diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 95a4bd354..3cd01136b 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -14,9 +14,6 @@ executors:
       - image: tendermintdev/docker-website-deployment
     environment:
       AWS_REGION: us-east-1
-  protoc:
-    docker:
-      - image: tendermintdev/docker-protoc
 
 commands:
   run_test:
@@ -75,19 +72,6 @@ jobs:
           root: "/tmp/bin"
           paths:
             - "."
-  proto-lint:
-    executor: protoc
-    steps:
-      - checkout
-      - run:
-          command: make proto-lint
-
-  proto-breakage:
-    executor: protoc
-    steps:
-      - checkout
-      - run:
-          command: make proto-check-breaking-ci
 
   test_abci_apps:
     executor: golang
@@ -409,8 +393,6 @@ workflows:
       - test_abci_apps:
           requires:
             - setup_dependencies
-      - proto-breakage
-      - proto-lint
       - test_abci_cli:
           requires:
             - setup_dependencies
diff --git a/.github/workflows/action.yml b/.github/workflows/linkchecker.yml
similarity index 100%
rename from .github/workflows/action.yml
rename to .github/workflows/linkchecker.yml
diff --git a/.github/workflows/proto.yml b/.github/workflows/proto.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ddc9ee4c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/proto.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+name: Proto check
+on: [pull_request]
+jobs:
+  proto-checks:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@master
+      - uses: docker-practice/actions-setup-docker@master
+      - name: lint
+        run: make proto-lint
+      - name: check-breakage
+        run: make proto-check-breaking-ci
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 6e6897ffa..2681b73ae 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ landing changes in master.
 All work on the code base should be motivated by a [Github
 Issue](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/issues).
 [Search](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22help+wanted%22)
-is a good place start when looking for places to contribute.  If you
+is a good place start when looking for places to contribute. If you
 would like to work on an issue which already exists, please indicate so
 by leaving a comment.
 
@@ -49,8 +49,9 @@ maintainers to take a look.
 ![Contributing flow](./docs/imgs/contributing.png)
 
 Each stage of the process is aimed at creating feedback cycles which align contributors and maintainers to make sure:
-* Contributors don’t waste their time implementing/proposing features which won’t land in master.
-* Maintainers have the necessary context in order to support and review contributions.
+
+- Contributors don’t waste their time implementing/proposing features which won’t land in master.
+- Maintainers have the necessary context in order to support and review contributions.
 
 ## Forking
 
@@ -102,7 +103,7 @@ specify exactly the dependency you want to update, eg.
 
 We use [Protocol Buffers](https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers) along with [gogoproto](https://github.com/gogo/protobuf) to generate code for use across Tendermint Core.
 
-For linting and checking breaking changes, we use [buf](https://buf.build/). If you would like to run linting and check if the changes you have made are breaking then you will have to install the needed dependencies with `make buf`. Then the linting cmd will be `make proto-lint` and the breaking changes check will be `make proto-check-breaking`.
+For linting and checking breaking changes, we use [buf](https://buf.build/). If you would like to run linting and check if the changes you have made are breaking then you will need to have docker running locally. Then the linting cmd will be `make proto-lint` and the breaking changes check will be `make proto-check-breaking`.
 
 To generate new stubs based off of your changes you can run `make proto-gen` after installing `protoc` and gogoproto.
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a5b7db85a..e313ce7a3 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ BUILD_TAGS?='tendermint'
 LD_FLAGS = -X github.com/tendermint/tendermint/version.GitCommit=`git rev-parse --short=8 HEAD` -s -w
 BUILD_FLAGS = -mod=readonly -ldflags "$(LD_FLAGS)"
 HTTPS_GIT := https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint.git
+DOCKER_BUF := docker run -v $(shell pwd):/workspace --workdir /workspace bufbuild/buf
 
 all: check build test install
 .PHONY: all
@@ -54,15 +55,15 @@ proto-gen:
 .PHONY: proto-gen
 
 proto-lint:
-	@buf check lint --error-format=json
+	@$(DOCKER_BUF) check lint --error-format=json
 .PHONY: proto-lint
 
 proto-check-breaking:
-	@buf check breaking --against-input ".git#branch=master"
+	@$(DOCKER_BUF) check breaking --against-input .git#branch=master
 .PHONY: proto-check-breaking
 
 proto-check-breaking-ci:
-	@buf check breaking --against-input "$(HTTPS_GIT)#branch=master"
+	@$(DOCKER_BUF) check breaking --against-input $(HTTPS_GIT)#branch=master
 .PHONY: proto-check-breaking-ci
 
 ###############################################################################
diff --git a/tools.mk b/tools.mk
index 516fc494e..de722ae89 100644
--- a/tools.mk
+++ b/tools.mk
@@ -38,14 +38,8 @@ mkfile_dir := $(shell cd $(shell dirname $(mkfile_path)); pwd)
 # Go tools
 ###
 
-BIN ?= /usr/local/bin
-UNAME_S ?= $(shell uname -s)
-UNAME_M ?= $(shell uname -m)
-
 TOOLS_DESTDIR  ?= $(GOPATH)/bin
 
-BUF_VERSION ?= 0.7.0
-
 CERTSTRAP     = $(TOOLS_DESTDIR)/certstrap
 PROTOBUF     	= $(TOOLS_DESTDIR)/protoc
 GOODMAN 			= $(TOOLS_DESTDIR)/goodman
@@ -77,14 +71,6 @@ $(PROTOBUF):
 	@go get github.com/gogo/protobuf/protoc-gen-gogo@v1.3.1
 .PHONY: protobuf
 
-buf: 
-	@echo "Installing buf..."
-	@curl -sSL \
-    "https://github.com/bufbuild/buf/releases/download/v$(BUF_VERSION)/buf-$(UNAME_S)-$(UNAME_M)" \
-    -o "$(BIN)/buf" && \
-	chmod +x "$(BIN)/buf"
-.PHONY: buf
-
 goodman: $(GOODMAN)
 $(GOODMAN):
 	@echo "Get Goodman"