elvis-lvs

What it is and what it does

Elvis is a Layout vs. Schematic (LVS) verification tool designed for GDSFactory photonic and integrated circuit designs. It extracts connectivity information from GDS layout files by parsing cell hierarchies, port metadata stored in GDS properties, and instance transformations, then compares the extracted netlist against a schematic netlist to detect mismatches.

The key innovation is its handling of routed designs: rather than failing when intermediate routing components (bends, waveguides) appear in the layout but not the schematic, Elvis traces through 2-port "wire-like" components to verify that reference instances (real circuit elements) remain correctly connected. It uses graph-based connectivity analysis to distinguish true circuit topology from routing artifacts, making it practical for designs where auto-routing adds intermediate cells between schematic components.

Use it for:

• Verify photonic integrated circuit layouts against their schematic designs before fabrication
• Detect unintended shorts or open connections introduced during layout routing or manual editing
• Validate hierarchical designs where component instances are transformed (rotated, mirrored) in the layout
• Check that port connectivity matches expected circuit topology in multi-instance cell hierarchies
• Automate design verification in GDSFactory-based design flows to catch errors early

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Elvis extracts connectivity from GDS layout files and compares them against schematics to verify design correctness, handling routed designs by tracing through intermediate routing components.

Yes, if you are designing with GDSFactory and need to verify layout correctness before fabrication. The tool is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and solves a real problem (routing-aware LVS) that generic tools don't handle well. Caveat: license status is unclear—confirm the license terms in the repository before use in proprietary or copyleft-sensitive work. Requires Python ≥3.12.

Install

elvis-lvs on PyPI

pip install elvis-lvs

uv add elvis-lvs

poetry add elvis-lvs

Installing elvis-lvs

Before you install

Medium friction: compiled Rust bindings via maturin with wheels for Python 3.12–3.14 on macOS (arm64), Linux (aarch64, x86_64), and Windows. No runtime dependencies. Active maintenance as of May 2026.

License in practice

License status is unclear—no SPDX or raw license declaration in metadata. Verify the project's repository or documentation before adopting in proprietary or copyleft-sensitive contexts.

Quickstart

pip install elvis-lvs

import elvis_lvs
# Extract netlist from GDS and compare against schematic
# (exact API details available in package documentation)

Requires Python ≥3.12. Compiled extension; installation pulls pre-built wheels for your platform.

Verify before relying

• Exact Python API surface and primary entry points (description covers algorithm and architecture, not public function signatures)
• Whether schematic input format is limited to GDSFactory .pic.yml or supports other netlist formats
• Performance characteristics and maximum design size/complexity the tool can handle
• Tolerance parameters (default 1nm mentioned for position, 1° for orientation) and whether they are user-configurable

Package facts

Evidence: elvis_lvs-0.2.1-cp312-cp312-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; elvis_lvs-0.2.1-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_28_aarch64.whl; elvis_lvs-0.2.1-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_28_x86_64.whl; elvis_lvs-0.2.1-cp312-cp312-win_amd64.whl; elvis_lvs-0.2.1-cp313-cp313-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; elvis_lvs-0.2.1-cp313-cp313-manylinux_2_28_aarch64.whl; elvis_lvs-0.2.1-cp313-cp313-manylinux_2_28_x86_64.whl; elvis_lvs-0.2.1-cp313-cp313-win_amd64.whl; elvis_lvs-0.2.1-cp314-cp314-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; elvis_lvs-0.2.1-cp314-cp314-manylinux_2_28_aarch64.whl; elvis_lvs-0.2.1-cp314-cp314-manylinux_2_28_x86_64.whl; elvis_lvs-0.2.1-cp314-cp314-win_amd64.whl

Tags

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