ForwardLua is an engineering initiative started at DaragonTech on September 26, 2026, focused on extending the Lua ecosystem through experimental tooling, AI integration and cross-language interoperability, while preserving the simplicity, portability and embeddability that have defined Lua for decades. Its mission is to explore what can be built around Lua without changing what makes Lua, Lua.
The initiative brings together new engineering projects and earlier open-source work around the Lua ecosystem.
Among the first projects created under ForwardLua are:
- Llaya - a binding for LibLayaX that runs the Laya typed-decision model in-process: no server, no Python
- Rulua - a port of the Lua 5.1 library to pure Rust, designed to maintain binary compatibility with the original Lua C library
- Lude - a file-by-file port of Lua 5.1.4 to pure Object Pascal for Delphi and Free Pascal
- Pragmatic evolution - extending Lua with modern tooling, workflows, and capabilities while preserving its lightweight nature, portability, and compatibility
- Applied experimentation - rapid prototyping of alternative runtimes, execution models, FFI bridges, embedding strategies, and AI-assisted tooling
- Cross-language engineering - deep interoperability between Lua, Rust, Delphi, Python, and AI-driven systems for embedded, native, and hybrid applications
- Preservation and continuity - bringing earlier Lua experiments together with new projects and providing a foundation for their continued development
The ForwardLua initiative also provides a home for some legacy open-source projects, including:
- lua_at_client - Lua Pages
Template Preprocessor Extension,
enabling the
<?lua@clienttag to execute Lua scripts in the browser - remy - Write once, run everywhere. An abstract wrapper to several alternative Lua-powered web server environments. Compatible with Apache, Lighttpd, Nginx and others
- teal-pages - Teal Pages
Template Preprocessor, enables
<?tealtag that executes typed Lua (Teal language)