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qcrypto

Post-quantum cryptography for Python — simple, Pythonic, and ready for the quantum era.

Version Python

What is qcrypto?

qcrypto is a lightweight Python library that provides simple wrappers around post-quantum cryptography (PQC) using the official liboqs-python bindings from the Open Quantum Safe project.

from qcrypto import KyberKEM, encrypt, decrypt

# Generate a quantum-safe keypair
kem = KyberKEM("Kyber768")
keys = kem.generate_keypair()

# Encrypt a message
ciphertext = encrypt(keys.public_key, b"Hello, quantum world!")

# Decrypt it
plaintext = decrypt(keys.private_key, ciphertext)

Features

🔐 Hybrid Encryption

Kyber KEM + HKDF + AES-256-GCM for authenticated encryption that's secure against both classical and quantum attacks.

✍️ Digital Signatures

Support for Dilithium, Falcon, and SPHINCS+ — all NIST-selected PQC signature algorithms.

🔑 Key Management

ASCII-armored keys, passphrase protection, fingerprints, and sensible default paths like ~/.qcrypto/.

💻 Full CLI

Complete command-line toolkit for key generation, encryption, decryption, signing, and verification.

Supported Algorithms

Key Encapsulation (KEM)

Algorithm Security Level Status
Kyber (512, 768, 1024) 128–256 bit ✅ NIST Standard
Classic McEliece 128–256 bit ✅ NIST Finalist

Digital Signatures

Algorithm Security Level Status
Dilithium (2, 3, 5) 128–256 bit ✅ NIST Standard
Falcon (512, 1024) 128–256 bit ✅ NIST Standard
SPHINCS+ 128–256 bit ✅ NIST Standard

Quick Install

pip install qcrypto

That's it — liboqs-python and all dependencies install automatically.

Quick Start

Generate Keys

qcrypto gen-key --armored

from qcrypto import KyberKEM

kem = KyberKEM("Kyber768")
keys = kem.generate_keypair()
kem.save_public_key("my.pub", encoding="armor")
kem.save_private_key("my.key", encoding="armor")

Encrypt a File

qcrypto encrypt --in secret.txt --out secret.enc

from qcrypto import encrypt_file, KyberKEM

pub = KyberKEM.load_public_key("my.pub")
encrypt_file(pub, "secret.txt", "secret.enc")

Sign a Document

qcrypto sig-gen-key --alg Dilithium3
qcrypto sign --in contract.pdf --out contract.sig

from qcrypto import SignatureScheme

scheme = SignatureScheme("Dilithium3")
keys = scheme.generate_keypair()
signature = scheme.sign(keys.secret_key, document_bytes)

Why Post-Quantum?

Quantum computers threaten today's encryption. Algorithms like RSA and ECC can be broken by Shor's algorithm running on a sufficiently powerful quantum computer.

qcrypto uses NIST-standardized algorithms designed to resist both classical and quantum attacks:

  • Kyber — Lattice-based KEM, fast and compact
  • Dilithium — Lattice-based signatures, efficient and small
  • Falcon — Lattice-based signatures, very compact
  • SPHINCS+ — Hash-based signatures, conservative security

Start protecting your data today for the quantum future.

Disclaimer

For Research & Experimentation

This library is for educational, experimental, and research use. It has not undergone formal security review and should not be used in production systems requiring certified cryptographic implementations.

Resources