Getting Started

JVM projects

Two artifacts are available for the JVM. luak-jvm is the common case: it pulls in the multiplatform core plus JvmPlatform.standardGlobals(), luajava, io.popen and os.execute, the luajc JIT compiler, CLI tooling, and javax.script integration. luak-core-jvm is the shared runtime alone, for when you don't need the JVM-only integrations or want the smallest footprint.

// build.gradle.kts
repositories {
    maven("https://repo.basaltmc.org/releases")
}

dependencies {
    implementation("org.basaltmc:luak-jvm:26.5")
}

luak-jvm pulls in luak-core-jvm transitively, so depending on it alone is enough for most projects.

Other Kotlin Multiplatform targets

luak-core is only distributed as a Kotlin Multiplatform library: every non-JVM target is a Kotlin .klib, consumable from another Kotlin Multiplatform Gradle project. It is not a raw JS or npm package, and not a C-callable native library.

// build.gradle.kts
repositories {
    maven("https://repo.basaltmc.org/releases")
}

kotlin {
    js { nodejs() }
    wasmJs { nodejs() }
    wasmWasi { nodejs() }
    linuxX64()
    macosArm64()

    sourceSets {
        commonMain {
            dependencies {
                implementation("org.basaltmc:luak-core:26.5")
            }
        }
    }
}

Your first script

LuaPlatform.standardGlobals() works on every target, so no target needs a hand-assembled Globals.

import org.basaltmc.luak.lib.LuaPlatform

val globals = LuaPlatform.standardGlobals()
globals.load("print('hello, world')")!!.call()

LuaPlatform.debugGlobals() adds the debug library. Loading individual classes from org.basaltmc.luak.lib (BaseLib, PackageLib, TableLib, StringLib, CoroutineLib, MathLib, Utf8Lib, IoLib, OsLib) by hand remains available when you want a smaller footprint. Bit32Lib is also there, unused by standardGlobals(), for an embedder that specifically wants the bitwise library from older Lua versions back. See the Standard Library guide for what each one provides.