Originally posted by **alex-pakalniskis** April 22, 2024
## Problem
Even though Substreams packages contain relevant protobuf definitions, Substreams-powered subgraph developers are unable to reference those protobuf definitions when generating AssemblyScript types for their subgraph with `protoc`. See this example `protoc` command supporting wildcard matching of protobuf files.
``` bash
protoc --plugin=./node_modules/protobuf-as/bin/protoc-gen-as --as_out=src/pb/ ./proto/*.proto
```
`protoc` does not natively parse Substreams packages, so users are left unable to proceed unless they source the required files. Furthermore, protobuf files are not easily found on the Substreams registry, so users must search GitHub and hope for the best. Locating the exactly correct protobuf definition files for a Substreams package adds unnecessary friction to the Substreams-powered subgraph developer experience.
## Potential solution
Enable Graph CLI to generate AssemblyScript types from the `*.proto` files contained in a Substreams package (perhaps its just a nice wrapper for `protoc` + `protobuf-as`)
``` bash
graph protogen #create a new command specific to protobuf files to look for `*.proto` files in `*.spkg`
# or
graph codegen #extend codegen to look for `*.proto` files in `*.spkg` if Substreams-powered subgraph
```
alex-pakalniskis
commented
1 month ago
Discussed in https://github.com/graphprotocol/graph-tooling/discussions/1639