Lua extension manifest

Every Lua extension package contains an extension.properties file. The manifest identifies the package, states its compatibility, and declares the types that the entry file provides.

How to use this reference

Read this when a package will not load or when adding dependencies. Begin with the manifest in Creating Lua extensions, keep its ID stable, and make types match what init.lua actually registers. A library exports modules; an audio add-on registers a processor.

Fields

Field	Required	Meaning
id	Yes	Stable lowercase package identifier. It must contain at least one separator and may use letters, digits, periods, underscores, and hyphens, for example net.example.my-addon.
name	Yes	Display name, at most 80 characters.
version	Yes	Package version in semantic versioning form, such as 1.2.0, optionally with prerelease or build information.
api	Yes	Required SimTX Lua API version. The current version is 1.
entry	No	Relative path of the entry Lua file. The default is init.lua.
types	Yes	Comma-separated list of modulation, audio-addon, action, theme, and library.
description	No	Package description, at most 300 characters.
dependencies	No	Comma-separated package requirements in package.id@version-range form.
exports	For libraries	Comma-separated Lua module names made available to dependent packages.

Unknown fields are rejected. The entry path must stay within the package and end in .lua. The declared types must exactly match the types registered by the entry file, apart from library, which represents exported modules rather than a registration.

Example

id=net.example.voice-tools
name=Voice Tools
version=1.3.0
api=1
entry=init.lua
types=audio-addon,library
description=Audio processing tools and a reusable level module.
dependencies=org.example.filters@^2.1.0
exports=level,codec.tone

The exported names correspond to level.lua and codec/tone.lua. A package with the library type must export at least one module. A package without that type cannot declare exports.

Version ranges

Form	Meaning for version 1.2.3
*	Any installed version
1.2.3	Exactly 1.2.3
>=1.2.3	1.2.3 or later
~1.2.3	At least 1.2.3 but earlier than 1.3.0
^1.2.3	At least 1.2.3 but earlier than 2.0.0

For a zero-major version, a caret range ends at the next nonzero component. For example, ^0.2.3 accepts versions below 0.3.0, while ^0.0.3 accepts versions below 0.0.4.

Modules and dependencies

A package loads one of its own modules with a plain module name:

local tone = require("codec.tone")

A module exported by a declared dependency uses package.id:module:

local level = require("org.example.filters:level")

Cross-package loading succeeds only when the dependency is declared, the installed version satisfies the range, and the other package exports the requested module. Dependency cycles are rejected. The Extension catalog offers to install missing catalog dependencies before the selected package.