labcore

A Python toolkit for acquiring, processing, and analyzing data in a condensed matter / quantum information physics lab.

labcore is designed to complement the QCodes ecosystem — it sits alongside QCodes instruments and parameters, adding a flexible sweep framework, structured HDF5 storage, and analysis tools.

Get started in 15 minutes →

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What's inside

• Sweep framework — compose parameter sweeps with + (sequential), * (zip), and @ (nested) operators; decorate functions with @recording to produce structured records automatically
• Structured data storage — DataDict and DDH5Writer for writing and reading HDF5 data files; find_data, load_as_xr, and load_as_df for data discovery and loading
• Fitting — lmfit-based fitting framework with built-in fit functions (cosine, exponential, linear, exponentially decaying sine, and more) and xarray integration
• Analysis base — a lightweight framework for organizing, saving, and loading analysis artifacts (figures, datasets, parameters)

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Installation

labcore is not yet on PyPI. Install directly from GitHub:

pip install git+https://github.com/toolsforexperiments/labcore.git

Or clone and install in editable mode:

git clone https://github.com/toolsforexperiments/labcore.git
pip install -e labcore/

Requires Python ≥ 3.11.

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Quick example

from labcore.measurement import sweep_parameter, record_as, recording, dep, independent

# Define what to record
@recording(dep('signal', ['frequency']))
def measure(frequency):
    return {'signal': my_instrument.read(frequency)}

# Run a sweep and save to HDF5
from labcore.measurement.storage import run_and_save_sweep
folder, _ = run_and_save_sweep(
    sweep_parameter('frequency', range(100, 200)) @ measure,
    data_dir='./data',
    name='resonator_scan',
)

# Load the result as xarray
from labcore.data.datadict_storage import load_as_xr
ds = load_as_xr(folder)

See the 15-minute guide for a full walkthrough.

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Command-line tools

Command	Description
autoplot	Live plotting server for monitoring running measurements
reconstruct-data	Reconstruct HDF5 files from safe-write temporary data

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Development

git clone https://github.com/toolsforexperiments/labcore.git
cd labcore
uv sync --group dev
uv run pytest test/ -v

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License

MIT. See LICENSE for details.

Authors

Wolfgang Pfaff and Marcos Frenkel.