{"slug": "qiskit", "name": "Qiskit", "category": "dev-libs", "category_name": "Libraries and frameworks", "description": "", "recommenders": 6, "commenters": 13, "warners": 1, "score": 5.682, "rising": -1.96, "first": "2025-11-16", "latest": "2026-09-06", "why": "I recommend using Qiskit to explore famous thought experiments", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 6, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [2, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I recommend using Qiskit to explore famous thought experiments", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "ibm.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.ibm.com/quantum/qiskit", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Qiskit"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 761558704, "item_id": 47597419, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47597419", "by": "tagrun", "date": "2026-03-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "you can do it yourself using Qiskit on IBM's publicly available devices", "excerpt": "What big gap are you referring to that you believe exists between the theory of any quantum computing platform (which is device physics) and the experiment? You seem to be conflating the theory with pitches to investors? The number of qubits are increasing exponentially, and the error rates are getting lower. People have factored numbers larger than 21 (not that Shor's algorithm is commonly used benchmarks by experim", "context": "physicist working on quantum devices", "use_case": "quantum circuit tutorials", "switched_from": "", "story": "Securing Elliptic Curve Cryptocurrencies Against Quantum Vulnerabilities [pdf]"}, {"id": 756384832, "item_id": 47274052, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47274052", "by": "uncb9999", "date": "2026-03-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "IBM's Qiskit (the de facto standard)", "excerpt": "sooo HN we built a universal quantum circuit translator. Write in IBM's Qiskit (the de facto standard), run on any \u2502 quantum hardware. Works in reverse too.\u2022 20+ gate mappings including parameterized rotations and 3-qubit gates \u2502 \u2022 Angles auto-formatted as \u03c0-fractions \u2502 \u2022 Visual circuit builder for non-devs \u2502 \u2022 Drag-and-drop .qasm file upload \u2502 \u2022 Free API, no signup \u2502 \u2022 Bilingual agent endpoint (EN/ZH)Open source: ht", "context": "", "use_case": "Quantum circuit SDK", "switched_from": "", "story": null}, {"id": 745808256, "item_id": 46613016, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46613016", "by": "__rito__", "date": "2026-01-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The IBM Qiskit ecosystem, community, platform, etc. are active and welcoming", "excerpt": "I went through the comments, and one nice resource that's not on the list: Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Computation by Umesh Vazirani (UC Berkeley course) - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL74Rel4IAsETUwZS_Se_P-fSEyEVQwni7 It's old, but really good. Another nice one is: Introduction to Classical and Quantum Computation by Wong - https://www.thomaswong.net/introduction-to-classical-and-quantum-computing-1e4p.pdf [", "context": "", "use_case": "quantum computing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Quantum Computation, Computers and Programming"}, {"id": 745762512, "item_id": 46610157, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46610157", "by": "nilslice", "date": "2026-01-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "IBM's Qiskit platform may still have tooling, simulators, and visualizers that help you write a program", "excerpt": "I worked at one of the quantum computing co's on their compiler stack (so pretty much pure classical compute stuff), but in order to have even a baseline understanding of the computations and programming using qubits, I had to first get a better intuition for the underlying quantum mechanics at play. This was a great introduction to the physics underpinning the computations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ3bPUKo5z", "context": "Worked on the compiler stack at a quantum computing company", "use_case": "Quantum programming SDK", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Quantum Computation, Computers and Programming"}, {"id": 737062576, "item_id": 46066411, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46066411", "by": "t312227", "date": "2025-11-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "its a really great project!!", "excerpt": "hello, i've used it during my last job =?> its a really great project!! :+1: ;) and its really useful not only for IBM hardware - a lot of smaller quantum-computing vendors have integrations for their hardware: they are called qiskit-providers and are available in the community-project: * https://github.com/qiskit-community/ sadly they are sometimes of lets call it \"varying quality\" depending on the vendor ;)) cheers", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Qiskit open-source SDK for working with quantum computers"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 758263616, "item_id": 47391476, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391476", "by": "synchan", "date": "2026-03-15", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "(Qiskit/Cirq can't pass this test.)", "excerpt": "I built a programming language where every number is an exact rational. No floating-point. No IEEE 754. No epsilon comparisons. ``` inscribe 0.1 + 0.2 == 0.3 -- true inscribe 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 == 1 -- true ``` This isn't a library feature \u2014 it's the language's sole numeric type. Every operation on every number in every library inherits this guarantee for free. What this enables: - *Quantum circuit verification*: 100 Ha", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cuneicode \u2013 a language where 0.1 and 0.2 == 0.3"}]}], "who": [{"by": "marzchipane", "context": "quantum software engineer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49585611", "date": "2026-09-06"}, {"by": "tagrun", "context": "physicist working on quantum devices", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47597419", "date": "2026-03-31"}, {"by": "hershkumar", "context": "works in quantum computing / nuclear physics research", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46610443", "date": "2026-01-13"}, {"by": "nilslice", "context": "Worked on the compiler stack at a quantum computing company", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46610157", "date": "2026-01-13"}, {"by": "i7l", "context": "technical PM for ML/data infra", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466105", "date": "2026-01-02"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["quantum computing", "quantum programming", "quantum circuit models", "quantum circuit tutorials", "quantum circuit sdk", "simulating quantum circuits classically"], "compared": [{"slug": "pytorch", "name": "PyTorch", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46599807", "title": "Ask HN: Quantum Computation, Computers and Programming", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46056757", "title": "Qiskit open-source SDK for working with quantum computers", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49546198", "title": "IBM Quantum Nighthawk R2", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47601858", "title": "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (April 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47589370", "title": "Securing Elliptic Curve Cryptocurrencies Against Quantum Vulnerabilities [pdf]", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391475", "title": "Cuneicode \u2013 a language where 0.1 and 0.2 == 0.3", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 2}, "2025-12": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 2, "recommend": 2}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 2, "warn": 1}, "2026-04": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "quotes": [{"id": 793369777, "item_id": 49585611, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49585611", "by": "marzchipane", "date": "2026-09-06", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "quantum SDKs like Qiskit and Pennylane", "excerpt": "Quantum software engineer here - yes! I use Claude quite extensively with quantum SDKs like Qiskit and Pennylane. It tends to be very good at scaffolding and architecture, but can spiral or be outright incorrect when it comes to implementing certain algorithms like QAOA. The real benefit comes from real-world integration - if I'm exploring e.g. a logistics application, it can source real-world data and models very qu", "context": "quantum software engineer", "use_case": "quantum programming", "switched_from": "", "story": "IBM Quantum Nighthawk R2"}, {"id": 761809139, "item_id": 47613071, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47613071", "by": "renoir42", "date": "2026-04-02", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "quantum circuit models (PennyLane/Qiskit)", "excerpt": "Location: Seoul, South Korea & Le Mans, France Remote: Yes (EU & Asia \u2014 Seoul/Tokyo TZ preferred) Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: C++ (primary \u2014 C++17/20, lock-free/wait-free, SIMD, CUDA, kernel-bypass networking), Rust, Go, Python (PyTorch/NumPy/Numba), Haskell, OCaml, Elixir/Erlang, Julia, VHDL \"with tools\" (that I have developed/ am developing). TLA+/PlusCal/CBMC formal verification \"with help\". R\u00e9sum\u00e9/CV: ", "context": "", "use_case": "Quantum circuit models", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (April 2026)"}, {"id": 761558704, "item_id": 47597419, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47597419", "by": "tagrun", "date": "2026-03-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "you can do it yourself using Qiskit on IBM's publicly available devices", "excerpt": "What big gap are you referring to that you believe exists between the theory of any quantum computing platform (which is device physics) and the experiment? You seem to be conflating the theory with pitches to investors? The number of qubits are increasing exponentially, and the error rates are getting lower. People have factored numbers larger than 21 (not that Shor's algorithm is commonly used benchmarks by experim", "context": "physicist working on quantum devices", "use_case": "quantum circuit tutorials", "switched_from": "", "story": "Securing Elliptic Curve Cryptocurrencies Against Quantum Vulnerabilities [pdf]"}, {"id": 758263616, "item_id": 47391476, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391476", "by": "synchan", "date": "2026-03-15", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "(Qiskit/Cirq can't pass this test.)", "excerpt": "I built a programming language where every number is an exact rational. No floating-point. No IEEE 754. No epsilon comparisons. ``` inscribe 0.1 + 0.2 == 0.3 -- true inscribe 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 == 1 -- true ``` This isn't a library feature \u2014 it's the language's sole numeric type. Every operation on every number in every library inherits this guarantee for free. What this enables: - *Quantum circuit verification*: 100 Ha", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cuneicode \u2013 a language where 0.1 and 0.2 == 0.3"}, {"id": 756384832, "item_id": 47274052, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47274052", "by": "uncb9999", "date": "2026-03-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "IBM's Qiskit (the de facto standard)", "excerpt": "sooo HN we built a universal quantum circuit translator. Write in IBM's Qiskit (the de facto standard), run on any \u2502 quantum hardware. Works in reverse too.\u2022 20+ gate mappings including parameterized rotations and 3-qubit gates \u2502 \u2022 Angles auto-formatted as \u03c0-fractions \u2502 \u2022 Visual circuit builder for non-devs \u2502 \u2022 Drag-and-drop .qasm file upload \u2502 \u2022 Free API, no signup \u2502 \u2022 Bilingual agent endpoint (EN/ZH)Open source: ht", "context": "", "use_case": "Quantum circuit SDK", "switched_from": "", "story": null}, {"id": 745808256, "item_id": 46613016, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46613016", "by": "__rito__", "date": "2026-01-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The IBM Qiskit ecosystem, community, platform, etc. are active and welcoming", "excerpt": "I went through the comments, and one nice resource that's not on the list: Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Computation by Umesh Vazirani (UC Berkeley course) - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL74Rel4IAsETUwZS_Se_P-fSEyEVQwni7 It's old, but really good. Another nice one is: Introduction to Classical and Quantum Computation by Wong - https://www.thomaswong.net/introduction-to-classical-and-quantum-computing-1e4p.pdf [", "context": "", "use_case": "quantum computing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Quantum Computation, Computers and Programming"}, {"id": 745767088, "item_id": 46610443, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46610443", "by": "hershkumar", "date": "2026-01-13", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "perhaps the most common would be through something like IBM's Qiskit", "excerpt": "1) Generally the two models of QC are the digital/circuit model (analogous to digital logic gates, with some caveats, such as reversibility of operations, no-cloning theorem), and analog computation (tuning the parameters of a continuous-time quantum system in your lab such that the system produces useful output) 2) The physics/architecture/organization depends heavily on the type of computer being discussed. In clas", "context": "works in quantum computing / nuclear physics research", "use_case": "simulating quantum circuits classically", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Quantum Computation, Computers and Programming"}, {"id": 745762512, "item_id": 46610157, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46610157", "by": "nilslice", "date": "2026-01-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "IBM's Qiskit platform may still have tooling, simulators, and visualizers that help you write a program", "excerpt": "I worked at one of the quantum computing co's on their compiler stack (so pretty much pure classical compute stuff), but in order to have even a baseline understanding of the computations and programming using qubits, I had to first get a better intuition for the underlying quantum mechanics at play. This was a great introduction to the physics underpinning the computations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ3bPUKo5z", "context": "Worked on the compiler stack at a quantum computing company", "use_case": "Quantum programming SDK", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Quantum Computation, Computers and Programming"}, {"id": 743457689, "item_id": 46466105, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466105", "by": "i7l", "date": "2026-01-02", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "active open-source contributor (Zoose Quantum, IBM Qiskit ecosystem)", "excerpt": "Location: Argentina (UTC-3) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: ML infrastructure, distributed systems, real-time/streaming data, online inference, on-device/edge ML; Scala, Python, SQL; Kafka, Flink, Spark, Pinot; Kubernetes; TensorFlow/TFLite, PyTorch; MLOps; AWS/GCP R\u00e9sum\u00e9/CV: https://ianreppel.org/cv Email: hn@ianreppel.org Technical product manager for ML and data infrastructure (B2C, B2B, and deep", "context": "technical PM for ML/data infra", "use_case": "quantum computing open source", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (January 2026)"}, {"id": 741453124, "item_id": 46340820, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46340820", "by": "matiasmolinas", "date": "2025-12-20", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Next.js + Pyodide + Qiskit + OpenRouter", "excerpt": "I love Claude Code, but there are a few capabilities I kept wishing it had. So I built an experimental fork/extension to explore what those might look like. Three main additions I wanted: 1. Persistent Domain Memory Claude Code starts fresh each session. I wanted an environment that remembers domain-specific patterns. LLMos adds a three-volume system (System/Team/User) where successful workflows automatically become ", "context": "", "use_case": "quantum computing", "switched_from": "", "story": null}, {"id": 737062576, "item_id": 46066411, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46066411", "by": "t312227", "date": "2025-11-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "its a really great project!!", "excerpt": "hello, i've used it during my last job =?> its a really great project!! :+1: ;) and its really useful not only for IBM hardware - a lot of smaller quantum-computing vendors have integrations for their hardware: they are called qiskit-providers and are available in the community-project: * https://github.com/qiskit-community/ sadly they are sometimes of lets call it \"varying quality\" depending on the vendor ;)) cheers", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Qiskit open-source SDK for working with quantum computers"}, {"id": 736950368, "item_id": 46059398, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46059398", "by": "stared", "date": "2025-11-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recommend using Qiskit to explore famous thought experiments", "excerpt": "I recommend using Qiskit to explore famous thought experiments (e.g. the famous Schr\u00f6dinger's cat), vide \"A Physics Lab Inside Your Head: Quantum Thought Experiments as an Educational Tool\" by Maria Violaris https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.07840", "context": "", "use_case": "exploring quantum thought experiments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Qiskit open-source SDK for working with quantum computers"}, {"id": 735162610, "item_id": 45947663, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45947663", "by": "westurner", "date": "2025-11-16", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Qiskit [IBM]", "excerpt": "FWIW, tequilahub/tequila supports a number of QC/QPU APIs as well. Currently supported quantum backends from the tequila README: https://github.com/tequilahub/tequila#quantum-backends > Qulacs (recommended), Qibo, Qiskit [IBM], Cirq [Google, SymPy], PyQuil QLM (works also whith myQLM), [ and CUDAQ [NVIDIA]] > Quantum Chemistry backends: Psi4, Madness, PySCF", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "CUDA-Q Back Ends: Quantum Hardware (QPU)"}]}