# auto-ssl/lua-resty-auto-ssl

On the fly (and free) SSL registration and renewal inside OpenResty/nginx with Let's Encrypt.

Repository: https://github.com/auto-ssl/lua-resty-auto-ssl
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/lua-resty-auto-ssl
Language: Lua
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: letsencrypt, openresty, nginx, ssl, ssl-certificate, lua
Last push: 2026-01-21T20:45:31+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 51/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 63, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3873, "days_push": 224, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1988, forks 184 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:02.890577+00:00)

## What it is
An OpenResty/nginx plugin that automatically issues and renews free SSL/TLS certificates from Let's Encrypt on the fly as HTTPS requests arrive, using ssl_certificate_by_lua. It caches existing certificates and transparently provisions new ones per SNI hostname without dropping requests.

## Use cases
- automatically issue let's encrypt certificates for new domains in nginx
- on-the-fly ssl certificate provisioning for multi-tenant https servers
- auto-renew ssl certificates inside openresty
- serve https for dynamic hostnames without manual cert management
- free ssl termination for nginx reverse proxies
- sni-based certificate issuance as requests are received

## When to choose
- you run OpenResty/nginx and want zero-touch Let's Encrypt certificates per hostname
- you host many dynamic domains and need certs issued transparently at request time

## When to avoid
- the project is abandoned - prefer maintained ACME clients like acme.sh, acme-companion, or dehydrated
- you don't use OpenResty or a patched nginx with ngx_lua
- you need a standalone certificate manager outside the web server

## Facets
- artifact type: plugin
- maturity: abandoned
- function: security, middleware, http-server
- domain: web-development, security, self-hosted, backend
- platform: self-hosted
- tags: letsencrypt, acme, openresty, nginx, ssl-certificates, lua, tls, sni, on-the-fly-certs, linux, web-server

## Member repositories
- auto-ssl/lua-resty-auto-ssl (main) score 51

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:02.890577+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:02:58.313790+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/auto-ssl/lua-resty-auto-ssl (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:02.890577+00:00, sha 097fe8d2ea25)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.