Luau Engine

Your first project

Create a project, script it in Luau, run it in the editor, and compile it to a standalone executable.

This walkthrough goes from an empty folder to a running desktop build in about ten minutes. It assumes you have installed the editor and the CLI.

Create the project#

From the editor, choose File → New Project and pick the Baseplate template. From a terminal:

luauengine new my-first-game --template baseplate
cd my-first-game

Either way you end up with:

my-first-game/
├── luauengine.toml        # project manifest: name, targets, build settings
├── places/
│   └── main.rbxlx         # the place, stored as readable XML
├── src/
│   ├── server/            # scripts mapped into ServerScriptService
│   ├── client/            # scripts mapped into StarterPlayerScripts
│   └── shared/            # modules mapped into ReplicatedStorage
└── assets/                # meshes, textures, audio you own

The src/ tree is mapped into the DataModel at load time, so scripts live on disk as ordinary .luau files that Git can diff. See Project file for how that mapping is configured.

Write some Luau#

Create src/server/Greeter.server.luau:

src/server/Greeter.server.luau
local Players = game:GetService("Players")

local function onPlayerAdded(player: Player)
	print(`{player.Name} joined`)

	local leaderstats = Instance.new("Folder")
	leaderstats.Name = "leaderstats"
	leaderstats.Parent = player

	local score = Instance.new("IntValue")
	score.Name = "Score"
	score.Value = 0
	score.Parent = leaderstats
end

Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(onPlayerAdded)

Nothing here is Luau Engine specific — it is the same code you would write in Studio, type annotations and all.

Run it#

Press F5, or:

luauengine run

The editor starts a local session with a server and one client, exactly like Studio's Play Solo. Output, the script debugger, breakpoints and the microprofiler all behave the way you expect.

To test replication, start extra clients:

luauengine run --clients 2

Add something a standalone build can do#

Standalone targets expose an Engine global for things Roblox hosts on your behalf — the window, the filesystem, command-line arguments. Guard it so the same code still runs on Roblox:

src/client/Window.client.luau
if Engine.Platform == Enum.Platform.Roblox then
	return -- nothing to do; Roblox owns the window
end

Engine.Window:SetTitle("My First Game")
Engine.Window:SetSize(1600, 900)

Engine.Window.CloseRequested:Connect(function()
	print("Saving before exit…")
	Engine.Storage:WriteJSON("save.json", { lastPlayed = os.time() })
	Engine:Quit()
end)

Engine.Storage writes to the per-user save directory for the platform, so you are not guessing at paths. The full surface is in API differences.

Build a standalone executable#

luauengine build --target windows --release

Output lands in build/windows/:

build/windows/
├── MyFirstGame.exe
├── MyFirstGame.lue        # compiled place + scripts + assets
└── runtime/               # engine runtime libraries

Double-click the executable and your game runs with no editor and no Roblox client involved. Swap --target for macos, linux, web or server — see Publishing overview.

Cross-compiling

Building for a platform you are not on needs that platform's SDK. luauengine doctor --target macos tells you what is missing. Most teams let CI build the targets they cannot build locally.

Publish to Roblox instead#

The same project publishes upstream without changes:

luauengine publish --roblox --place-id 1234567890

Authenticate once with luauengine auth roblox and the credential is stored in your OS keychain. Details in Publishing to Roblox.

Next steps#

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