Installation

wowlua is a single binary: the compiler, the type checker, the test runner, the formatter, the language server and the package manager, with no runtime to install. This page installs it, tells it where your game is, and shows how to update it or pin a version.

Install wowlua

Releases are built for macOS, Linux and Windows, each on x86_64 and arm64. The install scripts download a release from GitHub Releases, check its SHA-256 checksum and put the binary in ~/.wowlua/bin. Pick the section for your system below, or build wowlua from source.

macOS and Linux

Run the install script in a terminal:

$ curl -fsSL https://github.com/DomenikIrrgang/wowlua/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh

It installs ~/.wowlua/bin/wowlua. If that folder is not on your PATH yet, the script says so. Add it in your shell profile (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, …) and open a new terminal:

export PATH="$HOME/.wowlua/bin:$PATH"

The Linux builds are for glibc (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu).

Windows

Run the installer in PowerShell:

irm https://github.com/DomenikIrrgang/wowlua/releases/latest/download/install.ps1 | iex

It puts wowlua.exe in $HOME\.wowlua\bin and says so when that folder is not on your PATH. To add it for your user, run this once and open a new terminal:

[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User") + ";$HOME\.wowlua\bin", "User")

From source

A build from source has everything on main, including changes that are not released yet. It needs Rust 1.96 or newer:

$ git clone https://github.com/DomenikIrrgang/wowlua
$ cd wowlua
$ cargo install --path crates/wowlua-cli

Cargo puts the binary in ~/.cargo/bin.

Check that it works

$ wowlua --version
wowlua 0.13.8

wowlua help lists every command, and wowlua help <command> (or wowlua <command> --help) shows the options of one. The command cheat sheet has the ones you use every day on one page.

Add the VS Code extension

The wowlua extension for VS Code shows errors as you type, explains the WoW API on hover, completes and renames names, lists your tests in the Testing view and debugs your addon in the emulated client, with the game's screen beside your code. It runs the wowlua binary you just installed, so the binary must be on your PATH, or its location set in the wowlua.path setting. VS Code explains the setup.

Where wowlua finds World of Warcraft

wowlua dev and wowlua install copy your addon into the game. Tests, screenshots and debug sessions draw with the game's textures and fonts when an installation is at hand. wowlua looks for the installation in this order:

1. --wow <path> on the command line
2. the WOWLUA_WOW_PATH environment variable
3. wow.path in ~/.wowlua/config.json
4. the Battle.net default folder on macOS and Windows; on Linux, the drive_c/Program Files (x86)/World of Warcraft folder of a Wine prefix: Lutris's ~/Games/battlenet or ~/Games/battle-net, then ~/.wine

If your game is somewhere else, set it once in the global config, and every command finds it:

{  "wow": { "path": "D:/Games/World of Warcraft" }}

The config is $WOWLUA_HOME/config.json, and WOWLUA_HOME defaults to ~/.wowlua. Its other keys are in CLI §12.7.

Update or pin a version

Run the installer again to update to the latest release. Two environment variables change what it installs and where:

$ curl -fsSL https://github.com/DomenikIrrgang/wowlua/releases/latest/download/install.sh | WOWLUA_VERSION=v0.13.8 sh

$env:WOWLUA_VERSION = "v0.13.8"; irm https://github.com/DomenikIrrgang/wowlua/releases/latest/download/install.ps1 | iex

A project names the wowlua versions it works with in package.wowlua of its wowlua.json. wowlua new writes the current minor version:

"package": {  "name": "my-addon",  "version": "0.1.0",  "wowlua": "^0.13"}

An older wowlua stops with E4300 and names both versions, so everyone who builds the project uses a compiler that understands it (Manifest §9.16).

In CI

On GitHub Actions, the setup-wowlua action installs a release with the same install scripts. Its version input takes a release tag and defaults to latest. The workflow that wowlua new --ci github writes uses it like this:

steps:  - uses: actions/checkout@v5    with: { fetch-depth: 0 }  - uses: DomenikIrrgang/wowlua/.github/actions/setup-wowlua@main  - run: wowlua build --release --locked --message-format github

Building and publishing shows the whole workflow.

Remove wowlua

Delete the binary from its install folder. ~/.wowlua (or $WOWLUA_HOME) also holds the global config.json, the dependency cache (cache/) and the archived source maps of builds you published (maps/). Delete the folder to remove those too.

API tokens saved with wowlua login live in your system's credential store. Remove them first with wowlua logout <site>.

Next steps

• Getting started: wowlua new MyAddon, then wowlua dev.
• Bring your addon: wowlua init in your addon's folder.