This bending magnet beamline has been in operation since February 1995 for the characterization of optical elements (mirrors, gratings, multilayers, detectors, etc.) in the energy range 50–1000 eV. Although it was designed primarily for precision reflectometry of multilayer reflecting optics for EUV projection lithography, it has capabilities for a wide range of measurements. The optics consist of a monochromator, a reflectometer, and refocusing mirrors to provide a small spot on the sample. The monochromator is a very compact, entrance-slitless, varied-line-spacing plane-grating design in which the mechanically ruled grating operates in the converging light from a spherical mirror working at high demagnification. Aberrations of the mirror are corrected by the line spacing variation, so that the spectral resolving power λ/Δλ is limited by the ALS source size to about 7000. Wavelength is scanned by simple rotation of the grating with a fixed exit slit. The reflectometer has the capability of positioning the sample to within 10 μm and setting its angular position to 0.002°. LABVIEWTM based software provides a convenient interface to the user. The reflectometer is separated from the beamline by a differential pump and can be pumped down in 1/2 hour. Auxiliary experimental stations can be mounted behind the reflectometer. Results are shown that demonstrate the performance and operational convenience of the beamline