What Ember is

Ember is a package manager for Luau: one CLI that installs packages from the Ember registry (and from wally, pesde, and Forest indices), publishes packages, pins GitHub-released tools per project, runs project scripts, and opens Roblox Studio. One manifest (ember.toml), one lockfile (ember.lock), one binary.

The basics#

• Packages are named scope/name, lowercase. A scope belongs to the GitHub account that first publishes under it.
• Published versions are immutable. They are never changed or overwritten, only superseded by newer versions.
• Downloads come from a CDN (cdn.luaupm.com) with no metering and no token: installing works anonymously, at any scale, and even when the registry API is down.

Environments#

Where a package's code runs is its environment:

Environment	Meaning
roblox	Roblox, on the client or the server
roblox_server	Roblox, server-only
lune	Lune scripts
lute	Lute
seal	Seal scripts
zune	Zune scripts
luau	portable Luau, which runs in every environment

The old names still parse: shared for roblox, and server for roblox_server. Foreign ecosystems translate automatically: pesde roblox and roblox_server keep their names, and wally realms shared/server map to roblox/roblox_server. Runtimes compares the seven.

A package also has a language: plain Luau, Alloy, Loom, or Luwu. See Languages.

Where to go next#

• Install Ember, then take the quick start.
• The CLI overview lists every command.
• The manifest guide documents every field of ember.toml.