How do I set up automatic class generation from a contract using protobuf-net?

Question

I configured the .csproj file as follows:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
    <PropertyGroup>
        <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
        <TargetFramework>net9.0</TargetFramework>
        <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
        <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <ItemGroup>
        <PackageReference Include="Grpc.Net.Client" Version="2.71.0" />
        <PackageReference Include="protobuf-net" Version="3.2.56"/>
        <PackageReference Include="protobuf-net.BuildTools" Version="3.2.52">
            <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
            <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
        </PackageReference>
        <PackageReference Include="protobuf-net.Grpc" Version="1.2.2"/>
        <PackageReference Include="protobuf-net.Grpc.ClientFactory" Version="1.2.2"/>
    </ItemGroup>
    <ItemGroup>
        <AdditionalFiles Include="Protos\*.proto" Services="Client"/>
    </ItemGroup>
</Project>

The folder with the proto files is located at: ConsoleApp2\Protos

The proto file looks like this:

syntax = "proto3";

package MyApp;

service MyService {
  rpc SayHello (HelloRequest) returns (HelloReply);
}

message HelloRequest {
  string name = 1;
}

message HelloReply {
  string message = 1;
}

The problem is that only messages are being generated, but not the service.

// <auto-generated>
//   This file was generated by a tool; you should avoid making direct changes.
//   Consider using 'partial classes' to extend these types
//   Input: Test.proto
// </auto-generated>

#region Designer generated code
#pragma warning disable CS0612, CS0618, CS1591, CS3021, CS8981, IDE0079, IDE1006, RCS1036, RCS1057, RCS1085, RCS1192
namespace MyApp
{

    [global::ProtoBuf.ProtoContract()]
    public partial class HelloRequest : global::ProtoBuf.IExtensible
    {
        private global::ProtoBuf.IExtension __pbn__extensionData;
        global::ProtoBuf.IExtension global::ProtoBuf.IExtensible.GetExtensionObject(bool createIfMissing)
            => global::ProtoBuf.Extensible.GetExtensionObject(ref __pbn__extensionData, createIfMissing);

        [global::ProtoBuf.ProtoMember(1, Name = @"name")]
        [global::System.ComponentModel.DefaultValue("")]
        public string Name { get; set; } = "";

    }

    [global::ProtoBuf.ProtoContract()]
    public partial class HelloReply : global::ProtoBuf.IExtensible
    {
        private global::ProtoBuf.IExtension __pbn__extensionData;
        global::ProtoBuf.IExtension global::ProtoBuf.IExtensible.GetExtensionObject(bool createIfMissing)
            => global::ProtoBuf.Extensible.GetExtensionObject(ref __pbn__extensionData, createIfMissing);

        [global::ProtoBuf.ProtoMember(1, Name = @"message")]
        [global::System.ComponentModel.DefaultValue("")]
        public string Message { get; set; } = "";

    }

}

#pragma warning restore CS0612, CS0618, CS1591, CS3021, CS8981, IDE0079, IDE1006, RCS1036, RCS1057, RCS1085, RCS1192
#endregion

What could be the cause?

I’ve tried different configuration options, but none of them worked.

Guru Stron · Accepted Answer · 2025-08-02 08:19:11Z

As far as I see in the source repo Services (some code) has two options grpc and wcf:

+services={grpc;wcf} Semi-colon list of service metadata to support.

Changing AdditionalFiles to use grpc:

<AdditionalFiles Include="Protos\*.proto" Services="grpc"/>

Generates the IMyService interface for me:

[global::ProtoBuf.Grpc.Configuration.Service(@"MyApp.MyService")]
public partial interface IMyService
{
    global::System.Threading.Tasks.ValueTask<HelloReply> SayHelloAsync(HelloRequest value, global::ProtoBuf.Grpc.CallContext context = default);
}

P.S.

For some reason VS Code decompiler was not regenerating files for me so I've added explicit source generator output:

<PropertyGroup>
  <EmitCompilerGeneratedFiles>true</EmitCompilerGeneratedFiles>
  <CompilerGeneratedFilesOutputPath>generated</CompilerGeneratedFilesOutputPath>
</PropertyGroup>

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