Ldump – serialize any Lua data
Some time ago, I was implementing saves for my LOVE2D game. I wanted to do a full dump of the game state -- which included closures (AI), complex graphs, sets with tables as keys and also fundamentally non-serializable data (coroutines and userdata), that require user-defined serialization/deserialization logic. I went through every Lua serialization library -- none covered all data types/cases. So I wrote my own. It is a polished version, thoroughly annotated, tested and documented. It is made to be as functional and customizable as possible (or at least I did everything I could…
Ldump – serialize any Lua data launched on January 31, 2025 with 96 votes, #392 of 6,142 launches that month and more than 95% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 1 year on.
In plain words
Ldump is a Lua serialization library that converts any Lua data type to a storable format and back. It handles closures, complex table structures, tables as keys, and non-serializable data like coroutines and userdata through customizable user-defined logic. Built for game developers using LOVE2D and similar frameworks, it offers a documented and tested solution designed to serialize complete game state when existing libraries fall short.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
Serialization library for any lua data. Contribute to girvel/ldump development by creating an account on GitHub.
ldump is a flexible serializer, able to serialize any data, starting with circular references, tables as keys, functions with upvalues, metatables and ending with coroutines, threads and userdata (by defining how they should be serialized). It outputs valid Lua code that recreates the original object, doing the deserialization through load(data)() . It aims for functionality and flexibility instead of speed and size, allowing full serialization of complex data, such as video game saves. The output is large, but can be drastically reduced with modern compression algorithms. Inspired by Ser . Supports Lua 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 and LuaJIT. Tested for edge cases, such as joined upvalues and _ENV…from github.com
In the maker’s words, at launch
Some time ago, I was implementing saves for my LOVE2D game. I wanted to do a full dump of the game state -- which included closures (AI), complex graphs, sets with tables as keys and also fundamentally non-serializable data (coroutines and userdata), that require user-defined serialization/deserialization logic.…
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