# Qiskit

Qiskit is an open-source SDK for working with quantum computers at the level of extended quantum circuits, operators, and primitives.

Repository: https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/qiskit
Homepage: https://www.ibm.com/quantum/qiskit
Language: Python
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: quantum-computing, qiskit, sdk, quantum-programming-language, quantum-circuit, quantum, python, c, rust
Last push: 2026-08-26T10:59:22+00:00
Link (homepage): https://www.ibm.com/quantum/qiskit
Link (site_page): https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs
Link (site_page): https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/guides/quick-start
Link (site_page): https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/guides
Link (site_page): https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/guides/addons

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 98/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 97, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3470, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 20, "gap_med": 15.5, "n_releases_24m": 35}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 7748, forks 3019 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:04.131038+00:00)

## What it is
Qiskit is an open-source SDK for programming quantum computers at the level of quantum circuits, operators, and primitives (Sampler and Estimator). It includes a high-performance transpiler for circuit optimization, a quantum information toolbox, and exposes both Python and C APIs backed by a Rust core.

## Use cases
- build and simulate quantum circuits in Python
- transpile and optimize quantum circuits for real hardware
- run quantum algorithms like QAOA and VQE on IBM Quantum backends
- simulate quantum chemistry Hamiltonians and molecular ground states
- implement quantum machine learning with quantum kernels
- write quantum computing research code and experiments
- extend Qiskit via C API or Rust internals

## When to choose
- you want the most widely adopted, actively maintained quantum SDK
- you need fast transpilation and circuit optimization for utility-scale workloads
- you plan to run circuits on IBM Quantum hardware or simulators
- you need a rich ecosystem of addons for chemistry, optimization, and error mitigation

## When to avoid
- you need a non-Python-first workflow without building from source for the C library
- you only want circuit visualization without any execution or simulation
- you target non-IBM quantum hardware with incompatible toolchains without checking provider plugins

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: sdk, compiler, simulation, machine-learning, math
- domain: quantum-computing, chemistry
- platform: python, rust, c, cross-platform
- tags: quantum-computing, quantum-circuits, transpiler, quantum-sdk, ibm-quantum, quantum-algorithms, sampler, estimator, quantum-information, quantum-programming, research, physics, algorithms

## Member repositories
- Qiskit/qiskit (main) score 98
- Qiskit/qiskit-metapackage (mirror) score 10
- Qiskit/qiskit-tutorials (docs) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:04.131038+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:35:09.380462+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:04.131038+00:00, sha 5fc32b0f382e)
  - homepage: https://www.ibm.com/quantum/qiskit (fetched 2026-08-29T08:31:24.645204+00:00, sha 5fecf3aa77cd)
  - site_page: https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T08:31:24.655054+00:00, sha 351847ac2d79)
  - site_page: https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/guides/quick-start (fetched 2026-08-29T08:31:24.657091+00:00, sha f09f6ec6e4f3)
  - site_page: https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/guides (fetched 2026-08-29T08:31:24.659101+00:00, sha 351847ac2d79)
  - site_page: https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/guides/addons (fetched 2026-08-29T08:31:24.661703+00:00, sha 1666c2f90e1d)
  - site_page: https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/guides/qiskit-function-templates (fetched 2026-08-29T08:31:24.664275+00:00, sha 6d2d332893ef)
  - site_page: https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/tutorials/quantum-approximate-optimization-algorithm (fetched 2026-08-29T08:31:24.668542+00:00, sha f44fa6f2b0fa)
  - site_page: https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/tutorials/sample-based-quantum-diagonalization (fetched 2026-08-29T08:31:24.671373+00:00, sha 5f514e1b6629)
  - site_page: https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/tutorials/quantum-kernel-training (fetched 2026-08-29T08:31:24.674321+00:00, sha a36f3134e41e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.