ghz vs protoc-gen-doc

ghz is a command-line utility and Go package for load testing and benchmarking gRPC services, including local debugging and performance regression checks in CI. Tests can define a service with a.proto file, a compiled protoset bundle, or server reflection, and exercise unary, streaming, or duplex calls using JSON or binary data. Load schedules include constant, step, and linear request rates. Go templates can generate request data and metadata for each call using values such as worker ID, request number, method name, and timestamps. The CLI can emit summary, CSV, JSON, pretty JSON, HTML, Prometheus text exposition, and InfluxDB line protocol results. Documentation also covers InfluxDB output, Prototool, and prebuilt Grafana dashboards. The complementary ghz-web application is labeled beta; it stores reports in projects for viewing and comparison over time, and supports SQLite, MySQL, or PostgreSQL storage. It accepts reports through ingest endpoints. The project is identified as Apache-2.0 licensed. Installation options include prebuilt executables, Homebrew, and building from source. The CLI is listed at free; the web companion is beta.

protoc-gen-doc is a documentation generator plugin for the Google Protocol Buffers compiler. It turns comments in .proto files into HTML, JSON, DocBook, or Markdown documentation, covering files, messages, fields, services and methods, enums and values, and extensions. It supports proto2 and proto3, including both in the same context. You can exclude files with path patterns and omit comments marked with the @exclude prefix. The plugin runs through protoc with the --doc_out and --doc_opt options; its source_relative flag places generated output in the same relative directory as the input. For customization, users can supply a Go template or use a stylesheet.css file to change HTML appearance. Installation options include Go, prebuilt releases, a Docker image, and a Maven Central package. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows and is self-hosted. The project is free under the MIT License, which allows use, modification, distribution, sublicensing, and sale under its terms. The license provides the software as is, without warranty.