openLCA IPC

Python access to a running openLCA Desktop instance for search, modeling, calculations, analysis, and export.

Overview

openLCA IPC is a Python library for working with a running openLCA Desktop instance. Use it when you want to automate repeatable openLCA tasks without hiding the database, product system, impact method, or result.

What you can do

Search flows, processes, providers, and impact methods.
Create foreground model data and product systems.
Run LCA calculations and inspect inventory and impact results.
Analyze contributions, parameters, scenarios, and uncertainty.
Export results and capture reproducibility metadata.

Requirements

Python 3.11 or newer
openLCA Desktop 2.x
An openLCA database
The openLCA IPC server running

How it connects

text

Python script
   ↓
openLCA IPC
   ↓
openLCA IPC server
   ↓
openLCA Desktop + active database

Read-only mode

Use read-only mode when you want to inspect or calculate without allowing the library to create or modify database entities.

python

from openlca_ipc import OLCAClient

client = OLCAClient(port=8080, read_only=True)