##  [Ansys Lumerical for developers](/docs/lumerical) 

## Overview

Ansys Lumerical software is a powerful suite of five simulation products for photonics components, circuits and systems. It consists of two main levels of tools: **component** and **system**. The component-level tools enable the modeling of optical, electrical, thermal, and quantum effects at the physical level, while the system-level tools allow the design of photonic integrated circuits (PIC) and components in conjunction with electronic design automation (EDA) simulators. System-level tools can also create compact model libraries (CMLs) for use in process design kits (PDKs) for foundries. The Lumerical software suite is used for applications such as nanophotonic, metalens, uLEDs, CMOS image sensor, and more.

**Lumerical Automation API** allows you to interact with the Lumerical software suite and perform complex tasks such as simulation automation, data analysis, optimization, and inverse design. You can automate the Lumerical software from the Script File Editor or an external code IDE, using the Lumerical software suite's scripting language, Python or Matlab. You can also automate from a Python IDE (such as Jupyter Notebook, PyCharm, or Visual Studio Code) with the Python API, or the MATLAB environment with the MATLAB interop.

With **Lumerical Automation API**, you can:

- Create, modify, and run simulations programmatically.
- Access and manipulate simulation data and results.
- Integrate Lumerical software suite with other software.
- Perform parameter sweeps, optimizations, and inverse design.





 



 

 

 



## OS and supported languages

**Lumerical Automation API** is available for **Windows** and **Linux** in:

- Lumerical Scripting Language
- Python
- MATLAB





 



 

 

 



## Documentation

###### PyLumerical

A modern, pythonic way to automate Lumerical tools. A new package that can be installed via: *pip install ansys-lumerical-core*   
Fully compatible with the PyAnsys ecosystem, and Python open-source libraries. Open for contributions





 

<https://lumerical.docs.pyansys.com/>

 

 



###### PyLumerical MCP

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides seamless integration between AI assistants and Ansys Lumerical through PyLumerical.





 

<https://lumerical-mcp.docs.pyansys.com/version/stable/index.html>

 

 



 

 

 



###### Photonic Inverse Design with Lumopt

Python-based adjoint optimization for designing and optimizing photonic devices.





 

[/docs/lumerical/python-lumopt](/docs/lumerical/python-lumopt)

 

 



###### Python API/Lumapi 

Automate Lumerical software with Python and Lumapi.





 

[/docs/lumerical/python-lumapi](/docs/lumerical/python-lumapi)

 

 



 

 

 



###### Lumerical Scripting Language

Powerful script language to automate tasks and analysis in Lumerical software.





 

[/docs/lumerical/scripting-language](/docs/lumerical/scripting-language)

 

 



###### MATLAB automation 

Interop solution to use MATLAB commands in Lumerical software's scripts or to use the MATLAB environment to automate the Lumerical suite.





 

[/docs/lumerical/matlab](/docs/lumerical/matlab)

 

 



 

 

 



## Related projects

 When using **Lumerical Automation API**, you can perform further development with the APIs and libraries of the Ansys products:





 



###### optiSLang





 

<https://developer.ansys.com/optislang>

 

 



###### Speos





 

<https://developer.ansys.com/speos>

 

 



###### Zemax





 

<https://developer.ansys.com/zemax>

 

 



 

 

 



###### Discovery





 

<https://developer.ansys.com/discovery-2>

 

 



###### Icepack





 

<https://www.ansys.com/products/electronics/ansys-icepak>

 

 



###### HFSS





 

<https://www.ansys.com/products/electronics/ansys-hfss>

 

 



###### Mechanical





 

<https://developer.ansys.com/docs/mechanical>