By name: cuopt-numerical-optimization-api-c version: "26.08.00" description: LP, MILP, and QP (beta) with cuOpt — C API only. Use when the user is embedding LP, MILP, or QP in C/C++. license: Apache-2.0 metadata: author: NVIDIA cuOpt Team tags: - cuopt - linear-programming - milp - qp - c-api
cuOpt Numerical Optimization — C API
Solve LP, MILP, and QP problems via the cuOpt C API. The same library, headers, build pattern, and core calls (cuOptCreate*Problem, cuOptSolve, cuOptGetObjectiveValue) apply across all three; QP extends the API with quadratic-objective creation calls.
Confirm problem type and formulation (variables, objective, constraints, variable types) before coding.
This skill is C only.
API Call Sequence
For LP/MILP, the ordered C entry points are: cuOptCreateRangedProblem (sense CUOPT_MINIMIZE / CUOPT_MAXIMIZE, CSR constraint matrix as row_offsets / col_indices / values, var_types char array using CUOPT_CONTINUOUS / CUOPT_INTEGER macros) → cuOptSolve(problem, settings, &solution) → cuOptGetObjectiveValue(solution, &obj_value) → matching cuOptDestroy* calls. Include <cuopt/linear_programming/cuopt_c.h>. Full ordered code with build instructions in references/examples.md.
QP via C API (beta)
QP uses the same library, include/lib paths, and build pattern as LP/MILP — only the problem-creation call differs (it accepts a quadratic objective). See the cuOpt C headers (cpp/include/cuopt/linear_programming/) for the QP-specific creation/solve calls and the repo docs at docs/cuopt/source/cuopt-c/lp-qp-milp/ for end-to-end QP examples.
QP rules:
- MINIMIZE only (
CUOPT_MINIMIZE). To maximizef(x), negate objective coefficients and Q entries. - Continuous variables only — set
CUOPT_CONTINUOUSfor every variable; integer QP is not supported. - Q should be PSD for a convex problem.
Dual values (LP / QP)
cuOptGetDualSolution and cuOptGetReducedCosts return duals and reduced costs for LP and QP. They are not returned for a problem with quadratic constraints (the arrays are filled with NaN), so read them only when all constraints are linear. See assets/lp_duals for the call sequence.
Debugging (MPS / C)
MPS parsing: Required sections in order: NAME, ROWS, COLUMNS, RHS, (optional) BOUNDS, ENDATA. Integer markers: 'MARKER', 'INTORG', 'INTEND'.
OOM or slow: Check problem size (variables, constraints); use sparse matrix; set time limit and gap tolerance.
Examples
- examples.md — LP/MILP with build instructions
- assets/README.md — Build commands for all reference code below
- lp_basic — Simple LP: create problem, solve, get solution
- lp_duals — Dual values and reduced costs
- lp_warmstart — PDLP warmstart (see README)
- milp_basic — Simple MILP with integer variable
- milp_production_planning — Production planning with resource constraints
- mps_solver — Solve from MPS file via
cuOptReadProblem
For CLI (MPS files), use cuopt_cli and product docs.
Escalate
For contribution or build-from-source, use product or repo documentation.