diff --git a/common/space_lua/eval.test.ts b/common/space_lua/eval.test.ts
index e17a1da0..e9c17ca6 100644
--- a/common/space_lua/eval.test.ts
+++ b/common/space_lua/eval.test.ts
@@ -304,6 +304,8 @@ Deno.test("Thread local _CTX - advanced cases", async () => {
   const env = new LuaEnv(luaBuildStandardEnv());
   const threadLocal = new LuaEnv();
 
+  env.setLocal("globalEnv", "GLOBAL");
+
   // Set up some thread local values
   threadLocal.setLocal("user", "alice");
   threadLocal.setLocal("permissions", new LuaTable());
@@ -423,4 +425,25 @@ Deno.test("Thread local _CTX - advanced cases", async () => {
 
   assertEquals(await evalExpr("errorTest()", env, sf), "caught");
   assertEquals(threadLocal.get("error"), "caught");
+
+  // Test string interpolation
+  sf.threadLocal.setLocal("_GLOBAL", env);
+  assertEquals(
+    await evalExpr(
+      "interpolate('Hello, ${globalEnv} and ${loc}!', {loc='local'})",
+      env,
+      sf,
+    ),
+    "Hello, GLOBAL and local!",
+  );
+
+  // Some more complex string interpolation with more complex lua expressions, with nested {}
+  assertEquals(
+    await evalExpr(
+      `interpolate('Some JSON \${js.stringify(js.tojs({name="Pete"}))}!')`,
+      env,
+      sf,
+    ),
+    `Some JSON {"name":"Pete"}!`,
+  );
 });
diff --git a/common/space_lua/language_test.lua b/common/space_lua/language_test.lua
index 7a02292b..9278a95d 100644
--- a/common/space_lua/language_test.lua
+++ b/common/space_lua/language_test.lua
@@ -75,6 +75,17 @@ do
 end
 assert(a == 1)
 
+-- Async function calling
+function multiplier(a)
+    -- Anything will be async in practice
+    return function(b)
+        return a * b
+    end
+end
+
+local multiplier = multiplier(2)
+assert(multiplier(3) == 6)
+
 -- Function definitions in tables
 ns = { name = "Pete" }
 function ns.returnOne()
@@ -308,12 +319,10 @@ assert(result == "Hi world", "Function replacement with single capture failed")
 
 -- Function replacement with multiple captures
 result = string.gsub("hello world", "(h)(e)(l)(l)o", function(h, e, l1, l2)
-    print("Captures:", h, e, l1, l2) -- Debug what captures we're getting
     assert(h == "h" and e == "e" and l1 == "l" and l2 == "l",
         "Function received incorrect captures: " .. h .. ", " .. e .. ", " .. l1 .. ", " .. l2)
     return string.upper(h) .. string.upper(e) .. l1 .. l2 .. "o"
 end)
-print("Result:", result) -- Debug the actual result
 assert(result == "HEllo world", "Function replacement with multiple captures failed")
 
 -- Function returning nil (should keep original match)
diff --git a/common/space_lua/stdlib.ts b/common/space_lua/stdlib.ts
index cebfffb8..dac59a4d 100644
--- a/common/space_lua/stdlib.ts
+++ b/common/space_lua/stdlib.ts
@@ -10,11 +10,18 @@ import {
   luaToString,
   luaTypeOf,
   type LuaValue,
+  luaValueToJS,
 } from "$common/space_lua/runtime.ts";
 import { stringApi } from "$common/space_lua/stdlib/string.ts";
 import { tableApi } from "$common/space_lua/stdlib/table.ts";
 import { osApi } from "$common/space_lua/stdlib/os.ts";
 import { jsApi } from "$common/space_lua/stdlib/js.ts";
+import { parse } from "$common/space_lua/parse.ts";
+import type {
+  LuaBlock,
+  LuaFunctionCallStatement,
+} from "$common/space_lua/ast.ts";
+import { evalExpression } from "$common/space_lua/eval.ts";
 
 const printFunction = new LuaBuiltinFunction(async (_sf, ...args) => {
   console.log("[Lua]", ...(await Promise.all(args.map(luaToString))));
@@ -122,6 +129,82 @@ const getmetatableFunction = new LuaBuiltinFunction((_sf, table: LuaTable) => {
   return table.metatable;
 });
 
+/**
+ * This is not standard Lua, but it's a useful feature for us
+ */
+const interpolateFunction = new LuaBuiltinFunction(
+  async (sf, template: string, expandedEnv?: LuaTable) => {
+    let result = "";
+    let currentIndex = 0;
+
+    while (true) {
+      const startIndex = template.indexOf("${", currentIndex);
+      if (startIndex === -1) {
+        result += template.slice(currentIndex);
+        break;
+      }
+
+      result += template.slice(currentIndex, startIndex);
+
+      // Find matching closing brace by counting nesting
+      let nestLevel = 1;
+      let endIndex = startIndex + 2;
+      while (nestLevel > 0 && endIndex < template.length) {
+        if (template[endIndex] === "{") {
+          nestLevel++;
+        } else if (template[endIndex] === "}") {
+          nestLevel--;
+        }
+        if (nestLevel > 0) {
+          endIndex++;
+        }
+      }
+
+      if (nestLevel > 0) {
+        throw new LuaRuntimeError("Unclosed interpolation expression", sf);
+      }
+
+      const expr = template.slice(startIndex + 2, endIndex);
+      try {
+        const parsedLua = parse(`_(${expr})`) as LuaBlock;
+        const parsedExpr =
+          (parsedLua.statements[0] as LuaFunctionCallStatement).call
+            .args[0];
+
+        const globalEnv = sf.threadLocal.get("_GLOBAL");
+        if (!globalEnv) {
+          throw new Error("_GLOBAL not defined");
+        }
+        // Create a new env with the global env as the parent, augmented with the expandedEnv
+        const env = new LuaEnv(globalEnv);
+        if (expandedEnv) {
+          // Iterate over the keys in the expandedEnv and set them in the new env
+          for (const key of expandedEnv.keys()) {
+            env.setLocal(key, expandedEnv.rawGet(key));
+          }
+        }
+        const luaResult = luaValueToJS(
+          await evalExpression(
+            parsedExpr,
+            env,
+            sf,
+          ),
+        );
+        result += luaToString(luaResult);
+      } catch (e: any) {
+        throw new LuaRuntimeError(
+          `Error evaluating "${expr}": ${e.message}`,
+          sf,
+        );
+      }
+
+      currentIndex = endIndex + 1;
+    }
+
+    return result;
+  },
+);
+
 export function luaBuildStandardEnv() {
   const env = new LuaEnv();
   // Top-level builtins
@@ -142,6 +225,8 @@ export function luaBuildStandardEnv() {
   env.set("error", errorFunction);
   env.set("pcall", pcallFunction);
   env.set("xpcall", xpcallFunction);
+  // String interpolation
+  env.set("interpolate", interpolateFunction);
 
   // APIs
   env.set("string", stringApi);
diff --git a/common/space_lua_api.ts b/common/space_lua_api.ts
index ae949cf0..b46a50da 100644
--- a/common/space_lua_api.ts
+++ b/common/space_lua_api.ts
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ function exposeDefinitions(
             hide: def.get("hide"),
           } as CommandDef,
           async (...args: any[]) => {
-            const tl = await buildThreadLocalEnv(system);
+            const tl = await buildThreadLocalEnv(system, env);
             const sf = new LuaStackFrame(tl, null);
             try {
               return await fn.call(sf, ...args.map(jsToLuaValue));
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ function exposeDefinitions(
       scriptEnv.registerEventListener(
         { name: def.get("event") },
         async (...args: any[]) => {
-          const tl = await buildThreadLocalEnv(system);
+          const tl = await buildThreadLocalEnv(system, env);
           const sf = new LuaStackFrame(tl, null);
           try {
             return await fn.call(sf, ...args.map(jsToLuaValue));
@@ -115,13 +115,14 @@ function exposeDefinitions(
   );
 }
 
-async function buildThreadLocalEnv(system: System<any>) {
+async function buildThreadLocalEnv(system: System<any>, globalEnv: LuaEnv) {
   const tl = new LuaEnv();
   const currentPageMeta = await system.localSyscall(
     "editor.getCurrentPageMeta",
     [],
   );
   tl.setLocal("pageMeta", currentPageMeta);
+  tl.setLocal("_GLOBAL", globalEnv);
   return tl;
 }
 
diff --git a/web/cm_plugins/lua_directive.ts b/web/cm_plugins/lua_directive.ts
index bd52c3ee..da1a7b4a 100644
--- a/web/cm_plugins/lua_directive.ts
+++ b/web/cm_plugins/lua_directive.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ export function luaDirectivePlugin(client: Client) {
 
                   const tl = new LuaEnv();
                   tl.setLocal("pageMeta", currentPageMeta);
+                  tl.setLocal("_GLOBAL", client.clientSystem.spaceLuaEnv.env);
                   const sf = new LuaStackFrame(tl, expr.ctx);
                   const threadLocalizedEnv = new LuaEnv(
                     client.clientSystem.spaceLuaEnv.env,