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How to publish a Lua project

This guide shows you how to publish a Lua project to LuaRocks.

Host your code​

Push your code to a public Git forge repository and note its URL.

Choosing a version​

Choose a SemVer version number. You can set it in your lux.toml or create a git tag with an optional v prefix. Lux detects the version automatically.

Configuring a source URL​

With the URL in hand, open your project's lux.toml and add the following section:

lux.toml
package = "my-lua-project"
version = "0.1.0"

[source]
url = "https://github.com/my-username/my-project/archive/refs/tags/$(REF).zip"
dev = "git+https://github.com/my-username/my-project.git"


...

url is a SemVer release URL template; Lux substitutes $(REF) with the tag or revision. dev is a dev release URL template.

note

You could also specify v$(VERSION) to inject the version instead. Additionally, you can inject the package name via $(PACKAGE) or any environment variable via $(VAR_NAME).

important

The dev URL must use the git+https:// protocol to instruct Lux to use git.

Acquiring an API key​

You can find your API key by logging into your account on luarocks.org and navigating to the API Key settings.

From here, you can create a new API key or use an existing one. Here's an example of what an API key looks like:

wXnNFASnbacLCkgSzKb6t9cLSmNcO3ZV9mIaxrPK
Security

Keep your API key safe and secure. It's like a password and should not be shared with anyone. The key shown above is an example and not a real key.

Two-factor authentication (2FA)​

Set up 2FA on your LuaRocks account (recommended). Go to the 2FA settings and scan the QR code with your authenticator app.

If you plan on using Lux in CI/CD, copy the secret key shown under the QR code. You can expose it to Lux via the LUAROCKS_2FA_SECRET environment variable.

Security
  • Do not store your 2FA secret in the same place as your API key or login credentials.
  • Make sure your CI environment exposes the secret to Lux without leaking it.
  • If the secret gets leaked, an attacker can generate 2FA codes on your behalf.

After enabling 2FA, make sure to require it for uploads:

  • Check the "Require 2FA for API uploads" checkbox.
  • Enter your password and the verification code from your authenticator app.
  • Click "Update settings".

Configuring direnv (optional)​

Store your API key in a .env file and load it with direnv to prevent leaking through shell history.

Once you've configured direnv, set LUX_API_KEY to your key:

.env
LUX_API_KEY=your-key-here

Publishing​

If you have 2FA enabled, pass a code from your authenticator app with --tfa-code:

lx upload --tfa-code "384562"

Or, if you've configured LUAROCKS_2FA_SECRET, you can omit the flag. Lux generates a code automatically.

If you've configured direnv, you can omit the explicit LUX_API_KEY:

lx upload

Otherwise, provide your API key as an exported environment variable:

LUX_API_KEY=your-key lx upload
note

Lux also provides a GitHub Action for automating publishing in CI/CD.

Distributing artifacts​

Flat archive​

From your project directory, run:

lx dist flat-archive

This produces <package>-<version>.zip containing your project and all its runtime dependencies. The --destination (or -d) flag controls where the archive is written:

lx dist flat-archive --destination ./dist/my-app.zip

Compression can be configured with --compression-method (or -c):

lx dist flat-archive --compression-method deflated

Run lx dist flat-archive --help for the full list of compression methods.

Distributing other packages​

You can also create an archive of any package available on luarocks.org:

lx dist flat-archive argparse
lx dist flat-archive "argparse@0.7.0"

Or from a RockSpec path:

lx dist flat-archive /path/to/foo-1.0.0-1.rockspec

Single binary​

To compile your project into a static executable that does not require Lua, add a [run] section to your lux.toml pointing to the entrypoint:

lux.toml
[run]
args = ["src/main.lua"]

Then build with:

lx dist bin

Use --output (or -o) to specify the destination path:

lx dist bin --output ./dist/my-app
note

Compiling native Lua modules into a static binary is currently supported on Linux only. On other platforms, projects with C dependencies will produce a build error.

Both commands support --porcelain for machine-readable JSON output, useful for scripting or CI/CD pipelines.

See lx upload --help, lx dist flat-archive --help, and lx dist bin --help for all options.