snapshot of https://github.com/ent/ent.git (master, 2026-09-15; blobs > 131072B omitted)

doc/website/blog/2021-05-04-announcing-schema-imports.md

@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+---
+title: Announcing the "Schema Import Initiative" and protoc-gen-ent
+author: Rotem Tamir
+authorURL: "https://github.com/rotemtam"
+authorImageURL: "https://s.gravatar.com/avatar/36b3739951a27d2e37251867b7d44b1a?s=80"
+authorTwitter: _rtam
+---
+
+Migrating to a new ORM is not an easy process, and the transition cost can be prohibitive to many organizations. As much
+as we developers are enamoured by "Shiny New Things", the truth is that we rarely get a chance to work on a
+truly "green-field" project. Most of our careers, we operate in contexts where many technical and business constraints 
+(a.k.a legacy systems) dictate and limit our options for moving forward. Developers of new technologies that want to 
+succeed must offer interoperability capability and integration paths to help organizations seamlessly transition to a 
+new way of solving an existing problem.
+
+To help lower the cost of transitioning to Ent (or simply experimenting with it), we have started the
+"**Schema Import Initiative**" to help support many use cases for generating Ent schemas from external resources. 
+The centrepiece of this effort is the `schemast` package ([source code](https://github.com/ent/contrib/tree/master/schemast), 
+[docs](https://entgo.io/docs/generating-ent-schemas)) which enables developers to easily write programs that generate
+and manipulate Ent schemas. Using this package, developers can program in a high-level API, relieving them from worrying
+about code parsing and AST manipulations.
+
+### Protobuf Import Support
+
+The first project to use this new API, is `protoc-gen-ent`, a `protoc` plugin to generate Ent schemas from `.proto` 
+files ([docs](https://github.com/ent/contrib/tree/master/entproto/cmd/protoc-gen-ent)).  Organizations that have existing 
+schemas defined in Protobuf can use this tool to generate Ent code automatically. For example, taking a simple
+message definition:
+
+```protobuf
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+package entpb;
+
+option go_package = "github.com/yourorg/project/ent/proto/entpb";
+
+message User {
+  string name = 1;
+  string email_address = 2;
+}
+```
+
+And setting the `ent.schema.gen` option to true:
+
+```diff
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+package entpb;
+
++import "options/opts.proto";
+ 
+option go_package = "github.com/yourorg/project/ent/proto/entpb";  
+
+message User {
++  option (ent.schema).gen = true; // <-- tell protoc-gen-ent you want to generate a schema from this message
+  string name = 1;
+  string email_address = 2;
+}
+```
+
+Developers can invoke the standard `protoc` (protobuf compiler) command to use this plugin:
+
+```shell
+protoc -I=proto/ --ent_out=. --ent_opt=schemadir=./schema proto/entpb/user.proto
+```
+
+To generate Ent schemas from these definitions:
+
+```go
+package schema
+
+import (
+	"entgo.io/ent"
+	"entgo.io/ent/schema/field"
+)
+
+type User struct {
+	ent.Schema
+}
+
+func (User) Fields() []ent.Field {
+	return []ent.Field{field.String("name"), field.String("email_address")}
+}
+func (User) Edges() []ent.Edge {
+	return nil
+}
+```
+
+To start using `protoc-gen-ent` today, and read about all of the different configuration options, head over to 
+the [documentation](https://github.com/ent/contrib/tree/master/entproto/cmd/protoc-gen-ent)!
+
+### Join the Schema Import Initiative
+
+Do you have schemas defined elsewhere that you would like to automatically import in to Ent?  With the `schemast`
+package, it is easier than ever to write the tool that you need to do that. Not sure how to start? Want to collaborate
+with the community in planning and building out your idea? Reach out to our great community via our 
+[Discord server](https://discord.gg/qZmPgTE6RX), [Slack channel](https://app.slack.com/client/T029RQSE6/C01FMSQDT53) or start a [discussion on GitHub](https://github.com/ent/ent/discussions)!
+
+:::note For more Ent news and updates:
+- Subscribe to our [Newsletter](https://entgo.substack.com/)
+- Follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/entgo_io)
+- Join us on #ent on the [Gophers Slack](https://app.slack.com/client/T029RQSE6/C01FMSQDT53)
+- Join us on the [Ent Discord Server](https://discord.gg/qZmPgTE6RX)