Bundling

When you pass a file to rodeo run, rodeo resolves and bundles its dependencies into a single script before sending it to Studio. You don’t need to flatten your code, vendor your deps, or invoke a separate bundler. It’s always-on.

rodeo run my-script.luau

Filesystem requires (require("./util"), require("../helpers")), Wally / pesde package requires (via sourcemap), and @rodeo runtime requires are all handled automatically. The resulting bundle runs inside the Studio DOM.

Runtime adapters

An adapter runs code written for another Luau runtime: that runtime’s standard library requires reach the runtime itself, which rodeo runs alongside the script. Enable one per run with --adapter, or in the script’s directive:

rodeo run tool.luau --adapter lune

-- @rodeo run --adapter lute

local fs = require("@std/fs")
local path = require("@std/path")
print(fs.readFileToString(path.join("config", "settings.json")))

--adapter can be repeated, and a directive’s adapters combine with the command line’s. The TypeScript and Lune clients take an adapters option.

Adapter	Runtime	Aliases
lune	Lune 0.10.5	@lune/*
lute	Lute 1.0.1-nightly.20260730	@lute/*; Lute’s standard library (@std/*) and batteries (@batteries/*)

The first run that uses a runtime downloads it to ~/.rodeo/runtimes. To use another build, set RODEO_LUNE or RODEO_LUTE to its executable.

The runtime runs on the machine running rodeo run, in its working directory and environment. Writes to stdout and stderr (@lune/stdio, @lute/io), process.args and process.exit are the run’s own, and task and @lute/time run in Studio.

Without an adapter, these aliases resolve through your .luaurc like any other alias. A require that nothing resolves stays in the script and fails only if it runs.

Caveats

• @lune/roblox isn’t available; requiring it errors.
• A table or buffer from the runtime is a copy, updated each time it crosses again. Passed back, it arrives as the runtime’s own, which takes the copy’s contents. The runtime’s other values, like a DateTime or a file handle, work through stand-ins whose typeof is userdata.
• Functions passed to the runtime, like a net.serve handler, run in Studio when the runtime calls them. One the runtime calls where it can’t wait, like Lute’s websocket upgrade handler, errors.
• A call’s arguments or results can’t exceed 16 MiB.