---
title: "luau_codegen"
description: "luau_codegen is a Luau API namespace of the Zero engine, holding 3 functions: chunk, chunks and status."
section: "API Reference"
slug: "api-luau-codegen"
canonical: "https://origozero.ai/docs/api-luau-codegen"
updated: "2026-10-16T20:06:47.000945173+00:00"
tags: ["api", "reference"]
---

# luau_codegen

The `luau_codegen` namespace: 3 functions.

## luau_codegen/chunk {#luau-codegen-chunk}

```lua
luau_codegen.chunk(name) -> table?
```

What one loaded chunk got, by the name it was loaded under (a module's require path, `script` for an `execute` chunk). `native` says whether it runs generated code; `sharedCode` says the code was already in the process from an earlier load of the same bytecode, in which case this load generated nothing and its byte counts are zero. `result` and `reason` say what the generator did with it. A chunk can carry native code and still report `functionsRefused` above zero — those functions run on the interpreter, and `refusalReason` names why. Returns nil for a chunk this VM never loaded, or one whose record has aged out.

**Parameters**

- `name` `string` — Chunk name, with or without a leading '='

**Returns** `table?` — The chunk's record, or nil if it was never loaded

## luau_codegen/chunks {#luau-codegen-chunks}

```lua
luau_codegen.chunks(onlyNative?) -> {table}
```

Every chunk this VM loaded and what the code generator did with each, sorted by chunk name. Pass true to list only the chunks running native code. Each entry has the shape `luau_codegen.chunk` returns.

**Parameters**

- `onlyNative` `boolean?` — List only chunks running native code

**Returns** `{table}` — Chunk records, sorted by name

## luau_codegen/status {#luau-codegen-status}

```lua
luau_codegen.status() -> table
```

What Luau's native code generator is doing in this engine. Every chunk the engine loads is compiled to machine code, so `active` is true wherever a code generator exists; `state` and `reason` say which of the ways it is absent applies when it does not — this target has no code generator, or this CPU lacks what it needs. `nativeExecution` is whether the VM currently dispatches to generated code. The counters cover every chunk loaded this session: `chunksNative` runs generated code, `chunksShared` are the ones of those whose code the process already had from an earlier load of the same bytecode, `chunksRefused` are the ones the generator produced no code for, and `chunksWithoutGenerator` are the ones loaded where there is none.

**Returns** `table` — {active, state, reason, nativeExecution, chunksSeen, chunksNative, chunksShared, chunksRefused, chunksWithoutGenerator, functionsCompiled, nativeCodeBytes, nativeDataBytes}