A curated list of Lua libraries, frameworks, tools, game engines, runtimes, and learning resources — covering embedded scripting, systems programming, Neovim configuration, robotics, and game development.
- Official Resources
- Lua Runtimes & Implementations
- Package Management
- Frameworks & Libraries
- Game Development
- Neovim Ecosystem
- Robotics & Embedded Systems
- Web & Networking
- Testing
- Learning Resources
- Related Awesome Lists
- Lua.org – Official Lua website.
- Lua Reference Manual – Language specification.
- Lua GitHub Mirror – Source code for Lua.
- LuaRocks.org – Package repository.
- Lua 5.x – Standard reference implementation.
- LuaJIT – High-performance Just-In-Time compiler.
- PUC-Rio Lua – Official Lua distribution.
- Terra – Low-level system programming language embedded in Lua.
- Fengari – Lua VM that runs in the browser (WebAssembly + JS).
- eLua – Lua for microcontrollers.
- Penlight – Utility libraries for Lua.
- LuaFileSystem – File system operations.
- luasocket – Networking support for Lua.
- lua-cjson – JSON parsing and encoding.
- serpent – Serialization/deserialization library.
- busted – Unit testing framework.
- moonscript – Syntactically sweeter language that compiles to Lua.
- lpeg – Parsing expression grammars.
- LÖVE – 2D game development framework.
- Defold – Cross-platform game engine that uses Lua.
- Solar2D (Corona SDK) – 2D engine using Lua scripting.
- Roblox Lua (Luau) – Roblox's fast Lua VM and language extension.
- Gideros – Mobile game development framework.
- Neovim – Modern Vim fork with Lua as its configuration language.
- lazy.nvim – Lightweight plugin manager for Neovim.
- nvim-treesitter – Syntax highlighting and parsing.
- telescope.nvim – Fuzzy finder written in Lua.
- lualine.nvim – Status line plugin.
- Neorg – Neovim workspace and note-taking system.
- OpenWRT Lua – Embedded router OS using Lua.
- nodemcu-firmware – Lua runtime for ESP8266 microcontrollers.
- luabot – Robotics control experiments in Lua.
- ROS + Lua bindings – Experimental Lua bindings for the Robot Operating System.
- OpenResty – High-performance web server using Lua on Nginx.
- Kong – API gateway built on OpenResty and Lua.
- Lapis – Web framework for OpenResty & LuaJIT.
- Sailor – MVC web framework for Lua.
- Pegasus – Simple HTTP server.
- busted – Lua unit testing.
- luassert – Assertion library for Lua.
- lunit – xUnit-style testing framework.
- Programming in Lua – The official Lua book.
- Lua Users Wiki – Community-maintained Lua resource.
- Lua Tutorial (TutorialsPoint)
- Learn Lua in Y Minutes
- LÖVE Wiki – Game dev tutorials for Love2D.
- Neovim Lua Guide – Learn Lua for Neovim.
Contributions are welcome. Please ensure your submission fully follows the requirements outlined in CONTRIBUTING.md, including formatting, scope alignment, and category placement.
Pull requests that do not adhere to the contribution guidelines may be closed.
