Qiskit Setup and Installation

Installation

Install Qiskit using uv:

uv pip install qiskit

For visualization capabilities:

uv pip install "qiskit[visualization]" matplotlib

Python Environment Setup

Create and activate a virtual environment to isolate dependencies:

# macOS/Linux
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# Windows
python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\activate

Supported Python Versions

Check the Qiskit PyPI page for currently supported Python versions. As of 2025, Qiskit typically supports Python 3.8+.

IBM Quantum Account Setup

To run circuits on real IBM Quantum hardware, you need an IBM Quantum account and API token.

Creating an Account

Visit IBM Quantum Platform
Sign up for a free account
Navigate to your account settings to retrieve your API token

Configuring Authentication

Save your IBM Quantum credentials:

from qiskit_ibm_runtime import QiskitRuntimeService

# Save credentials (first time only)
QiskitRuntimeService.save_account(
    channel="ibm_quantum",
    token="YOUR_IBM_QUANTUM_TOKEN"
)

# Later sessions - load saved credentials
service = QiskitRuntimeService()

Environment Variable Method

Alternatively, set the API token as an environment variable:

export QISKIT_IBM_TOKEN="YOUR_IBM_QUANTUM_TOKEN"

Local Development (No Account Required)

You can build and test quantum circuits locally without an IBM Quantum account using simulators:

from qiskit import QuantumCircuit
from qiskit.primitives import StatevectorSampler

qc = QuantumCircuit(2)
qc.h(0)
qc.cx(0, 1)
qc.measure_all()

# Run locally with simulator
sampler = StatevectorSampler()
result = sampler.run([qc], shots=1024).result()

Verifying Installation

Test your installation:

import qiskit
print(qiskit.__version__)

from qiskit import QuantumCircuit
qc = QuantumCircuit(2)
print("Qiskit installed successfully!")

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