Show HN: Organic Programming – A .proto is all you need
1 points
by bpds
1 hour ago
| 0 comments
| github.com
| HN
Hi HN,

I've been obsessed with metaprogramming and generative systems since 1998. With the rise of AI agents that actually write code, I felt the time was right to formalize an idea I've been circling for years: Organic Programming.

The premise is simple: a single .proto file (Protocol Buffers) is the universal contract between every component in your system — old code, new code, human-written, agent-generated. From that contract, everything else is automatically generated: API stubs, CLI wrappers, client/server skeletons, serialization. You write only the domain logic.

The building block is the "holon" — a composable unit at any scale that exposes multiple facets (gRPC service, CLI tool, library API, tests), all derived from the same .proto. Holons compose in-process, over the network, or at the shell (classic Unix piping). Two holons from different tech stacks interlock like LEGO bricks — one serves, the other dials.

It's bio-inspired (small autonomous units that compose into larger organisms) and Unix-inspired (everything pipes, do one thing well).

What exists today: - A specification ("seed"): constitution, protocol, conventions - SDKs for 14 languages (Go is the reference, others at various stages) - Hello-world examples in 12+ languages - A cross-language Go+Dart assembly demo - CLI tooling (op, who)

Repo: https://github.com/organic-programming/seed Org: https://github.com/organic-programming About me: https://pereira-da-silva.com/en

I'd love honest feedback — especially from anyone wrestling with composability in the age of agentic software.

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