# Proto.zig: proto2 package in zig 0.16.0

> Source: <https://ziggit.dev/t/proto-zig-proto2-package-in-zig-0-16-0/17090#post_1>
> Published: 2026-08-05 13:34:08+00:00

I really needed proto2 support in zig, so I made a package supporting that.

This even has support for the archaic [groups](https://protobuf.dev/programming-guides/proto2/#groups) feature.

This was mainly an excuse to try out the new io interface .

I tried to keep it lean when it comes to codegen. No functions are generated in the types, like it would in zig-protobuf.

Only encode & decode support has been implemented, no json or streaming support.

Only supporting 0.16.0 as of now.

I used AI to diagnose errors during testing. The code is not AI generated.