# elabftw/elabftw

:notebook: eLabFTW is the most popular open source electronic lab notebook for research labs.

Repository: https://github.com/elabftw/elabftw
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/elabftw
Homepage: https://www.elabftw.net
Language: PHP
License: AGPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: laboratory, notebook, lims, php, mysql, docker
Last push: 2026-08-26T18:48:49+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 94/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 84, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5010, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 30, "gap_med": 4.5, "n_releases_24m": 69}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1406, forks 324 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:38.254873+00:00)

## What it is
eLabFTW is a free, open source electronic lab notebook (ELN) and laboratory inventory management system for research teams, accessed via the browser and self-hosted with Docker. It supports experiment tracking, resource databases, equipment booking, trusted timestamping, multi-team hosting, and a public REST API.

## Use cases
- keep an electronic lab notebook for research experiments
- manage laboratory inventory of reagents, antibodies, and cell lines
- book and schedule shared lab equipment
- timestamp experiments for legal traceability
- self-host an ELN for multiple research teams
- export lab records as PDF or .eln archives
- feed instrument data into a lab notebook via API

## When to choose
- a research lab or institute needs a free, self-hosted ELN with multi-team support
- you need integrated sample/reagent inventory alongside your notebook
- regulatory traceability like signing and trusted timestamping matters
- you want open formats, FAIR data, and a REST API for automation

## When to avoid
- you need a lightweight personal note-taking app rather than a full ELN server
- you cannot run a PHP/MySQL/Docker server environment
- you need offline-first desktop note software

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: stable
- function: web-framework, search-engine, pdf, api-framework, auth, authorization, self-hosted, documentation
- domain: self-hosted, healthcare, education, data-science, web-development, apis, files, pdf
- platform: self-hosted, php, cross-platform
- tags: electronic-lab-notebook, eln, lims, laboratory-information-management, research, inventory-management, timestamping, fair-data, open-science, rest-api, web-server, docker, linux

## Member repositories
- elabftw/elabftw (main) score 94

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:38.254873+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:38:41.993091+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/elabftw/elabftw (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:38.254873+00:00, sha f779924eabce)
  - homepage: https://www.elabftw.net (fetched 2026-08-29T11:52:27.558321+00:00, sha e160ff5f61b1)
  - site_page: https://doc.elabftw.net/docs/usage/user-guide/experiments (fetched 2026-08-29T11:52:27.565308+00:00, sha cc27fc69315a)
  - site_page: https://doc.elabftw.net/docs/usage/api (fetched 2026-08-29T11:52:27.567488+00:00, sha c99b50f5cffc)
  - site_page: https://doc.elabftw.net (fetched 2026-08-29T11:52:27.561355+00:00, sha 79f6be116dca)
  - site_page: https://doc.elabftw.net/ (fetched 2026-08-29T11:52:27.563413+00:00, sha 79f6be116dca)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.