---
id: gplugins
version: "2.1.4"
license: unclear
license_treatment: unclear
maintenance: active
---

# gplugins — gdsfactory plugins

License: unclear · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 104.0K/mo

## What it is and what it does

Gplugins is a plugin architecture for GDSFactory that acts as a bridge between device descriptions and electromagnetic simulation engines. It integrates FDTD solvers (Ansys Lumerical, tidy3d, MEEP), finite element methods (femwell, elmer, palace), eigenmode expansion (meow), mode solvers, TCAD simulators (devsim), and circuit solvers (sax, vlsir). The package depends on gdsfactory, pint, tqdm, numpy, and xarray to manage unit conversions, progress tracking, and numerical data.

Developers use gplugins to run electromagnetic simulations on photonic circuits designed in GDSFactory without rewriting setup code for each solver. Most plugins install via pip with optional extras, though some simulators require conda or manual compilation and must be available in your system PATH.

Use it for:

- Simulate photonic waveguide modes and propagation using femwell or tidy3d mode solvers integrated with GDSFactory designs
- Run full-wave FDTD simulations on integrated photonic circuits using tidy3d or MEEP without leaving the GDSFactory workflow
- Extract S-parameters and circuit behavior from photonic devices using sax circuit solver for system-level analysis
- Perform thermal and electrostatic simulations on heaters and RF waveguides using femwell or palace FEM solvers
- Parse GDS-extracted netlists into Cadence Spectre or NgSpice formats via vlsir for mixed-signal verification

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Gplugins provides a plugin system for GDSFactory that enables device and circuit simulations through integrations with FDTD, FEM, EME, mode solvers, TCAD, and S-parameter circuit tools.

Yes, if you are already using GDSFactory for photonic design and need to run simulations without switching tools. The low install friction, active maintenance, and broad simulator coverage make it a natural extension. However, verify that your target simulators are pip-installable or that you can meet their system dependencies. The unclear license status warrants a quick check before committing to production use.

## Install

pip install gplugins
uv add gplugins
poetry add gplugins

## Installing gplugins

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure Python wheel distribution. Actively maintained with a recent release. Requires Python 3.11 or later. Some optional simulators need conda or manual compilation outside pip.

Quickstart:

pip install "gplugins[femwell,sax,tidy3d]" --upgrade

import gplugins
from gdsfactory import Component

Python 3.11 or later required. Optional simulators (Meep, MPB, Elmer, Palace) require conda or manual compilation and must be available in system PATH.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package's license is truly unspecified or if it inherits from gdsfactory
- Which simulators are included by default versus available as optional extras
- Performance characteristics and simulation accuracy for each integrated solver

## Package facts

- License: not declared (unclear)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 104.0K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

gdsfactory simulation plugins, photonic device simulator, FDTD FEM mode solver integration, circuit simulation gdsfactory, electromagnetic simulation framework, photonics, electromagnetic-simulation, gdsfactory-ecosystem

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/gplugins) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/gplugins/)