qiskit-connector 0.0.5

Qiskit 2.x Connector for IBM Quantum Backends in Realtime RuntimeService

qiskit-connector

⚛️Qiskit 2.x Connector for IBM Quantum Backends in Realtime

A Quantum helper package compatible with Qiskit v2.x which streamlines authentication, plan detection, and backend selection for Qiskit RuntimeService. This package performs the following:

• Loads environment variables from config file (e.g. .env) via python-dotenv to configure your IBM Quantum account and make the backend object available in your quantum code for reuse in real-time.
• Detects your active plan (Open, Standard, Premium, Dedicated) and sets up the correct channel/instance.
• Provides functions to save your account (qiskit_save_connection), verify QPU resources (qpu_verify, is_verified), and retrieve a ready-to-use backend (connector()).

🐍 Package built and maintained by Dr. Jeffrey Chijioke-Uche, IBM Quantum Ambassador & Research Scientist.

🐍 Package is globally available in Pypi: https://pypi.org/project/qiskit-connector

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📋 Features & API

All of the following functions are available after you import the module:

from qiskit_connector import (
    connector,
    plan_type,
    qpu_verify,
    is_verified
)

• qiskit_save_connection(plan_type: str)
  Saves your IBM Quantum account into QiskitRuntimeService using the environment variables for the given plan ("open", "standard", "premium", or "dedicated").

• qpu_verify()
  Lists available QPUs for your plan by querying QiskitRuntimeService.backends() or falling back to paid_plans() for paid plans.

• is_verified()
  Verifies real‐time least-busy QPU for the active plan and prints details (name, qubit count, online date).

• connector() -> IBMBackend
  Main entry point: Loads your saved account, picks the least busy QPU (or first available for open or paid plans), prints diagnostics, and returns an IBMBackend instance ready for circuit execution.

• plan_type() -> str
  Returns either "Open Plan" or "Paid Plan" depending on your .env toggles.

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🔧 Installation

pip install qiskit-connector

This will also pull in:

• qiskit>=2.0.0
• qiskit-ibm-runtime>=0.37.0
• python-dotenv
• requests

and any other Qiskit dependencies.

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🗂️ Environment (.env) Setup

⚠️ Security Practice: Do not CHECK-IN .env into version control. Add it to your .gitignore. During development, create a file named .env at your project root. The connector will automatically load it:

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# This file is used to store environment variables for the Qiskit installation wizard: Update it.
# The "ibm_quantum" channel option is deprecated and will be sunset on 1 July 2025.
# After this date, ibm_cloud will be the only valid channel.
# For information on migrating to the new IBM Quantum Platform on the "ibm_cloud" channel,
# review the migration guide https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/migration-guides/classic-iqp-to-cloud-iqp .
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# GENERAL PURPOSE USE:
#--------------------------------------------
IQP_API_TOKEN="<YOUR_API_TOKEN_OR_IBM_QUANTUM_API_KEY>"

# Default (Open plan) - free monthly 10mins Runtime.
OPEN_PLAN_CHANNEL="<PROVIDE CHANNEL NAME>"
OPEN_PLAN_INSTANCE="<PROVIDE INSTANCE AS CRN STRING>"   # Must be a CRN String.
OPEN_PLAN_NAME="open"

# Optional (Upgrade) - Standard Plan
STANDARD_PLAN_CHANNEL="<PROVIDE CHANNEL NAME>"
STANDARD_PLAN_INSTANCE="<PROVIDE INSTANCE NAME>"
STANDARD_PLAN_NAME="standard"
STANDARD_IQP_API_URL="https://auth.quantum-computing.ibm.com/api/users/loginWithToken"   #  Update URL
STANDARD_IQP_BACKEND_URL="https://api.quantum-computing.ibm.com/runtime/backends"        #  Update URL

# Optional (Upgrade) - Premium Plan
PREMIUM_PLAN_CHANNEL="<PROVIDE CHANNEL NAME>"
PREMIUM_PLAN_INSTANCE="<PROVIDE INSTANCE AS HUB/PROJECT/ASSET PATH>"
PREMIUM_PLAN_NAME="premium"
PREMIUM_IQP_API_URL="https://auth.quantum-computing.ibm.com/api/users/loginWithToken"  #  Update URL
PREMIUM_IQP_BACKEND_URL="https://api.quantum-computing.ibm.com/runtime/backends"       #  Update URL

# Optional (Upgrade) - Dedicated Plan
DEDICATED_PLAN_CHANNEL="<PROVIDE CHANNEL NAME>"
DEDICATED_PLAN_INSTANCE="<PROVIDE INSTANCE AS HUB/PROJECT/ASSET PATH>"
DEDICATED_PLAN_NAME="dedicated"
DEDICATED_IQP_API_URL="https://auth.quantum-computing.ibm.com/api/users/loginWithToken"  #  Update URL
DEDICATED_IQP_BACKEND_URL="https://api.quantum-computing.ibm.com/runtime/backends"       #  Update URL

# Toggle exactly one plan "on":
OPEN_PLAN="on"       # free plan
STANDARD_PLAN="off"
PREMIUM_PLAN="off"
DEDICATED_PLAN="off"

⚠️ Only one of OPEN_PLAN, STANDARD_PLAN, PREMIUM_PLAN, or DEDICATED_PLAN may be set to "on" at a time.

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📖 Quickstart Examples

Open Plan (default free tier) and Paid Plan

from qiskit_connector import connector, plan_type
from qiskit_ibm_runtime import SamplerV2 as Sampler, Session

current = plan_type()              # -> detects plan set in environment configuration.
qpu = connector()                  # -> instantiate quantum (QPU) device connected backends in realtime.

backend = qpu.name                 # This is your backend

if current == "Open Plan":          
    sampler = Sampler(mode=backend)                    # -> "Open Plan"  (session not supported)
    print("Your Plan:", current)                       # -> "Open Plan"
    print("Least busy QPU backend:", backend)          # -> e.g. "ibm_brisbane"
elif current == "Paid Plan":         
    with Session(backend=backend.name) as session:
      sampler = Sampler(mode=session)                  # -> "Paid Plan"  (supports session)
      print("Your Plan:", current)                     # -> "Paid Plan"
      print("Least busy QPU backend:", backend)        # -> e.g. "ibm_brisbane"
else:
    raise ValueError(f"Unknown plan type: {current} - Contact IBM Support")

# --- do other things below with backend, quantum circuit, sampler & transpilation ------

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Authors and Citation

Qiskit Connector was inspired, authored and brought about by the research carried out by Dr. Jeffrey Chijioke-Uche(IBM Quantum Ambassador & Research Scientist). This software is expected to continues to grow with the help and work of existing research at different levels in the Information Technology industry. If you use Qiskit for Quantum, please cite as per the provided BibTeX file.

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📜 Software Publisher

Dr. Jeffrey Chijioke-Uche, IBM Quantum Ambassador & Research Scientist (All Rights Reserved)

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📜 License

This project uses the MIT License