diff --git a/common/space_lua.ts b/common/space_lua.ts
index 9293696a..b246f9c0 100644
--- a/common/space_lua.ts
+++ b/common/space_lua.ts
@@ -5,11 +5,15 @@ import {
   LuaRuntimeError,
   LuaStackFrame,
 } from "$common/space_lua/runtime.ts";
-import { parse as parseLua } from "$common/space_lua/parse.ts";
+import {
+  parse as parseLua,
+  parseExpressionString,
+} from "$common/space_lua/parse.ts";
 import { evalStatement } from "$common/space_lua/eval.ts";
 import { parseRef, type Ref } from "@silverbulletmd/silverbullet/lib/page_ref";
 import type { ASTCtx } from "$common/space_lua/ast.ts";
 import { buildLuaEnv } from "$common/space_lua_api.ts";
+import type { LuaCollectionQuery } from "$common/space_lua/query_collection.ts";
 
 export class SpaceLuaEnvironment {
   env: LuaEnv = new LuaEnv();
@@ -22,13 +26,14 @@ export class SpaceLuaEnvironment {
     system: System<any>,
   ) {
     const allScripts: ScriptObject[] = await system.invokeFunction(
-      "index.queryObjects",
+      "index.queryLuaObjects",
       ["space-lua", {
+        objectVariable: "script",
         orderBy: [{
-          expr: ["attr", "priority"],
+          expr: parseExpressionString("script.priority"),
           desc: true,
         }],
-      }],
+      } as LuaCollectionQuery],
     );
     try {
       this.env = buildLuaEnv(system);
diff --git a/common/space_lua/runtime.ts b/common/space_lua/runtime.ts
index 9d77e37e..8b3e2b7e 100644
--- a/common/space_lua/runtime.ts
+++ b/common/space_lua/runtime.ts
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ export class LuaEnv implements ILuaSettable, ILuaGettable {
     if (this.parent) {
       return this.parent.get(name, sf);
     }
-    return undefined;
+    return null;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -607,6 +607,8 @@ export function luaGet(
     if (typeof val === "function") {
       // Automatically bind the function to the object
       return val.bind(obj);
+    } else if (val === undefined) {
+      return null;
     } else {
       return val;
     }
diff --git a/common/space_script.ts b/common/space_script.ts
index aa13ce45..d30e5988 100644
--- a/common/space_script.ts
+++ b/common/space_script.ts
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ export class ScriptEnvironment {
       return;
     }
     const allScripts: ScriptObject[] = await system.invokeFunction(
-      "index.queryObjects",
+      "index.queryLuaObjects",
       ["space-script", {}],
     );
     for (const script of allScripts) {
diff --git a/common/syscalls/lua.ts b/common/syscalls/lua.ts
index e5703ef6..aa804724 100644
--- a/common/syscalls/lua.ts
+++ b/common/syscalls/lua.ts
@@ -9,12 +9,16 @@ import {
 } from "$common/space_lua/runtime.ts";
 import { buildThreadLocalEnv } from "$common/space_lua_api.ts";
 import { isSendable } from "$lib/plugos/util.ts";
+import type { LuaBlock, LuaExpression } from "$common/space_lua/ast.ts";
 
 export function luaSyscalls(commonSystem: CommonSystem): SysCallMapping {
   return {
-    "lua.parse": (_ctx, code: string) => {
+    "lua.parse": (_ctx, code: string): LuaBlock => {
       return parse(code);
     },
+    "lua.parseExpression": (_ctx, expression: string): LuaExpression => {
+      return parseExpressionString(expression);
+    },
     /**
      * Evaluates a Lua expression and returns the result as a JavaScript value
      * @param _ctx
diff --git a/plug-api/syscalls/lua.ts b/plug-api/syscalls/lua.ts
index ce365554..25d789af 100644
--- a/plug-api/syscalls/lua.ts
+++ b/plug-api/syscalls/lua.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,18 @@
 import { syscall } from "../syscall.ts";
-import type { ParseTree } from "../lib/tree.ts";
+import type { LuaBlock, LuaExpression } from "$common/space_lua/ast.ts";
 
 export function parse(
   code: string,
-): Promise<ParseTree> {
+): Promise<LuaBlock> {
   return syscall("lua.parse", code);
 }
 
+export function parseExpression(
+  expression: string,
+): Promise<LuaExpression> {
+  return syscall("lua.parseExpression", expression);
+}
+
 export function evalExpression(
   expression: string,
 ): Promise<any> {
diff --git a/plugs/core/Library/Std/Template.md b/plugs/core/Library/Std/Template.md
index 0b08bcd5..e2162c3b 100644
--- a/plugs/core/Library/Std/Template.md
+++ b/plugs/core/Library/Std/Template.md
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ function template.fromPage(name)
     removeTags = true
   })
 
-  return template.new(fm.text)
+  return template.new(string.trimStart(fm.text))
 end
 
 -- Creates a template-based slash command, keys for def are:
diff --git a/web/client.ts b/web/client.ts
index 1b5ef6e1..314bf38f 100644
--- a/web/client.ts
+++ b/web/client.ts
@@ -75,10 +75,10 @@ import { LimitedMap } from "$lib/limited_map.ts";
 import { plugPrefix } from "$common/spaces/constants.ts";
 import { lezerToParseTree } from "$common/markdown_parser/parse_tree.ts";
 import { findNodeMatching } from "@silverbulletmd/silverbullet/lib/tree";
-import type { AspiringPageObject } from "../plugs/index/page_links.ts";
 import type { Config, ConfigContainer } from "../type/config.ts";
 import { diffAndPrepareChanges } from "./cm_util.ts";
 import { DocumentEditor } from "./document_editor.ts";
+import { parseExpressionString } from "$common/space_lua/parse.ts";
 
 const frontMatterRegex = /^---\n(([^\n]|\n)*?)---\n/;
 
@@ -836,20 +836,22 @@ export class Client implements ConfigContainer {
       console.warn("Index plug not loaded, cannot update page list cache");
       return;
     }
-    const allPages = await this.clientSystem.queryObjects<PageMeta>("page", {});
-    const allAspiringPages = (await this.clientSystem.queryObjects<
-      AspiringPageObject
-    >("aspiring-page", {
-      select: [{ name: "name" }],
-    })).map((aspiringPage): PageMeta => ({
-      ref: aspiringPage.name,
-      tag: "page",
-      _isAspiring: true,
-      name: aspiringPage.name,
-      created: "",
-      lastModified: "",
-      perm: "rw",
-    }));
+    const allPages = await this.clientSystem.queryLuaObjects<PageMeta>(
+      "page",
+      {},
+    );
+    const allAspiringPages =
+      (await this.clientSystem.queryLuaObjects<string>("aspiring-page", {
+        select: parseExpressionString("name"),
+      })).map((name): PageMeta => ({
+        ref: name,
+        tag: "page",
+        _isAspiring: true,
+        name: name,
+        created: "",
+        lastModified: "",
+        perm: "rw",
+      }));
 
     this.ui.viewDispatch({
       type: "update-page-list",
@@ -860,7 +862,7 @@ export class Client implements ConfigContainer {
   async updateDocumentListCache() {
     console.log("Updating document list cache");
 
-    const allDocuments = await this.clientSystem.queryObjects<DocumentMeta>(
+    const allDocuments = await this.clientSystem.queryLuaObjects<DocumentMeta>(
       "document",
       {},
     );
@@ -1511,7 +1513,7 @@ export class Client implements ConfigContainer {
   }
 
   async loadCustomStyles() {
-    const spaceStyles = await this.clientSystem.queryObjects<StyleObject>(
+    const spaceStyles = await this.clientSystem.queryLuaObjects<StyleObject>(
       "space-style",
       {},
     );
diff --git a/web/client_system.ts b/web/client_system.ts
index cfd74f4f..dbd4b2e6 100644
--- a/web/client_system.ts
+++ b/web/client_system.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ import { indexSyscalls } from "$common/syscalls/index.ts";
 import { commandSyscalls } from "$common/syscalls/command.ts";
 import { eventListenerSyscalls } from "$common/syscalls/event.ts";
 import { DocumentEditorHook } from "./hooks/document_editor.ts";
+import type { LuaCollectionQuery } from "$common/space_lua/query_collection.ts";
 
 const plugNameExtractRegex = /\/(.+)\.plug\.js$/;
 
@@ -240,11 +241,8 @@ export class ClientSystem extends CommonSystem {
     return this.system.localSyscall(name, args);
   }
 
-  queryObjects<T>(tag: string, query: Query): Promise<T[]> {
-    return this.localSyscall(
-      "system.invokeFunction",
-      ["index.queryObjects", tag, query],
-    );
+  queryLuaObjects<T>(tag: string, query: LuaCollectionQuery): Promise<T[]> {
+    return this.system.invokeFunction("index.queryLuaObjects", [tag, query]);
   }
 
   getObjectByRef<T>(page: string, tag: string, ref: string) {