ic.persist — Save/Load & Power Cycle

String key/value store for custom chip state. Survives world save/load, IC housing power off/on (chip stays in the housing), and chip pull/reinsert when the script source hash still matches. Works on vanilla IC housings and on ScriptedScreens hosts (console board, tablet cartridge, programmable visor).

Legacy global serialize() / deserialize(blob) still work but are deprecated; new scripts should use ic.persist.

Functions

Function	Returns	Description
ic.persist.set(key, value)	boolean	Store a string. Keys starting with __ are reserved.
ic.persist.get(key)	string or nil	Read a value.
ic.persist.has(key)	boolean	Whether the key exists.
ic.persist.delete(key)	boolean	Remove one key.
ic.persist.clear()	boolean	Remove all keys for this chip (including legacy serialize blob).

Use util.json.encode / util.json.decode for tables.

Limits

Defaults (per chip): key 128 chars, value 8192 chars, total 32 KiB across all keys. Configure under BepInEx Lua Persist (MaxKeyLength, MaxValueLength, MaxTotalBytes). Server/host config is authoritative in multiplayer.

Example

local KEY = "settings"

local function load_settings()
    if not ic.persist.has(KEY) then return nil end
    local raw = ic.persist.get(KEY)
    if type(raw) ~= "string" then return nil end
    local ok, t = pcall(util.json.decode, raw)
    return ok and t or nil
end

local function save_settings(t)
    local ok, raw = pcall(util.json.encode, t)
    if ok and raw then ic.persist.set(KEY, raw) end
end

local mode = "auto"
local saved = load_settings()
if saved and type(saved.mode) == "string" then mode = saved.mode end

function tick(dt)
    save_settings({ mode = mode })
end

Load order

KV is hydrated before module-level init when a saved blob exists, so you can read ic.persist at the top of your script. See Save/Load Persistence.