Quantum Metal (formerly Qiskit Metal)¶
Quantum Device Design & Analysis (Q-EDA)¶
Attention
v0.5 transition in progress. Qiskit Metal is officially becoming Quantum Metal.
The Python import path remains qiskit_metal for now; a follow-up release will update it.
The PyPI package qiskit-metal stays archived at the pre-0.5 state—install v0.5 from source
via the installation guide.
For details on the transition and the roadmap, see the Roadmap.
Hint
Community support? Join the Quantum Device Community (QDC) Discord and Quantum Metal channel: discord.gg/kaZ3UFuq. You can also join the the Slack channel #metal in the Qiskit workspace, which we will slowly phase out.
You can open this documentation using
import qiskit_metal
qiskit_metal.open_docs()
Quantum Metal | Open source • Community maintained & driven quantum EDA • API
Design and analyze superconducting quantum chips with a Python API + GUI that plugs into your favorite tools. Leverages existing EDA stacks, automates tedious workflows, and keeps best practices baked in.
Live tutorials and Q&A
We host live tutorials and Q&A sessions. Announcements for future tutorials are posted in the #metal channel.
Fastest way to reach maintainers and the broader community. Open community server for Quantum Metal users and collaborators.
Former main community workspace, being replaced by Discord.
Annual workshop hosted at UCLA/USC.
Community organization stewarding Quantum Metal and companion tools.
Qiskit Metal Vision:
Designing quantum devices is the bedrock of the quantum ecosystem, but it is a difficult, multi-step process that connects traditionally disparate worlds. Metal is automating and streamlining this process. Our vision is to develop a community-driven universal platform capable of orchestrating quantum chip development from concept to fabrication in a simple and open framework.
We want to accelerate, and to lower the barrier to, innovation of quantum devices. Today at the IEEE Quantum Week Conference, the team discussed their vision for this first-of-its-kind project. Led by quantum physicist Zlatko Minev and developed with other IBM Quantum team members, this project is meant for those interested in quantum hardware design: a suite of design automation tools that can be used to devise and analyze superconducting devices, with a focus on being able to integrate the best tools into a quantum hardware designer’s workflow. We’ve code-named the project Qiskit Metal.
We hope that as a community, we might make the process of quantization — bridging the gap between pieces of a superconducting metal on a quantum chip with the computational mathematics of Hamiltonians and Hilbert spaces — available to anyone with a curious mind and a laptop. We want to make quantum device design a streamlined process that automates the laborious tasks as it does with conventional electronic device design. We are writing software with built-in best practices and cutting-edge quantum analysis techniques, all this while seamlessly leveraging the power of conventional EDA tools. The goal of Qiskit Metal is to allow for easy quantum hardware modeling with reduction of design-related errors plus increased speed.
(read the full Medium blog)
Quantum Metal consists of four foundational elements: