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[input]

The [input] section defines the molecule, electronic-structure method, run type, basis convention, and process-level threading. Most workflows require this section.

Minimal Example

[input]
system=
   O   0.000000000   0.000000000  -0.041061554
   H  -0.533194329   0.533194329  -0.614469223
   H   0.533194329  -0.533194329  -0.614469223
charge=0
runtype=energy
method=hf
basis=6-31g*

Keywords

system

Field Value
Type string or multiline coordinate block
Default empty
Values XYZ file path, or inline atom coordinates
Used by all molecular workflows

Defines the molecular geometry. When system is a single non-empty line, OpenQP interprets it as a file path. When system= is followed by indented atom lines, OpenQP reads those lines as inline coordinates.

Inline coordinates use one atom per line:

[input]
system=
   O   0.000000000   0.000000000  -0.041061554
   H  -0.533194329   0.533194329  -0.614469223
   H   0.533194329  -0.533194329  -0.614469223

Each atom line must contain at least symbol x y z. Numeric atomic labels are also accepted by existing examples. When basis=library, each atom line must also include a tag column.

system2

Field Value
Type string or multiline coordinate block
Default empty
Values second XYZ file path, or second inline geometry
Used by NACME and previous-geometry workflows

Provides a second geometry. NACME uses it as the displaced or previous-step geometry when [guess] file2 is not supplied.

charge

Field Value
Type integer
Default 0
Used by electron count for all workflows

Sets the total molecular charge. Keep charge, [scf] multiplicity, and the chosen reference type physically consistent.

method

Field Value
Type string
Default hf
Values hf, tdhf
Used by workflow dispatch

Selects the electronic-structure driver. Use method=hf for HF and DFT reference calculations. Use method=tdhf for TDHF, TDDFT, SF-TDDFT, MRSF-TDDFT, SOC, NACME, and MRSF-EKT workflows.

DFT calculations still use method=hf; the functional is selected separately with functional.

functional

Field Value
Type string
Default empty
Used by DFT and TDDFT-style calculations

Selects a density functional. An empty value means Hartree-Fock. Examples use values such as bhhlyp, pbe0, and DTCAM-series functionals where supported.

Some property implementations have functional restrictions. For example, NMR shielding does not support range-separated or meta-GGA functionals in the current checker.

basis

Field Value
Type string
Default 6-31g*
Values basis name, semicolon-separated per-atom names, or library
Used by AO basis setup

Sets the orbital basis. A single basis name applies to every atom:

basis=6-31g*

Per-atom basis names can be supplied in atom order with semicolons:

basis=aug-cc-pVDZ-PP;aug-cc-pVDZ

For tagged basis assignment, set basis=library, add a tag after each atom, and define the tag mapping with library.

library

Field Value
Type multiline string
Default empty
Used by tagged basis assignment when basis=library

Maps atom tags to basis names:

[input]
system=
 C    1.6062782722   1.5141391221  -1.8538091464  c1
 H    0.7846511041   1.8564598303  -1.2260835006  h1
basis=library
library=
 c1 6-31g
 h1 6-31g*

When basis=library, every atom line must include a tag and every tag must have a mapping.

runtype

Field Value
Type string
Default energy
Values energy, grad, hess, nac, nacme, bp, optimize, meci, mecp, tci, mep, ts, irc, neb, prop, data, ekt, soc
Used by top-level workflow dispatch

Selects the calculation workflow.

Common values:

Value Meaning
energy Single-point energy and requested properties.
grad Energy plus gradient.
hess Hessian and frequency workflow.
nacme Nonadiabatic coupling matrix element workflow.
soc Spin-orbit coupling workflow.
ekt MRSF-EKT ionization/electron-affinity workflow.
optimize Geometry optimization.
meci, mecp, tci Crossing-point searches.
ts, irc, neb, mep Reaction-path workflows.
prop, data Multi-state property/data workflows for downstream drivers.

md is recognized by validation code but is not implemented as a production workflow in this repository.

ispher

Field Value
Type string mode
Default auto
Values auto, true, false
Used by AO basis shell convention

Controls pure spherical harmonic versus Cartesian AO shells.

Value Meaning
auto Follow basis-set metadata where possible.
true Force pure spherical shells, such as 5d and 7f.
false Force Cartesian shells, such as 6d and 10f.

Use this explicitly when reproducing a calculation from another program or when a workflow is validated for one convention.

d4

Field Value
Type boolean
Default False
Used by DFT-D4 dispersion correction

Enables the DFT-D4 dispersion correction where supported. The input checker requires a DFT functional when d4=true.

soc_2e

Field Value
Type integer
Default 1
Values 0, 1
Used by runtype=soc

Controls whether mean-field two-electron SOC terms are included.

Value Meaning
0 One-electron SOC terms only.
1 One-electron plus mean-field two-electron SOC terms.

The option lives in [input] because it gates the whole SOC workflow rather than a response-solver detail.

Spin-orbit coupling is a relativistic interaction that mixes spin-free states of different spin character. OpenQP's documented SOC workflow is an MRSF-TDDFT workflow selected with runtype=soc; soc_2e=1 adds the mean-field two-electron SOC contribution used in practical molecular SOC calculations. Scalar relativistic DKH correction is a separate spin-free Hamiltonian option controlled by [scf] scal_rel. See References for OpenQP's relativistic MRSF-TDDFT SOC method and mean-field SOC operator background.

Python style:

from oqp.openqp import OpenQP

job = OpenQP("soc_keywords")
job.molecule(geometry="water", charge=0)
job.theory.mrsf(functional="bhhlyp", basis="6-31G(2df,p)", nstate=12)
job.workflow.soc(soc_2e=1, scal_rel=2)

For Python SOC workflows, job.workflow.soc(...) sets [scf] scal_rel=2 by default. Override it with scal_rel=0, 1, or 2 when needed.

omp_threads

Field Value
Type integer
Default 0
Used by OpenMP runtime setup

Sets OpenMP threads per process or MPI rank. 0 means leave the environment or compiled default unchanged.

Precedence is:

  1. command-line --omp
  2. [input] omp_threads
  3. OMP_NUM_THREADS
  4. OpenQP built-in default

Example:

[input]
omp_threads=16