Decode Gzip-Compressed Protobuf
Paste Base64 or hex bytes of a gzip-wrapped Protocol Buffer message — the tool detects the gzip magic
bytes (1f 8b) automatically and decompresses before decoding. No schema or .proto file needed.
Many services wrap their protobuf payloads in gzip compression before sending, especially for large
request or response bodies. Kubernetes API objects, some gRPC streams, and Envoy access logs often use
gzip-compressed protobufs. When you capture such traffic, the raw bytes start with the gzip magic
number 1f 8b.
The Protobuf Decoder checks the first two bytes of
every input for the gzip magic number. When detected, it uses the browser's native
DecompressionStream API to inflate the bytes before decoding. No extra step needed — just
paste and click Decode.
How to decode a gzip-compressed protobuf
-
Obtain the raw gzip-compressed bytes, encoded as Base64 or hex. If you captured them with Wireshark
or curl, the bytes should start with
1f8b(hex) orH4sI(Base64). - Open the Protobuf Decoder and paste the encoded bytes. Leave the format on Auto-detect.
- Click Decode. Gzip decompression happens automatically before protobuf decoding. The status bar shows the decompressed byte count. Requires Chrome 80+, Firefox 113+, or Safari 16.4+.