Presets

Prometheus ships with these preset names in src/presets.lua:

• Minify
• Weak
• Cff (standalone control flow flattening)
• Vmify (standalone register VM)
• Medium
• Strong

Use a preset with:

prometheus-lua --preset Medium ./file.lua

Minify

• no step transforms (Steps = {})
• variable renaming still applies through pipeline settings
• best for size reduction and minimal runtime overhead

Weak

Steps:

1. Cff
2. ConstantArray
3. WrapInFunction

Cff

This test-oriented preset runs one Cff control flow flattening step.

Vmify

This test-oriented preset compiles the input to the register VM with one Vmify step.

Medium

Steps:

1. Vmify
2. EncryptStrings (HoistVmStrings = true)
3. AntiTamper (UseDebug = false)
4. ConstantArray
5. WrapInFunction
6. Cff (ExcludeVm = true)
7. NumbersToExpressions

HoistVmStrings moves interpreter string literals into an outer initializer; that initializer follows the regular encryption and constant array flow, decodes the strings once at startup, then binds them to native lexical locals inside the interpreter. This avoids decoder and wrapper calls on the interpreter's hot paths. Strings in vmData remain encrypted normally.

Cff runs after the helper-producing steps, so it flattens their surrounding code, including string decoder, tamper check, constant array, and wrapper code. The generated VM interpreter and its native prototype table initializers remain outside Cff flattening. NumbersToExpressions runs after Cff because it adds no helper functions and keeps arithmetic constant expressions from being virtualized by Cff.

Strong

Steps:

1. Vmify
2. EncryptStrings
3. AntiTamper (UseDebug = false)
4. Cff
5. ConstantArray
6. NumbersToExpressions
7. WrapInFunction

In Strong, Vmify compiles the input first, then Cff flattens control flow in the generated VM Lua code. It keeps the defaults HoistVmStrings = false and ExcludeVm = false; the preset is unchanged and contains one VM pass.

Choosing quickly

• Start with Medium.
• Move to Strong only after benchmarking your runtime path.
• Use Minify when you want readability reduction only through compression/renaming style behavior.
• Use Cff and Vmify to exercise either step on its own in a custom pipeline.