Welcome to qiskit-waveform-sim’s documentation!

qiskit-waveform-sim is a zero-bloat Classical Control Waveform Simulator & Interactive Pulse Sheet Viewer for Qiskit 2.0+.

It bridges the post-Pulse waveform gap created by Qiskit 2.0-2.5’s architectural overhaul, providing:

• Lazy Windowed Evaluation: \(O(W)\) memory for snippet extraction, independent of total circuit depth

• Exact Virtual-Z Frame Tracking: Per-qubit phase accumulation propagated to drive and cross-resonance channels

• Analytical Envelope Synthesis: DRAG (with leakage suppression), GaussianSquare (flat-top with pedestal correction)

• Fractional Gate Support: Continuous parametric amplitude/duration scaling for \(R_X(\theta)\), \(R_{ZZ}(\theta)\)

• BoxOp & Annotation Native: Custom PulseEnvelopeAnnotation with OpenQASM 3 & QPY serialization

• Interactive Visualization: Plotly-based Pulse Sheet + synchronized I/Q Oscilloscope

• LabOne Q Compatible Architecture: OutputSimulator.get_snippet()-style API

Note

Analytical Envelope Philosophy: qiskit-waveform-sim is designed for offline, deterministic control simulation. Rather than querying cloud-based calibration databases over the network, it synthesizes standardized, idealized physical pulse envelopes (such as DRAG with derivative leakage suppression and GaussianSquare with flat-top rise/fall pedestal corrections) derived directly from circuit gate names, parameters, and modern Target instruction durations.

Getting Started

• Quickstart
  • Prerequisites
  • Basic Workflow
  • Custom Pulse Annotations
  • Export to OpenQASM 3
  • Next Steps
• Installation
  • Requirements
  • Install from PyPI
  • Install with Optional Dependencies
  • Install from Source
  • Development Setup
  • Verifying Installation
  • Troubleshooting

Tutorials

• Tutorial: From Qiskit 2.0 Scheduled Circuit to Frame-Tracked I/Q Waveforms
  • 1. Create Backend and Circuit
  • 2. Transpile and Schedule (ALAP)
  • 3. Compile Waveform Simulator
  • 4. Extract Sample-Precise I/Q Waveforms (Lazy Windowed)
  • 5. Interactive Visualization
  • 6. Matplotlib Static Visualization (for publications)
  • Summary
• Tutorial: Custom Pulse Annotations and OpenQASM 3 Export
  • 1. Understanding PulseEnvelopeAnnotation
  • 2. Attaching Annotations to BoxOp
  • 3. Compile and Verify Custom Pulse Applied
  • 4. Multiple Annotations and Fractional Gates
  • 5. Export to OpenQASM 3 with Pulse Pragmas
  • 6. QPY Round-trip Serialization
  • 7. Export to Hardware Formats (LabOne Q, RFSoC/QICK)
  • Summary
• Tutorial: Hardware Export - LabOne Q, RFSoC/QICK, and ARTIQ
  • Setup: Create a Test Circuit
  • 1. Extract Full Waveforms
  • 2. Export to LabOne Q Format
  • 3. Export to RFSoC / QICK Format
  • 4. Export to ARTIQ / Sinara Format
  • 5. Export to Generic CSV/HDF5 for AWGs
  • 6. Parameterized Pulse Templates for Calibration
  • 7. Verify Exported Waveforms
  • Summary

API Reference

• Core API Reference
  • TargetWaveformSimulator
  • WaveformSnippet
  • ChannelEvent
  • AnalyticalEnvelopes
• Annotations API Reference
  • PulseEnvelopeAnnotation
  • PulseAnnotationSerializer
• Visualization API Reference
  • Interactive (Plotly)
  • Static (Matplotlib)
  • Export Utilities

Additional Resources

• Changelog
• Contributing to qiskit-waveform-sim
• License

Indices and tables

• Index

• Module Index

• Search Page