Luau Type Expert

Expert guidance for writing type-safe, clean Luau code that passes strict type checking.

Type Modes

Always use --!strict at file top. Three modes exist:

Type Annotation Syntax

--!strict

-- Variables
local count: number = 0
local name: string = "Player"
local active: boolean = true

-- Functions
local function add(a: number, b: number): number
    return a + b
end

-- Optional parameters
local function greet(name: string, title: string?): string
    return (title or "") .. name
end

-- Multiple returns
local function divmod(a: number, b: number): (number, number)
    return math.floor(a / b), a % b
end

-- Variadic
local function sum(...: number): number
    local total = 0
    for _, v in {...} do total += v end
    return total
end

Type Aliases

-- Simple alias
type UserId = number

-- Table types
type PlayerData = {
    coins: number,
    level: number,
    inventory: { string },
}

-- Export for cross-module use
export type ItemRecord = {
    id: string,
    quantity: number,
    createdAt: number,
}

-- Function type
type Callback = (player: Player, data: any) -> boolean

-- Generic types
type Result<T, E> = { ok: true, value: T } | { ok: false, error: E }
type Array<T> = { T }
type Map<K, V> = { [K]: V }

Union and Intersection Types

-- Union: value is one of these types
type StringOrNumber = string | number
type OptionalString = string | nil  -- same as string?

-- Literal unions (discriminated)
type Status = "pending" | "active" | "completed"
type HttpMethod = "GET" | "POST" | "PUT" | "DELETE"

-- Intersection: value has all these properties
type Named = { name: string }
type Aged = { age: number }
type Person = Named & Aged  -- has both name and age

-- Function intersection (overloads)
type Stringify = ((n: number) -> string) & ((b: boolean) -> string)

Type Narrowing (Refinements)

Luau automatically narrows types in conditional blocks:

local function process(value: string | number)
    if type(value) == "string" then
        -- value: string here
        print(value:upper())
    else
        -- value: number here
        print(value + 1)
    end
end

-- typeof() for Roblox instances
local function handlePart(obj: Instance)
    if typeof(obj) == "BasePart" then
        -- obj: BasePart here
        obj.Anchored = true
    end
end

-- Truthy narrowing
local function safePrint(msg: string?)
    if msg then
        -- msg: string (not nil)
        print(msg)
    end
end

-- Equality narrowing
local function handleStatus(status: "pending" | "done")
    if status == "pending" then
        -- status: "pending"
    else
        -- status: "done"
    end
end

Early return preserves refinements:

local function requirePlayer(player: Player?): Player
    if not player then
        error("Player required")
    end
    -- player: Player (narrowed after early return)
    return player
end

Type Casts

Use :: to override inferred types:

-- Cast to specific type
local data = {} :: { string }
table.insert(data, "hello")  -- OK
table.insert(data, 123)      -- Error: number not string

-- Cast result of expression
local id = tostring(123) :: string

-- Cast for API returns
local part = workspace:FindFirstChild("Part") :: Part?

Cast rules: One operand must be subtype of the other, or any.

Generics

-- Generic function
local function first<T>(arr: { T }): T?
    return arr[1]
end

-- Generic with constraint
local function clone<T>(obj: T & {}): T
    local copy = {}
    for k, v in obj :: any do
        copy[k] = v
    end
    return copy :: T
end

-- Generic type alias
type Container<T> = {
    value: T,
    set: (self: Container<T>, value: T) -> (),
    get: (self: Container<T>) -> T,
}

-- Multiple type parameters
type Pair<K, V> = { key: K, value: V }

Table Types

-- Array (sequential integer keys)
type StringArray = { string }
type NumberList = { number }

-- Dictionary (string keys)
type Config = { [string]: any }
type Scores = { [string]: number }

-- Mixed table
type Player = {
    name: string,           -- required field
    score: number,
    items: { string },      -- array field
    metadata: { [string]: any }?,  -- optional dictionary
}

-- Exact table (no extra keys allowed in strict)
type Point = { x: number, y: number }

Metatables and OOP

--!strict

export type Vector2 = {
    x: number,
    y: number,
}

type Vector2Impl = {
    __index: Vector2Impl,
    new: (x: number, y: number) -> Vector2,
    add: (self: Vector2, other: Vector2) -> Vector2,
    magnitude: (self: Vector2) -> number,
}

local Vector2: Vector2Impl = {} :: Vector2Impl
Vector2.__index = Vector2

function Vector2.new(x: number, y: number): Vector2
    return setmetatable({ x = x, y = y }, Vector2) :: Vector2
end

function Vector2:add(other: Vector2): Vector2
    return Vector2.new(self.x + other.x, self.y + other.y)
end

function Vector2:magnitude(): number
    return math.sqrt(self.x^2 + self.y^2)
end

return Vector2

Common Type Errors and Fixes

See references/common-errors.md for detailed error solutions.

Quick fixes:

luau-lsp CLI Usage

# Basic analysis
luau-lsp analyze src/

# With sourcemap for Roblox
luau-lsp analyze --sourcemap=sourcemap.json src/

# With definitions
luau-lsp analyze --definitions:@roblox=globalTypes.d.luau src/

# Disable all FFlags
luau-lsp analyze --no-flags-enabled src/

.luaurc Configuration

{
    "languageMode": "strict",
    "lint": {
        "LocalShadow": "disabled",
        "ImportUnused": "enabled"
    },
    "aliases": {
        "@shared": "src/Shared",
        "@server": "src/Server"
    }
}

Performance-Aware Typing

See references/performance.md for performance patterns.

Key points:

• Use table.field not table["field"]
• Keep metatables shallow (direct __index to table)
• Localize builtins: local max = math.max
• Avoid getfenv/setfenv (deoptimizes)
• Use table.create(n) for known sizes

Lint Rules Reference

See references/lint-rules.md for all 28 lint rules.

Critical rules:

• UnknownGlobal - Catches typos
• LocalUnused - Dead code
• ImplicitReturn - Inconsistent returns
• UninitializedLocal - Use before assign