Space Lua includes a comprehensive standard library based on Lua 5.4, with additional non-standard extensions useful for text processing and note-taking workflows.

This page gives an overview. Each module has its own detailed API reference page.

Global functions

The following functions are available globally (no module prefix needed):

Function	Description
`print(...)`	Print to the log (browser console or server log)
`type(v)`	Returns the type of a value as a string
`tostring(v)`	Converts a value to its string representation
`tonumber(s)`	Converts a string to a number
`assert(expr, msg?)`	Raises an error if `expr` is falsy
`error(msg)`	Throws an error
`pcall(fn, ...)`	Calls a function in protected mode, catching errors
`xpcall(fn, handler)`	Like `pcall` but with a custom error handler
`pairs(t)`	Iterator over all key-value pairs in a table
`ipairs(t)`	Iterator over integer-keyed entries in order
`unpack(t)`	Unpacks a table into individual values
`setmetatable(t, mt)`	Sets the metatable for a table
`getmetatable(t)`	Gets the metatable of a table
`rawset(t, k, v)`	Sets a table key bypassing metamethods
`dofile(path)`	Loads and executes a `.lua` file from your space

Non-standard globals:

Function	Description
`each(t)`	Iterator over values only (no indices)
`some(v)`	Returns `nil` if value is "empty" (empty table, whitespace-only string, inf, nan), otherwise returns the value unchanged

some() is particularly useful in templates and queries for handling missing data gracefully:

print(some("hello"))       -- hello
print(some(""))            -- nil
print(some({}))            -- nil
print(some({}) or "empty") -- empty

Full reference: API/global

string

Standard Lua string operations plus useful extensions. Since strings have string as their metatable, you can call these as methods: s:startsWith("h").

Non-standard extensions:

Function	Description
`string.split(s, sep)`	Splits a string by separator
`string.startsWith(s, prefix)`	Tests if a string starts with a prefix
`string.endsWith(s, suffix)`	Tests if a string ends with a suffix
`string.trim(s)`	Strips whitespace from both ends
`string.trimStart(s)`	Strips leading whitespace
`string.trimEnd(s)`	Strips trailing whitespace
`string.matchRegex(s, pattern)`	Matches against a JavaScript regex
`string.matchRegexAll(s, pattern)`	Iterator over all JavaScript regex matches

warning Lua patterns vs. regex Standard Lua string.find, string.match, string.gmatch, and string.gsub use Lua patterns, which are not regular expressions. See API/string for differences. Use matchRegex/matchRegexAll when you need full regex support.

Full reference: API/string

table

Table manipulation functions, plus non-standard extensions:

Function	Description
`table.keys(t)`	Returns an array of all keys
`table.includes(t, value)`	Checks if a list contains a value
`table.find(t, fn, from?)`	Finds first element matching a criteria function
`table.select(t, keys...)`	Returns a new table with only selected keys

Full reference: API/table

math

Standard Lua math functions (abs, ceil, floor, max, min, sqrt, sin, cos, trigonometric functions, etc.) plus:

Function	Description
`math.cosineSimilarity(a, b)`	Cosine similarity between two vectors

Full reference: API/math

os

Date and time functions:

Function	Description
`os.time(table?)`	Current Unix timestamp, or timestamp for a specific date
`os.date(format?, timestamp?)`	Formats a timestamp as a string

Full reference: API/os

encoding

Functions for encoding and decoding data:

Function	Description
`encoding.base64Encode(data)`	Encode data as base64
`encoding.base64Decode(s)`	Decode a base64 string
`encoding.utf8Encode(s)`	Encode a UTF-8 string to bytes
`encoding.utf8Decode(data)`	Decode bytes to a UTF-8 string

Full reference: API/encoding