Buf
Buf Technologies builds the modern toolchain for Protocol Buffers and gRPC: the buf CLI, the Buf Schema Registry (BSR), Protovalidate, Protobuf-ES and Protobuf-Py, and the Connect protocol, which is now a CNCF project. It replaces protoc-based workflows with linting, breaking-change detection, code generation, remote plugins, policy checks and centralized schema distribution. Buf's own public API is published as Protobuf rather than OpenAPI — 33 services and 85 RPCs served over Connect, gRPC and gRPC-Web at the root of buf.build, Apache-2.0 licensed at github.com/bufbuild/registry-proto — and the same surface is exposed to agents as a remote MCP server at https://buf.build/mcp. Used by enterprises including EA, Intel, IBM, OpenAI and Okta. Bufstream, Buf's Kafka-compatible streaming platform, was acquired by CoreWeave in May 2026 and is no longer a Buf product.
Buf is listed with 2 APIs on the APIs.io network. Tagged areas include Code Generation, gRPC, Kafka, Open Source, and Protocol Buffers.
The Buf catalog on APIs.io includes 1 event-driven AsyncAPI specification.
Buf’s developer surface includes documentation, engineering blog, pricing, signup flow, API reference, getting-started guide, support, and 44 more developer resources.
Kin Score
Markets this provider is in provisional
The Kin Score Market layer reads a provider inside its market: its position, and how deep its integrations go. Depth is only comparable within a position. Provisional and unweighted: not part of the Kin Score or agent readiness.
| Market | Position | Depth | Registered MCP server | Declares compatibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Official CLIs on Package Managers | builds-on | 41.5 | - | 1 |
| Agent Skills (SKILL.md packages) | builds-on | 41.5 | - | 1 |
| IDE Extension Marketplaces (JetBrains, VS Code, Open VSX, Docker Verified Publishers, PyPI orgs) | builds-on | 41.5 | - | 1 |
| Buf Schema Registry (public Protocol Buffers modules, gRPC / ConnectRPC schema publishers) | builds-on | 41.5 | - | 1 |
Registered MCP server and declares compatibility are report only — not weighted. Undeclared means we found nothing we can read, so there is no number: we never infer integrations.
Standards implemented 6
Standards this provider implements or carries. De facto ones are profiled and measured by the API Commons; formal ones come from the standards directory and are linked by the provider's own tags. The evidence column says how each claim was established — not that it was made.
APIs 2
Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.
Buf Schema Registry (BSR)
The Buf Schema Registry (BSR) is a centralized repository for managing, distributing, and documenting Protobuf schemas. It provides dependency management, generated SDKs in mult...
Buf CLI
The Buf CLI is a local Protobuf development toolchain providing linting, breaking change detection, code generation, formatting, dependency management, and schema push/pull to t...
MCP Servers 1
Model Context Protocol servers that expose these APIs to AI agents.
Buf MCP Server
The Buf Schema Registry exposes its public v1 Registry API as MCP tools so an agent can find a module, fetch its schema, and inspect commits and labels without a generated clien...
MCP SERVERAgent Skills 2
Packaged agent skills for driving this provider's APIs from an AI assistant.
buf-bsr-api
AGENT SKILLprotobuf
AGENT SKILLBuf API pricing
Prices published by Buf, read 2026-10-28 from buf.build/pricing. A free plan or tier is listed.
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Community | Free Includes: One private repository, Unlimited public repositories, Community Slack channel support |
| Teams | 0.50 per type/ month Includes: Everything in Community, plus unlimited private repositories, email support within 48 business hours |
| Pro | 5 per type/ month* Includes: Everything in Teams, plus private BSR instance, unlimited organizations, hosted custom plugins, cust |
| Enterprise | Contact sales Includes: Everything in Pro, plus full data isolation, self hosted/on-prem deployments available |
Plan details, limits and sources →
Billed by: type · FinOps profile →
Pricing Plans 1
Published pricing tiers and plan structures.
Buf Plans Pricing
PLANSRate Limits 1
Documented rate limits and quota policies.
Buf Rate Limits
RATE LIMITSFinOps 1
Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.
Buf Finops
FINOPSFeatures 6
Notable capabilities this provider offers.
buf lint
buf breaking
buf generate
buf push / buf dep
Reflection API
Language Server Protocol
Event Specifications 1
AsyncAPI definitions for this provider's event-driven and streaming APIs.
Buf Bsr Webhooks
ASYNCAPISecurity Posture 3
Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.
Scopes 1
OAuth scopes governing access to this provider's APIs.
Use Cases 4
What developers build with this provider.
Protobuf Schema Management
Code Generation
API Linting and Governance
gRPC and ConnectRPC Development
Resources
Get Started 6
Portal, sign-up, and the first successful call
Documentation 2
Reference material describing how the API behaves
Agent Surfaces 4
MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs
Design & Contract 7
Pagination, idempotency, versioning, errors, and events
Scroll for all 7
Build 6
SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with
Access & Security 6
Authentication, authorization, and security posture
Operate 9
Status, limits, changes, and where to get help
Scroll for all 9
Commercial 6
Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use
Company 4
The organization behind the API
Other 1
Properties that don't map to a standard resource type
Source (apis.yml)
Buf API — frequently asked questions
Does Buf have an API?
Yes. APIs.io lists 2 APIs from Buf, including Buf Schema Registry (BSR) and Buf CLI.
How do I authenticate with the Buf API?
Buf documents its authentication (3 schemes). The details are profiled on APIs.io as Buf Authentication.
How much does the Buf API cost?
Buf publishes its prices; its Teams plan is 0.50 per type/ month as of 2026-10-28. APIs.io lists 4 pricing plans for Buf, with each plan's price, limits and inclusions under Pricing on this page.
Does Buf have an MCP server?
Yes. APIs.io lists 1 MCP server for Buf: The Buf Schema Registry exposes its public v1 Registry API as MCP tools so an agent can find a module, fetch its schema, and inspect commits and labels without a generated client. Buf's own docs state
Is the Buf API ready for AI agents?
Buf has a Kin Score of 65.3 out of 100 (strong) and an Agent Readiness score of 49.2 (agent-ready), scored by API Evangelist on 2026-11-06.
Work with this as data
Every provider here is available over the APIs.io API and to AI agents over MCP.