Tablizer

Convert YAML to Protobuf Schema Online

Paste a YAML table below, edit it if you need to, and get Protobuf Schema back. The conversion runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded, there is no size limit and there is no signup.

From

The only part of this site that uses a server. The address is sent to it so the page can be fetched, because a browser is not allowed to fetch someone else's page itself. Your own files are never involved.

Nothing here is uploaded. The parsing happens on this page.
Edit
Paste or upload something above and it will appear here.
ToDataMarkupDocumentsCodeSchemasImages

The output will appear here once there is a table to convert.

What YAML is

YAML uses indentation instead of brackets. It is a superset of JSON, supports comments, and is meant to be edited by hand.

Kubernetes manifests, CI pipelines, Ansible playbooks and most modern config files.

What Protobuf Schema is

A proto3 message definition with numbered fields.

gRPC services and anything using Protocol Buffers.

What changes when you convert YAML to Protobuf Schema

A YAML list of maps reads as rows and columns directly. Anchors and aliases are resolved before the table is built, so a repeated block arrives expanded rather than as a reference.

Field numbers are assigned in column order starting at one. Types are inferred from the values.

What carries over from YAML to Protobuf Schema

One property of the YAML has no home in Protocol Buffers, and it is worth knowing which before you convert.

An empty cell and a missing one are the same thing in Protocol Buffers, so a null and an empty string in the YAML both come out blank and can no longer be told apart.

The result can be read a record at a time, and appended to by adding to the end of it. That is worth having for a table too large to hold in memory, and it means a Protocol Buffers file that is cut off part way through still gives you every record before the cut.

Both formats record types, so numbers, booleans and nulls survive as themselves rather than as text.

A worked example

Three rows of staff data, with an identifier that has a leading zero, a value containing a comma, a value containing quotes and one blank cell. Those are the four places formats disagree, so they are the four places to look.

YAML in
- id: "007"
  name: Halima Yusuf
  role: Analyst, data
  started: "2024-03-15"
  hours: "38.5"
- id: "012"
  name: Jonah "Jo" Pryce
  role: Engineer
  started: "2025-11-02"
  hours: ""
- id: "104"
  name: Wei Chen
  role: Manager
  started: "2023-06-30"
  hours: "40"
Protobuf Schema out
syntax = "proto3";

message staff {
  int64 id = 1;
  string name = 2;
  string role = 3;
  string started = 4;
  double hours = 5;
}

Questions

How do I convert YAML to Protobuf Schema?

Paste your YAML into the box above or drop the file onto it. Check the table in the grid, then copy or download the Protobuf Schema from the output panel. It takes one step and the data never leaves your browser.

Why did my YAML value change meaning?

YAML reads several bare words as booleans. In the 1.1 spec that includes yes, no, on and off, which is why a country column containing NO for Norway can arrive as false. Quote values you want kept as text.

Is there a limit on file size?

No. The work happens on your own machine, so the limit is your machine's memory rather than an upload cap. A file with tens of thousands of rows converts in a second or two.

Is my data uploaded anywhere?

No. The parsing and generating are done by JavaScript running on this page. You can watch the network tab while you convert and see that nothing is sent.

Related conversions