# nfc-tools/libnfc

Platform independent Near Field Communication (NFC) library

Repository: https://github.com/nfc-tools/libnfc
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/libnfc
Homepage: http://nfc-tools.org
Language: C
License: LGPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: libnfc, c, pcsc-lite, nfc
Last push: 2025-03-05T13:47:26+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 27/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 9, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4170, "days_push": 546, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1985, forks 480 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:02.619549+00:00)

## What it is
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
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: sdk, developer-tools, security
- domain: hardware, security, developer-tools, embedded-systems
- platform: windows, bsd, cross-platform, c
- tags: nfc, rfid, pn53x, smartcard, hardware-access, contactless, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- nfc-tools/libnfc (main) score 27

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:02.619549+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 2026-08-30T03:03:17.385751+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/nfc-tools/libnfc (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:02.619549+00:00, sha 8b08f0ec1990)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.