diff --git a/docs/guides/latest-updates.mdx b/docs/guides/latest-updates.mdx index 34ff987798a2..6734d9b22351 100644 --- a/docs/guides/latest-updates.mdx +++ b/docs/guides/latest-updates.mdx @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ in_page_toc_max_heading_level: 2 # Changelog -*Last updated 5 June 2026* +*Last updated 27 July 2026* {/* remember to update the date in the previous line each time this page is updated!!! */} @@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ Keep up with the latest and greatest from Qiskit and IBM Quantum®! +27 July 2026 + +- **Qiskit Runtime service is now IBM Quantum Compute Service** — This is a naming change only and does not require any code changes or updates to existing applications. You might notice the new name throughout the user interface and documentation. [*Read more*](#qr-rename) +--- + 16 July 2026 - **New pre-flight checks and new `backend` methods in Qiskit Functions v0.17.0** — Use the new methods in `qiskit-ibm-catalog` to check runtime capacity and backend access before you run, and `run()` now validates both before it submits a job. [*Read more*](#new-methods) @@ -34,21 +39,43 @@ Keep up with the latest and greatest from Qiskit and IBM Quantum®! 28 May 2026 - **New Classroom Accounts** — Professors can now request a Classroom Account to manage and facilitate access for their students. With Classroom Accounts, students can use Open Plan resources without needing to provide personal credit card information. [*Read more*](#classroom-accounts) ---- + -18 May 2026 +Jump to [IBM Quantum Compute Service](#latest-quantum-compute) | [Qiskit SDK](#latest-qiskit-sdk) | [IBM Qiskit Runtime client](#latest-qiskit-runtime-client) | [Qiskit Transpiler Service](#latest-qiskit-transpiler-service) | [Qiskit addons](#latest-qiskit-addons) | [Qiskit Functions](#latest-qiskit-functions) | [Qiskit Code Assistant](#latest-qca) -- **Introducing the Executor primitive** — We're excited to announce the release of the new `Executor` primitive and a new version of the noise-learning helper class, `NoiseLearnerV3`, both of which were first previewed at QDC 2025. [*Read more*](#executor-primitive) - -Jump to [IBM Quantum Platform](#latest-platform) | [Qiskit SDK](#latest-qiskit-sdk) | [Qiskit Runtime client](#latest-qiskit-runtime) | [Qiskit Runtime service](#latest-runtime-service) | [Qiskit Transpiler Service](#latest-qiskit-transpiler-service) | [Qiskit addons](#latest-qiskit-addons) | [Qiskit Functions](#latest-qiskit-functions) | [Qiskit Code Assistant](#latest-qca) + +## IBM Quantum Compute Service + +### July 2026 + + + +- **Qiskit Runtime service is now IBM Quantum Compute Service** — This is a naming change only and does not require any code changes or updates to existing applications. You might notice the new name throughout the user interface and documentation. + + Historically, the term _Qiskit Runtime_ was used to refer to three related but distinct concepts. + Any hardware provider that wants Qiskit users to run workloads on its quantum computers must provide two provider-specific components: - -## IBM Quantum Platform + - A Qiskit SDK extension, which enables users to submit jobs to the provider. In IBM's case, this is the open-source `qiskit-ibm-runtime` library. Rather than communicating directly with the quantum computer, it submits jobs to a cloud API. -This section summarizes the recent enhancements and new features for the new [IBM Quantum Platform](https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/). + - A runtime execution environment, which runs on the quantum computer itself. This component understands Qiskit primitives, translates them into hardware-specific operations, and executes them on the quantum hardware. In IBM's case, this is IBM Qiskit Runtime. + + Between these two components sits a third element: the managed cloud service that receives jobs from the `qiskit-ibm-runtime` SDK and orchestrates their execution. This service is responsible for capabilities such as authentication, scheduling, queue management, workload routing, usage tracking, limits, and analytics. It does not process Qiskit primitives itself; instead, it dispatches workloads to the appropriate quantum computer, where the runtime execution environment performs the actual execution. + + Historically, this cloud service was also called Qiskit Runtime Service, even though it is conceptually different from the runtime itself. This dual use of the term Qiskit Runtime — to describe both the execution environment and the managed cloud service — blurred the architecture and made it difficult to distinguish the open-source components from the managed cloud offering. + + Renaming Qiskit Runtime Service to IBM Quantum Compute Service resolves this ambiguity. The resulting architecture becomes much clearer: + + - `qiskit-ibm-runtime`: the open-source Qiskit extension that submits workloads. + + - IBM Quantum Compute Service: the managed cloud service that authenticates, schedules, manages, and routes workloads. + + - IBM Qiskit Runtime (or IBM Qiskit Runtime Execution Environment): the execution environment running on the quantum computer that processes and executes Qiskit primitives. + + + ### May 2026 @@ -68,8 +95,6 @@ This section summarizes the recent enhancements and new features for the new [IB - **New Classroom Accounts**: Professors can now request a [Classroom Account](/docs/guides/classroom-accounts) to manage and facilitate access for their students. With Classroom Accounts, students can use Open Plan resources without needing to provide personal credit card information. - - ### April 2026 - **New export options now available in IBM Quantum**: Introducing new export capabilities that make it easier for account administrators to analyze, share, and work with their data. @@ -188,6 +213,8 @@ This section summarizes the recent enhancements and new features for the new [IB - Archived instances do not subtract anything from your account's plan allocation. - All archived instances are neatly organized under a dedicated "Archived" tab. - Administrators can reactivate an instance at any time. + + - [**Directed execution model.**](/docs/guides/directed-execution-model) This new execution model allows you to fine-tune error mitigation and other techniques without sacrificing performance by providing the ingredients to capture design intents on the client side, and shifting the costly generation of circuit variants to the server side. For example, you can use the [Samplomatic library](https://qiskit.github.io/samplomatic/index.html) to define the exact layers in your circuits to apply Pauli-twirling and to inject noise. The new [Executor primitive](/docs/guides/directed-execution-model#executor-primitive) will then follow your directives to generate and execute the randomized circuit variants in Qiskit Runtime. #### What's new at IBM Quantum - 4Q 2025 @@ -249,6 +276,20 @@ A reminder that `ibm_brisbane` will retire on 3 Nov 2025, so plan your experimen - **Learning in IBM Quantum Platform** now has an updated home page to help you navigate the educational resources available, as well as two new catalog pages to help browse courses and modules. [Check out the updates!](/learning) + +- The new dynamic circuits is now available to all users on all backends, except some QPUs under the On-Prem Plan. + + With this new version, you can run dynamic circuits at utility scale. The initial release offers the following features: + + - 75x execution speedup, thanks to the latest quantum execution stack + - Parallel branch execution, which reduces circuit duration and improves result quality + - Support for [classical operations](/docs/api/qiskit/circuit_classical) defined in Qiskit, with the exception of bit shift and arithmetic + - Support for stretch duration in delay instructions. This new type allows design intent to be captured at circuit construction time, and timing resolution at compile time + + Additional features will be rolled out later this year. + + See [Classical feedforward and control flow](/docs/guides/classical-feedforward-and-control-flow) and [Deferred timing resolution using stretch](/docs/guides/stretch) for more information and code examples. + ### 15 September 2025 The [Unitary Foundation Quantum Open Source Software survey](http://surveymonkey.com/r/QOSSSurvey25) helps capture the needs and concerns of anyone who works with quantum software - including you! The survey results provide valuable feedback for our team of Qiskit developers, and helps us to understand the broader quantum software landscape. @@ -301,6 +342,9 @@ Be sure to retrieve any job data from important past jobs before it is retired. - Support for private jobs for developers of Qiskit Functions - A new channel for the platform that makes instance selection optional, which simplifies account setup and backend access by automatically checking all available instances. This update benefits users who manage multiple instances or prefer a streamlined workflow without specifying instance details each time. Developers and researchers working across various projects with different levels of access and multiple backends will find this especially helpful. +- Now available: Early access to the new version of dynamic circuits on select QPUs. This new version will allow you to run dynamic circuits at utility scale and comes with improvements in speed, quality, and usability. Premium Plan and Flex Plan users interested in participating in this early access can [contact us](/docs/guides/support). + + ### 15 May 2025 *Note: This is relevant to IBM Quantum Platform Classic (at https://quantum.ibm.com/) only.* @@ -389,9 +433,61 @@ Our inventory is getting a makeover, and we will be retiring the following QPUs - ~ibm_sherbrooke~ UPDATE: ibm_sherbrooke will stay active for several more weeks after 18 April 2025. Be sure to retrieve any job data from important past jobs before these QPUs are retired. + +### 3 February 2025 +- Pulse-level control on all IBM Quantum processors has been removed. Additionally, the pulse module is scheduled for removal in Qiskit SDK v2.0. Instead, you can use fractional gates that are now built into the Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). For full details and help migrating your code, refer to [Migrate from Qiskit Pulse to fractional gates](/docs/guides/pulse-migration). + + +### 2 February 2025 +- Starting 2 June 2025 and continuing through the year, IBM Quantum will begin a gradual rollout of new features to [dynamic circuits](/docs/guides/classical-feedforward-and-control-flow) that will enable them at the utility scale. +Improvements include the following: + + - A 75x speedup in execution by using the Gen3 engine stack + - Parallel execution of branches, which reduces circuit duration and improves result quality + - Improvement in mid-circuit measurement + - Better integration with dynamical decoupling + - More visibility of circuit timing information + +- To accelerate the rollout, the following capabilities are now deprecated and will be no longer supported on or around 2 June 2025: + + - The `while`, `for`, and `switch` control flow constructs + - The ability to use control flow instructions inside the body of a branch (as in, nested control flow) + - Conditional measurements + + +### 7 January 2025 +- The rollout of the Gen3 engine stack begins today. This engine stack gives a 75x speedup in execution. The rollout will be done on one QPU at a time, where a percentage of the jobs on the QPU will use the Gen3 path. You can also force the Gen3 path using the `gen3-turbo` experimental option. Note that this engine stack is not compatible with fractional gates, pulse gates, or dynamic circuits. - + + +### 15 October 2024 + - Support for `backend.run` has ended. + +### 1 October 2024 + - Parameterized delay gates have been deprecated. + +### 15 August 2024 + - Probabilistic error amplification (PEA) error mitigation method is now available for Estimator V2. See the [`ZneOptions` API reference](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime/options-zne-options) for more details. + - A new helper program `noise-learner` is now available. It allows characterizing the noise processes affecting the gates in one or more circuits of interest, based on the Pauli-Lindblad noise model. The output noise model can then be passed to Estimator via the `layer_noise_model` option. + - V1 primitives are no longer supported. + +### 3 July 2024 + - The following endpoints are deprecated and will be removed on or after 3 October 2024: [`GET /stream/jobs`](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime/tags/jobs#tags__jobs__operations__get_stream_jobs_state_updates) and [`GET /stream/jobs/{id}`](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime/tags/jobs#tags__jobs__operations__get_stream_job_logs_jid). This removal has the following impacts: + + - After the endpoints are removed, `job.stream_results()` and `job.interim_results()` will be removed from the [qiskit-ibm-runtime](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime) client. + - Additional methods, such as `job.result()` currently use the deprecated endpoints. Upgrade to `qiskit_ibm_runtime` 0.25 or later before the endpoints are removed to avoid disruption. + +### 18 June 2024 + - The `optimization_level` option is deprecated for Estimator V2 and will be removed no sooner than 30 September 2024. +### 3 June 2024 + - Probabilistic error amplification (PEA) error mitigation method is now available as an experimental option for Estimator V2. See the [`EstimatorOptions` API reference](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime/options-estimator-options) for more details. + +### 28 March 2024 + - Qiskit Runtime primitives now support OpenQASM 3 as the input format for circuits and standard JSON output format. See [Qiskit Runtime REST API](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime) for examples. + + + ## Qiskit SDK v2.3 @@ -418,8 +514,8 @@ Wondering what has changed? Read the [changelog](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiski *To see the release notes for all versions, visit the [Qiskit SDK release notes](/docs/api/qiskit/release-notes).* - -## Qiskit Runtime client 0.46.0 + +## IBM Qiskit Runtime client 0.46.0 ### April 2026 @@ -447,86 +543,6 @@ Wondering what has changed? Read the [changelog](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiski *To see the release notes for all versions, visit the [Qiskit Runtime client release notes](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime/release-notes).* - -## Qiskit Runtime service - -This summary of the latest changes to the Qiskit Runtime service applies to anyone using Qiskit Runtime, regardless of how you communicate with the service (by using `qiskit-ibm-runtime` or otherwise), or which version of the client SDK you use. - -### January 2026 -- [**Directed execution model.**](/docs/guides/directed-execution-model) This new execution model allows you to fine-tune error mitigation and other techniques without sacrificing performance by providing the ingredients to capture design intents on the client side, and shifting the costly generation of circuit variants to the server side. For example, you can use the [Samplomatic library](https://qiskit.github.io/samplomatic/index.html) to define the exact layers in your circuits to apply Pauli-twirling and to inject noise. The new [Executor primitive](/docs/guides/directed-execution-model#executor-primitive) will then follow your directives to generate and execute the randomized circuit variants in Qiskit Runtime. - - - - - -### October 2025 -- The new dynamic circuits is now available to all users on all backends, except some QPUs under the On-Prem Plan. - - With this new version, you can run dynamic circuits at utility scale. The initial release offers the following features: - - - 75x execution speedup, thanks to the latest quantum execution stack - - Parallel branch execution, which reduces circuit duration and improves result quality - - Support for [classical operations](/docs/api/qiskit/circuit_classical) defined in Qiskit, with the exception of bit shift and arithmetic - - Support for stretch duration in delay instructions. This new type allows design intent to be captured at circuit construction time, and timing resolution at compile time - - Additional features will be rolled out later this year. - - See [Classical feedforward and control flow](/docs/guides/classical-feedforward-and-control-flow) and [Deferred timing resolution using stretch](/docs/guides/stretch) for more information and code examples. - -### 5 June 2025 -- Now available: Early access to the new version of dynamic circuits on select QPUs. This new version will allow you to run dynamic circuits at utility scale and comes with improvements in speed, quality, and usability. Premium Plan and Flex Plan users interested in participating in this early access can [contact us](/docs/guides/support). - -### 3 February 2025 -- Pulse-level control on all IBM Quantum processors has been removed. Additionally, the pulse module is scheduled for removal in Qiskit SDK v2.0. Instead, you can use fractional gates that are now built into the Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). For full details and help migrating your code, refer to [Migrate from Qiskit Pulse to fractional gates](/docs/guides/pulse-migration). - - -### 2 February 2025 -- Starting 2 June 2025 and continuing through the year, IBM Quantum will begin a gradual rollout of new features to [dynamic circuits](/docs/guides/classical-feedforward-and-control-flow) that will enable them at the utility scale. -Improvements include the following: - - - A 75x speedup in execution by using the Gen3 engine stack - - Parallel execution of branches, which reduces circuit duration and improves result quality - - Improvement in mid-circuit measurement - - Better integration with dynamical decoupling - - More visibility of circuit timing information - -- To accelerate the rollout, the following capabilities are now deprecated and will be no longer supported on or around 2 June 2025: - - - The `while`, `for`, and `switch` control flow constructs - - The ability to use control flow instructions inside the body of a branch (as in, nested control flow) - - Conditional measurements - -### 7 January 2025 -- The rollout of the Gen3 engine stack begins today. This engine stack gives a 75x speedup in execution. The rollout will be done on one QPU at a time, where a percentage of the jobs on the QPU will use the Gen3 path. You can also force the Gen3 path using the `gen3-turbo` experimental option. Note that this engine stack is not compatible with fractional gates, pulse gates, or dynamic circuits. - -### 15 October 2024 - - Support for `backend.run` has ended. - -### 1 October 2024 - - Parameterized delay gates have been deprecated. - -### 15 August 2024 - - Probabilistic error amplification (PEA) error mitigation method is now available for Estimator V2. See the [`ZneOptions` API reference](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime/options-zne-options) for more details. - - A new helper program `noise-learner` is now available. It allows characterizing the noise processes affecting the gates in one or more circuits of interest, based on the Pauli-Lindblad noise model. The output noise model can then be passed to Estimator via the `layer_noise_model` option. - - V1 primitives are no longer supported. - -### 3 July 2024 - - The following endpoints are deprecated and will be removed on or after 3 October 2024: [`GET /stream/jobs`](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime/tags/jobs#tags__jobs__operations__get_stream_jobs_state_updates) and [`GET /stream/jobs/{id}`](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime/tags/jobs#tags__jobs__operations__get_stream_job_logs_jid). This removal has the following impacts: - - - After the endpoints are removed, `job.stream_results()` and `job.interim_results()` will be removed from the [qiskit-ibm-runtime](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime) client. - - Additional methods, such as `job.result()` currently use the deprecated endpoints. Upgrade to `qiskit_ibm_runtime` 0.25 or later before the endpoints are removed to avoid disruption. - -### 18 June 2024 - - The `optimization_level` option is deprecated for Estimator V2 and will be removed no sooner than 30 September 2024. - -### 3 June 2024 - - Probabilistic error amplification (PEA) error mitigation method is now available as an experimental option for Estimator V2. See the [`EstimatorOptions` API reference](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime/options-estimator-options) for more details. - -### 28 March 2024 - - Qiskit Runtime primitives now support OpenQASM 3 as the input format for circuits and standard JSON output format. See [Qiskit Runtime REST API](/docs/api/qiskit-ibm-runtime) for examples. - - - ## Qiskit Transpiler Service client v0.15.2 @@ -737,4 +753,4 @@ To get started, explore the [Qiskit Functions documentation](/docs/guides/functi For more details on Qiskit Code Assistant, see the [documentation](/docs/guides/qiskit-code-assistant). - \ No newline at end of file +