elvis-lvs
A simple LVS (Layout vs. Schematic) tool for GDSFactory
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
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.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python ≥3.12.
- Compiled extension; installation pulls pre-built wheels for your platform.
- Medium friction: compiled Rust bindings via maturin with wheels for Python 3.12–3.14 on macOS (arm64), Linux (aarch64, x86_64), and Windows.
License · maintenance · safety
(unclear) — 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.
last release 2026-05-19 (87 days)
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 115,223 downloads/mo, #12,263 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install elvis-lvs
import elvis_lvs
# Extract netlist from GDS and compare against schematic
# (exact API details available in package documentation)- 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
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 on it.
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
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.
Requires Python ≥3.12. Compiled extension; installation pulls pre-built wheels for your platform.
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)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
| License | Not declared unclear |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.12 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 87 days since the last release |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 115,223 / month, #12,263 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
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
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “layout vs schematic verification”
- elvis-lvsElvis extracts connectivity from GDS layout files and compares them…
- schemdrawSchemdraw generates high-quality electrical circuit schematic…
- kfactoryKFactory is a Python framework for designing photonic and electronic…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Scientific/Engineering packages
NumPy provides an N-dimensional array object and a comprehensive suite of mathematical, linear algebra, Fourier transform, and random number functions for scientific computing in Python.
pandas provides fast, flexible data structures (Series and DataFrame) for loading, cleaning, transforming, and analyzing labeled or relational data in Python.
scipy provides numerical algorithms for mathematics, science, and engineering—including optimization, integration, linear algebra, Fourier transforms, signal and image processing, and ODE solvers—built on numpy arrays.
scikit-learn provides a comprehensive Python library for supervised and unsupervised machine learning, including classification, regression, clustering, dimensionality reduction, and model evaluation tools built on NumPy and SciPy.
Install it if you need to train, evaluate, or deploy supervised or unsupervised learning models.
dill extends Python's pickle module to serialize and deserialize a much wider range of Python objects, including functions, lambdas, classes, and interpreter sessions, to byte streams for storage or network transmission.
Multiprocess is an enhanced fork of Python's standard multiprocessing library that uses dill for better serialization, allowing you to spawn processes with a threading-like API and share complex objects between them.
Install it if you use multiprocessing and encounter pickle serialization limits with lambdas or complex objects.
See also kfactory · gdsfactoryplus · gdsfactory · kwasm · gplugins · salamandra · klayout · sax · schemdraw · sglang-router