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QCOS Quickstart Guide

Get up and running with QCOS in just 5 minutes. This guide covers account creation, SDK installation, and running your first quantum circuit.

Prerequisites​

  • Python 3.9 or higher
  • pip package manager
  • Internet connection

Step 1: Create Your Account​

  1. Visit softqcos.softquantus.com
  2. Click "Get Started Free"
  3. Complete registration with your email
  4. Verify your email address
  5. Access your dashboard

Free Tier Included​

Every new account includes:

  • 10 quantum minutes/month on real hardware
  • 100 HPC simulation minutes
  • 5 optimization requests/day
  • Access to IBM Quantum backends

Step 2: Get Your API Key​

  1. Log into your QCOS Dashboard
  2. Navigate to Settings → API Keys
  3. Click "Generate New Key"
  4. Copy and save your key securely
Security Notice

Your API key provides full access to your account. Never share it or commit it to version control.

Step 3: Install the SDK​

Install the QCOS Python SDK:

pip install softqcos-sdk

Verify the installation:

python -c "import softqcos; print(softqcos.__version__)"

Optional: Install with extras​

# With visualization support
pip install softqcos-sdk[visualization]

# With Jupyter integration
pip install softqcos-sdk[jupyter]

# Full installation
pip install softqcos-sdk[full]

Step 4: Configure Authentication​

export QCOS_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Add to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc) for persistence.

Option B: Configuration File​

Create ~/.softqcos/config.yaml:

api_key: your-api-key-here
default_backend: ibm_brisbane
optimization_level: 2

Option C: Programmatic​

import softqcos

client = softqcos.QCOSClient(api_key="your-api-key-here")

Step 5: Run Your First Circuit​

Create a simple Bell state circuit:

import softqcos
from softqcos.circuits import QuantumCircuit

# Initialize client
client = softqcos.QCOSClient()

# Create a Bell state circuit
circuit = QuantumCircuit(2, 2)
circuit.h(0)          # Hadamard on qubit 0
circuit.cx(0, 1)      # CNOT from qubit 0 to 1
circuit.measure_all() # Measure all qubits

# Submit to quantum hardware
job = client.run(
    circuit,
    backend="ibm_brisbane",
    shots=1000
)

# Wait for results
result = job.result()
print(f"Counts: {result.counts}")
# Output: {'00': 498, '11': 502}

Step 6: Optimize Your Circuit​

QCOS automatically optimizes circuits, but you can control the level:

# High optimization for production
job = client.run(
    circuit,
    backend="ibm_brisbane",
    optimization_level=3,  # 0=none, 1=light, 2=medium, 3=heavy
    shots=1000
)

# Check optimization metrics
print(f"Original depth: {job.metrics.original_depth}")
print(f"Optimized depth: {job.metrics.optimized_depth}")
print(f"Reduction: {job.metrics.depth_reduction_percent}%")

Step 7: Use HPC Simulation​

For development, use our LUMI-powered simulator:

# Simulate locally (faster, no quantum minutes used)
result = client.simulate(
    circuit,
    shots=10000,
    noise_model="ibm_brisbane"  # Realistic noise
)

print(f"Simulated counts: {result.counts}")

Next Steps​

Explore More Features​

API & SDK Reference​

Understand Pricing​

Troubleshooting​

Common Issues​

"Invalid API Key"​

softqcos.errors.AuthenticationError: Invalid API key

Solution: Verify your API key in the dashboard and ensure no extra whitespace.

"Backend not available"​

softqcos.errors.BackendError: Backend 'ibm_brisbane' is currently unavailable

Solution: Check backend status at status.softquantus.com or use an alternative backend.

"Quota exceeded"​

softqcos.errors.QuotaError: Monthly quantum minutes exceeded

Solution: Upgrade your plan or wait for quota reset on the 1st of the month.

Getting Help​