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Installation

In conjunction with kfactory it is highly recommended to first install KLayout, a GDS and OASIS file viewer, and klive, the plugin for loading gds files from KFactory. Furthermore, you will need a file editor and viewer in which you can work with Python. Two popular options are:

Python

Python Being able to use and understand the basics of Python will be invaluable when trying to follow the tutorials showcased. We would highly recommend obtaining at least the basic knowledge of how Python works and why it works in the way it does. The following Python tutorial is comprehensive and easy to start out with: https://www.learnpython.org/

Make sure you understand at least the basics of python in order to use kfactory. You should be familiar with python virtual environments and how to install packages into an environment.

Python Environment(s)

It is highly recommended to use a way to separate python environments and use one environment per project. There are multiple options to dos so

  • uv: A modern and fast python package and project manager, backed by rust for speed.
  • venv: The minimalistic way. This will create a new environment based on the base python (usually the system python for MacOS/Linux)
  • Miniconda: An open-source package and environment management system. Conda is not limited to python only, it also allows installation of other libraries. JupyterLab for example can also be installed into an environment with conda -c conda-forge install jupyter-lab
  • Anaconda: A desktop application to manage applications, packages, and environments. This contains Miniconda plus a GUI.

KLayout

KLayout is an open source viewer for files produced by kfactory. To produce these files, kfactory uses the python package as a basis. Therefore it is highly recommended to install KLayout. It can be downloaded from its website.

klive

klive is a KLayout package that allows to load or refresh a gds from python. It can be installed with the package manager of KLayout. The following video shows how to install it from the KLayout internal package manager. The package manager can be found under Tools -> Manage Packages.

klive will listen on port 8082/tcp for incoming connections on localhost. When kfactory (and also gdsfactory) build a cell and want to send it to KLayout, they will send a JSON containing the location of the GDS file and other metainfo to this port. klive will then load the gds and execute other commands sent. This allows for instant displaying of GDS files from a CLI with python.

Sometimes the reload dialog of KLayout can interfere with klive. It can optionally be turned off in File -> Setup -> Application -> General under the option Check files for updates.