nfc-tools/libnfc
Platform independent Near Field Communication (NFC) library observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
27/100
- Activity 9
- Release rhythm 8
- Longevity 100
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-02. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: n/a
- age_days: 4170
- days_rel: n/a
- days_push: 546
- n_releases_24m: 0
Adoption not part of the score
1985 stars · 480 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded
libnfc is a platform-independent C library that gives userspace applications access to NFC devices and readers, supporting multiple drivers such as pn53x_usb, acr122_usb, and pcsc-based readers. It is the foundational open-source library of the nfc-tools ecosystem for reading and writing NFC tags and communicating with contactless cards.
Use cases
- read and write NFC tags from a C application
- communicate with contactless smartcards via a PC/SC reader
- enumerate and configure NFC readers on Linux with udev rules
- build NFC-based access control or authentication tools
- interact with PN532 modules over UART
- reverse-engineer MIFARE cards
When to choose
- you need low-level, cross-platform NFC device access in C or C-like languages
- you want an open-source alternative to vendor SDKs for NFC readers
- you work with PN53x-based hardware or PC/SC-compatible readers
When to avoid
- you need high-level Android/iOS NFC APIs for mobile apps
- you want a maintained project with active community support - official site and forums are gone
- you need NFC support in a managed language without writing bindings
Facets
library · maturity maintenance
sdk developer-tools security hardware security developer-tools embedded-systems windows bsd cross-platform c nfc rfid pn53x smartcard hardware-access contactless linux macos
1 source
- readme: https://github.com/nfc-tools/libnfc · fetched 2026-08-28 · 8b08f0ec1990
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| nfc-tools/libnfc | main | 27 |
For agents
markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="nfc-tools/libnfc")
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem