[Goz3rr]

You still need to reload nginx for it to start using the new certificates. But you're right about issuing/renewing certificates. I have a small snippet like this in all my server blocks:

  location ^~ /.well-known/acme-challenge/ {
    allow all;
    default_type "text/plain";
    root /var/www/letsencrypt;
  }

And to issue a cert (and automatically renew in the future) all I need is:

  acme.sh --issue -w /var/www/letsencrypt/ -d example.com --reloadcmd "service nginx reload"

Although recently I've been using the Cloudflare DNS option also offered by acme.sh instead of webroot mode. It doesn't make any difference in my issue workflow because the domains are already on CF DNS anyways, but it's required for wildcard certs.

I definitely agree in not seeing added the value of a nginx module over my current solution.

[zzzcpan]

Since version 1.16 certificates can be dynamic, no need for reload.