Fast table serialization library for pure Luau/Lua 5.1+
LuaEncode is a simple library for serialization of Lua tables and basic data types, along with support for all of Roblox's engine data types. LuaEncode supports both Luau and Lua 5.1+
- Serialization and output of basic types
number,string,table,boolean, andnilfor key/values - Pretty-printing and custom indentation configuration
- Compatible with Roblox's engine data types (
Instance,UDim2,Vector3,DateTime, etc..) - See Roblox Engine Data Type Coverage for more info - Secure table iteration and value reading, with potentially untrusted inputs in-mind
- Manual cycle inserts in serialized codegen with
InsertCycles - Extended raw key/value inserts with
FunctionsReturnRaw
If you're using Rojo and Wally, you can import the package in your
wally.toml:LuaEncode = "chadhyatt/[email protected]"
You can also grab the LuaEncode module from the Roblox Marketplace: https://roblox.com/library/12791121865
localLuaEncode=require("path/to/LuaEncode") localTable={foo="bar", baz={1, 2, 3, [5] =5, }, qux=function() return"\"hi!\"" -- With `FunctionsReturnRaw` set as true in options, this will output as 'qux = "hi!"'end, } localEncoded=LuaEncode(Table,{Prettify=true, FunctionsReturnRaw=true, }) print(Encoded)Output
{qux="hi!", baz={1, 2, 3, [5] =5 }, foo="bar" }LuaEncode(inputTable:{[any]: any}, options:{[string]: any}): string| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Prettify | <boolean:false> | Whether or not the output should be pretty printed |
| IndentCount | <number:0> | The amount of characters that should be used for indents (Note: If Prettify is set to true and this is unspecified, it will default to 4) |
| InsertCycles | <boolean:false> | If there are cyclic references in your table, the output will be wrapped in an anonymous function that manually sets paths to those references. (NOTE: If a key in the index path to the cycle is a reference type (e.g. table, function), the codegen can't externally set that path, and the value will have to be ignored) |
| OutputWarnings | <boolean:true> | If "warnings" should be placed into the output as comment blocks |
| FunctionsReturnRaw | <boolean:false> | If function values should be treated as callbacks that return a string to be inserted directly into the serialized output as the key/value |
| UseInstancePaths | <boolean:true> | If Roblox Instance values should return their Lua-accessable path for serialization. If the instance is parented under nil or isn't under game/workspace, it'll always fall back to Instance.new(ClassName) |
| UseFindFirstChild | <boolean:true> | When options.UseInstancePaths is true, whether or not instance paths should use FindFirstChild instead of direct indexes |
| SerializeMathHuge | <boolean:true> | If "infinite" (or negative-infinite) numbers should be serialized as math.huge. (uses the math global, as opposed to just a direct data type) If false, "1/0" or "-1/0" will be serialized, which is supported on all target Lua environments |
(See AllRobloxTypes.server.lua for example input and output of supported Roblox data types.)
✔ Implemented | ➖ Partially Implemented | ❌ Unimplemented | ⛔ Never
| DataType | Serialized As | Implemented |
|---|---|---|
| buffer | buffer.fromstring() | ✔ |
| SharedTable | SharedTable.new() | ✔ |
| Axes | Axes.new() | ✔ |
| BrickColor | BrickColor.new() | ✔ |
| CFrame | CFrame.new() | ✔ |
| CatalogSearchParams | CatalogSearchParams.new() | ✔ |
| Color3 | Color3.new() | ✔ |
| ColorSequence | ColorSequence.new(<ColorSequenceKeypoints>) | ✔ |
| ColorSequenceKeypoint | ColorSequenceKeypoint.new() | ✔ |
| DateTime | DateTime.fromUnixTimestamp() | ✔ |
| DockWidgetPluginGuiInfo | DockWidgetPluginGuiInfo.new() | ✔ |
| Enum | Enum.<EnumType> | ✔ |
| EnumItem | Enum.<EnumType>.<EnumItem> | ✔ |
| Enums | Enum | ✔ |
| Faces | Faces.new() | ✔ |
| FloatCurveKey | FloatCurveKey.new() | ✔ |
| Font | Font.new() | ✔ |
| Instance | Instance.new() | ✔ |
| NumberRange | NumberRange.new() | ✔ |
| NumberSequence | NumberSequence.new(<NumberSequenceKeypoints>) | ✔ |
| NumberSequenceKeypoint | NumberSequenceKeypoint.new() | ✔ |
| OverlapParams | OverlapParams.new() | ✔ |
| Path2DControlPoint | Path2DControlPoint.new() | ✔ |
| PathWaypoint | PathWaypoint.new() | ✔ |
| PhysicalProperties | PhysicalProperties.new() | ✔ |
| RBXScriptConnection | N/A | ⛔ |
| RBXScriptSignal | N/A | ⛔ |
| Random | Random.new() | ✔ |
| Ray | Ray.new() | ✔ |
| RaycastParams | RaycastParams.new() | ✔ |
| RaycastResult | N/A | ⛔ |
| Rect | Rect.new() | ✔ |
| Region3 | Region3.new() | ✔ |
| Region3int16 | Region3int16.new() | ✔ |
| TweenInfo | TweenInfo.new() | ✔ |
| RotationCurveKey | RotationCurveKey.new() | ✔ |
| Secret | N/A | ⛔ |
| UDim | UDim.new() | ✔ |
| UDim2 | UDim2.new() | ✔ |
| Vector2 | Vector2.new() | ✔ |
| Vector2int16 | Vector2int16.new() | ✔ |
| Vector3 | Vector3.new() | ✔ |
| Vector3int16 | Vector3int16.new() | ✔ |
(See official Roblox data type documentation here)
MIT License Copyright (c) 2022-2025 Chad Hyatt <[email protected]> Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. 
