pandoc-lua [options] [script [args]]

pandoc-lua is a standalone Lua interpreter with behavior similar to that of the standard lua executable, but exposing all of pandoc's Lua libraries. All pandoc.* packages, as well as the packages re and lpeg, are available via global variables. Furthermore, the globals PANDOC_VERSION, PANDOC_STATE, and PANDOC_API_VERSION are set at startup.

If no script argument is given, then the script is assumed to be passed in via stdin. When called without arguments, pandoc-lua behaves as pandoc-lua -v -i when the standard input (stdin) is a terminal, and as pandoc-lua - otherwise. On Windows the program will always behave as if it was connected to a terminal.

When called without the option -E, the interpreter checks for an environment variable LUA_INIT before running any argument. If the variable content has the format @filename, then pandoc-lua executes the file. Otherwise, pandoc-lua executes the string itself.

-e stat : Execute statement stat.

-l mod : If mod has the pattern g=m, then require library m into global g; otherwise require library mod into global mod.

-v : Show version information.

-i : Enter interactive mode after running script.

-E : Ignore environment variables. This is not fully implemented yet and only ignores the LUA_INIT variable. Other variables like LUA_PATH and LUA_CPATH are not ignored.

-W : Turn warnings on.

In interactive mode, the Lua interpreter repeatedly prompts and waits for a line. After reading a line, Lua first tries to interpret the line as an expression. If it succeeds, it prints its value. Otherwise, it interprets the line as a statement. If you write an incomplete statement, the interpreter waits for its completion by issuing a different prompt.

Exit the interactive mode by pressing Ctrl-D or Ctrl-C, or by typing os.exit(). The Isocline library is used for line editing. Press F1 to get a list of available keybindings; the ctrl key is abbreviated as ^ in that list.

Copyright 2023 John MacFarlane (jgm@berkeley.edu) and contributors. Released under the GPL, version 2 or later. This software carries no warranty of any kind. (See COPYRIGHT for full copyright and warranty notices.)

Lua: Copyright 1994-2023 Lua.org, PUC-Rio.