descriptor.proto)

--emit-descriptor

Write descriptor.proto to the output directory (suppressed by default)

Filtering

-s, --seed TEXT

FQDN or path pattern to treat as an output root. FQDN (needs a prefix): desc:my.pkg.MyMsg, file:foo.proto (the FDP named foo.proto). Path (bare, or path: prefix): foo.pb (every FDP in that physical file), matched against the -I-relative path. Glob (either form): one *.proto (one level), borg/** (recursive).

-p, --prune TEXT

FQDN or path pattern to exclude from output. FQDN (needs a prefix): desc:my.pkg.MyMsg, file:foo.proto (the FDP named foo.proto). Path (bare, or path: prefix): foo.pb (that physical file, never loaded), matched against the -I-relative path. Glob (either form): one *.proto (one level), borg/** (recursive).

-C, --filter-config FILE

Path to a YAML file with "seed:"/"prune:" lists of FQDNs or path patterns (same syntax as -s/--seed and -p/--prune). Merged with any -s/-p flags given on the command line.

Rendering

--force-proto2-output

Force all output to proto2 syntax, regardless of the input syntax. Without this flag, output syntax matches the input (polyglot mode).

--force-proto2-for-editions

Translate editions-syntax files to proto2 in output and binary descriptors. Symmetric with --force-proto2-output but limited to editions files only. --schema-db-out forces this unconditionally.

--redact-comments

Redact comments from reconstructed .proto files

--redact-orphans

Redact orphans from reconstructed .proto files

--go-root TEXT

Force go_package option in reconstructed .proto files

Advanced

--schema-db-out FILE

Write the schema DB to FILE (must end in .desc). Writes FILE (FileDescriptorSet of all loaded FDPs), FILE-stem/hopcroft.rkyv (compiled scoring graph), and FILE-stem/index.rkyv (lazy-loading FDS index). If -O is also given, it may not be inside FILE-stem unless it is exactly FILE-stem/proto.

--emit-scoring-yaml

Write per-file scoring-graph YAML files alongside .proto output under --proto-out

--scoring-html-out FILE

Write scoring-graph HTML visualisations to FILE; requires --schema-db-out

--with-leaf-nodes

Include leaf (wire-type sink) nodes in --scoring-html-out graphs (hidden by default)

--hide TEXT

FQDN or glob pattern to hide from --scoring-html-out graphs (same syntax as --prune). Matched nodes and their incident edges are dropped from the HTML; no effect on the schema DB.

--debug

Print detailed debug information (development only)

--phase2-plugin PATH

Python file executed as a transformation hook during phase 2. Must define phase2_plugin(ctx, fdp).

--keep-duplicates

Do not prune files whose symbols conflict with already-loaded files (legacy behaviour; by default conflicting files are silently pruned and a warning is emitted).

Diagnostics

--detailed-warnings

Print every warning occurrence immediately as it is emitted (default: squash repeated warnings and show a count summary at the end).

--quiet, -q

Suppress progress messages and warnings. Errors are always printed.

--debug-fqdn

Print detailed information about FQDNs (development only)

--version

Print version and exit.

--help

Show a help message and exit.

Reconstruct a descriptor set

Compile each .proto to its own descriptor set (without --include_imports), then pass all .pb files to reproto:

protoc --descriptor_set_out=phone_number.pb --proto_path=. phone_number.proto
protoc --descriptor_set_out=address_book.pb --proto_path=. address_book.proto
reproto --use-variant descriptor -I . -O out/ phone_number.pb address_book.pb

Selective output (one message and its dependencies)

reproto --use-variant descriptor -I . -O out/ --seed desc:.tutorial.Person \


  phone_number.pb address_book.pb

Using the embedded descriptor variant

The --use-variant descriptor flag supplies descriptor.proto from the built-in variant bundle, so no separate descriptor .pb is needed:

reproto --use-variant descriptor -I . -O out/ phone_number.pb address_book.pb

Enable bash completion

source <(cat /path/to/reproto/completions.sh)