Prometheus

<div align="center">

<img width="100%" src="https://capsule-render.vercel.app/api?type=waving&height=180&color=gradient&text=Prometheus&fontAlign=50&fontAlignY=35&fontSize=42&desc=Lua%20Obfuscator%20%E2%80%A2%20AST%20Transformations%20%E2%80%A2%20Control%20Flow%20Obfuscation&descAlign=50&descAlignY=60" />

<a href="https://github.com/prometheus-lua/Prometheus">
  <img src="https://readme-typing-svg.demolab.com?font=JetBrains+Mono&weight=600&size=24&duration=2500&pause=900&center=true&vCenter=true&width=760&lines=Pure+Lua+Obfuscation;AST+Transforms+%E2%80%A2+Encryption+%E2%80%A2+Anti-Tamper;Lua+5.1+and+LuaU+support;Built+for+code+protection" alt="Typing SVG" />
</a>

<br/>

<a href="https://prometheus-lua.github.io/Prometheus/">
  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Playground-Try%20Out-0F766E?style=for-the-badge&logo=github&logoColor=white" alt="Open Prometheus Playground" />
</a>
<a href="https://github.com/prometheus-lua/Prometheus/actions/workflows/Test.yml">
  <img src="https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/prometheus-lua/Prometheus/Test.yml?branch=master&style=for-the-badge&label=Tests" alt="Tests" />
</a>
<a href="https://github.com/prometheus-lua/Prometheus/stargazers">
  <img src="https://img.shields.io/github/stars/prometheus-lua/Prometheus?style=for-the-badge&logo=github&label=Stars" alt="GitHub stars" />
</a>
<a href="https://discord.gg/U8h4d4Rf64">
  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Discord-Join%20Server-5865F2?style=for-the-badge&logo=discord&logoColor=white" alt="Discord server" />
</a>

</div>

---

<p align="center">
  <img src="assets/readme/obfuscation-preview.gif" alt="Prometheus obfuscation process preview" width="900" />
</p>

**Prometheus** is a Lua obfuscator written in pure Lua.

It applies a range of **AST-based transformations** to make source code significantly harder to read, analyze, and reverse engineer.  
These include **register VM virtualization**, **control-flow flattening**, **constant encryption**, and other Lua-specific obfuscation strategies.

The project was inspired by the excellent [javascript-obfuscator](https://github.com/javascript-obfuscator/javascript-obfuscator).

Currently, Prometheus supports:

- **Lua 5.1**
- **LuaU** *(basic support is available, but still not fully finished)*

See [Limitations](doc/reference/limitations.md) for compatibility details.

---


## Quick Start

Try the browser version first:


<a href="https://prometheus-lua.github.io/Prometheus/">
  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Playground-Try%20Out-0F766E?style=for-the-badge&logo=github&logoColor=white" alt="Open Prometheus Playground" />
</a>

### Install CLI (Linux/macOS)

Install latest release with one command:

```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prometheus-lua/Prometheus/master/install.sh | sh
```

Then use the CLI directly:

```bash
prometheus-lua --version
prometheus-lua --preset Medium ./your_file.lua
```

The release bundle includes a Lua runtime, so no separate Lua inst