Euclid Quick Data Release (Q1): XXVI. The Strong Lensing Discovery Engine A ─ System overview and first lens sample

We present a catalogue of 497 galaxy-galaxy strong lenses in the Euclid Quick Release 1 data (63 deg2). In the initial 0.45% of Euclid’s surveys, we double the total number of known lens candidates with space-based imaging. Our catalogue includes 250 grade A candidates, the vast majority of which (243) were previously unpublished. Euclid’s resolution reveals rare lens configurations of scientific value, including double-source-plane lenses, edge-on lenses, complete Einstein rings, and quadruply imaged lenses. We resolve lenses with small Einstein radii (θE < 1″) in large numbers for the first time. These lenses were found through an initial sweep by deep learning models followed by Space Warps citizen scientist inspection, expert vetting, and system-by-system modelling. Our search approach scales straightforwardly to Euclid Data Release 1 and, without changes, would yield approximately 7000 high-confidence (grade A or B) lens candidates by late 2026. Further extrapolating to the complete Euclid Wide Survey implies a likely yield of over 100 000 high-confidence candidates, transforming strong lensing science.