# Install luau with Homebrew, apk, Nix, pacman, scoop Fast, safe, gradually typed embeddable scripting language derived from Lua. Version 0.728 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-03. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:luau ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install luau ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add luau ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: luau from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#luau ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/lu/luau/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S luau ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: luau from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz ### Windows - Scoop (92%): ```sh scoop install main/luau ``` Evidence: Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/luau.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:luau - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.728 - **Source summary:** Fast, safe, gradually typed embeddable scripting language derived from Lua - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-07-03T13:54:19Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-09T07:20:21+00:00 ## Executables - luau (cli) - luau-analyze (cli) - luau-ast (cli) - luau-compile (cli) - luau-reduce (cli) - luau (alias) - luau-analyze (alias) - luau-ast (alias) - luau-compile (alias) - luau-reduce (alias) ## Build dependencies - cmake ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-09 - Package-manager version: 0.728 - Package-manager updated: 2026-07-03 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/luau-lang/luau - Upstream latest detected: 0.728 (current) ## Project history and usage Luau is Roblox's Lua-derived scripting language: a small, fast, embeddable language with gradual typing, a bytecode compiler, interpreter, optional JIT, type checker, and linter. ### Project history Luau grew out of Roblox's long use of Lua for user-generated gameplay and internal application code. The Luau team says Roblox chose Lua for simplicity, embedding, execution control, and coroutine support, then evolved it to improve performance, ergonomics, safety, and tooling while preserving Lua's design goals. On November 3, 2021, Roblox announced that Luau was becoming a separate open-source language rather than an inseparable part of Roblox. The announcement made the runtime, compiler, type checker, and linter available under the MIT license and opened the language RFC process to the public. ### Adoption history Luau's largest adoption base remains Roblox itself: the origins post describes it as powering millions of Roblox experiences and large amounts of Roblox app and Studio functionality. Open-sourcing made it usable outside Roblox, and the project says it has seen increased adoption in other projects and applications. Package-manager adoption followed the open-source release. The input metadata lists Luau packages in Homebrew, Alpine, Nix, Arch, and Scoop, which makes the command-line compiler and analyzer available to non-Roblox workflows. ### How it is used Luau ships command-line tools for running scripts and analyzing code. The getting-started documentation shows luau for execution and luau-analyze for static analysis, type checking, and linting. For embedders, the language is designed around a small standard library and host-provided APIs. That makes Luau useful both as a Roblox scripting language and as a sandboxable embedded scripting runtime. ### Why package nerds care Luau matters to package history because it is a modern, typed Lua-family runtime with a large production origin and standalone package-manager distribution. It is not just a Lua library: it ships a compiler, analyzer, AST tools, and runtime pieces as CLI binaries. For Lua ecosystem watchers, Luau is one answer to the long-running question of how Lua-like languages can add typing, tooling, and safety without giving up embeddability. ### Timeline - 2006: Roblox begins using Lua-style scripting for user-generated behaviors. - 2021: Roblox announces Luau as a separate open-source language on November 3. - 2022: The Luau team publishes its origins and evolution history. - 2023: Open-source release binaries add native code generation support compiled in by default. ### Related projects - Lua 5.1 is the language base Luau started from. - Roblox Studio is the main application environment for Luau developers. - LuaJIT is a related high-performance Lua-family runtime, but Luau focuses on gradual typing and Roblox-compatible embedding. ### Sources - - - - - - source_facts.package-manager ## Security Notes generalized runtime or code generation signal. - **Geiger risk:** yellow / medium - generalized runtime or code generation signal ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** luau - **Version Scheme:** 1 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - luau: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/lu/luau/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - apk - luau - 0.689-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: luau from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | A fast, small, safe, gradually typed embeddable scripting language derived from Lua | https://github.com/roblox/luau - pacman - luau - 1:0.723-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: luau from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | A fast, small, safe, gradually typed embeddable scripting language derived from Lua | https://github.com/luau-lang/luau - Scoop - main/luau: normalized package name match | Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/luau.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Language runtime packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/language-runtime-packages/) - Matched language runtime, compiler, or interpreter metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [cmake](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cmake/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [lua](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/lua/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, embeddable, language-runtime, lua, programming-language. - [janet](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/janet/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, embeddable, language-runtime, programming-language, scripting. - [fennel](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fennel/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, language-runtime, lua, programming-language. - [gluon](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gluon/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, embeddable, language-runtime, programming-language. - [gnu-apl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gnu-apl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, language-runtime, programming-language, scripting. - [gosu](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gosu/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, language-runtime, programming-language, scripting. - [groovy](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/groovy/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, language-runtime, programming-language, scripting. - [io](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/io/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, language-runtime, programming-language, scripting. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/luau.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/luau.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph