The Shanghai Soft X-ray Free Electron Laser Facility (SXFEL) is supported by three projects: Soft X-ray Free Electron Laser Test Facility (SXFEL-TF), Shanghai Soft X-ray Free Electron Laser User Facility (SXFEL-UF), and Shanghai-XFEL Beamline Project (SBP) for Live Cell Structure and Function Imaging. They were completed in two stages: test facility and user facility. The legal entity of the project is the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, and the supporting unit is the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Advanced Research Institute. The construction site is located in the SSRF Park ，Pudong New Area ，Shanghai.

With a total length of 532 meters ，the SXFEL now contains 2 undulator beamlines ，2 coherent X-ray beamlines and 5 experimental stations. It is the first XFEL user facility in China and the first soft XFEL covering the water window in the world. The XFEL facility was officially opened to users in 2023 ，making it the first XFEL facility opened to users in China and the only such facility for operation in the coming years.