Commissioning Checklists — Operating Quantum Computers

This appendix provides checklists for moving a quantum system, target, or major platform upgrade from bring-up to controlled availability.

G.1 Commissioning readiness overview

Diagram loads as you read

G.1 Commissioning readiness overview · Figure 1

View diagram source

flowchart TB
    Ready[Commissioning readiness] --> Facility[Facility]
    Ready --> Device[Device]
    Ready --> Control[Control stack]
    Ready --> Calibration[Calibration]
    Ready --> Compiler[Compiler target]
    Ready --> Scheduling[Scheduling]
    Ready --> Data[Data and evidence]
    Ready --> Security[Security and compliance]
    Ready --> Support[Support and incidents]

Use this checklist for new processors, new hardware revisions, new provider targets, and major runtime/control-stack changes.

G.2 Facility checklist

Check	Status
power budget validated
cooling/cryogenic capacity validated
vibration environment measured
magnetic or RF environment measured
access controls tested
emergency procedures documented
maintenance windows defined
facility telemetry connected to operations dashboard

G.3 Device checklist

Check	Status
processor family/revision recorded
physical topology documented
unusable regions marked
initial coherence/readout/gate metrics captured
crosstalk probes run
stress probes run
known limitations documented
retirement or replacement criteria defined

IBM processor-type documentation and Quantinuum H2 operational documentation are examples of modality-specific target information that should inform this section. [R79] [R80]

G.4 Control-stack checklist

Diagram loads as you read

G.4 Control-stack checklist · Figure 2

View diagram source

flowchart LR
    Firmware[Firmware] --> Timing[Timing tables]
    Timing --> Waveforms[Waveforms or native gates]
    Waveforms --> Readout[Readout classification]
    Readout --> Feedback[Feedback path]
    Feedback --> Release[Control-stack release]

Check	Status
firmware/bitstream versions captured
clock domains documented
timing budgets measured
channel map validated
waveform/native-gate compatibility validated
readout discrimination validated
feedback latency measured where applicable
rollback image tested

G.5 Calibration checklist

Check	Status
calibration recipes versioned
calibration convergence thresholds defined
parameter store backed up
stale-calibration policy defined
failed-calibration runbook written
calibration artifacts linked to jobs
calibration history dashboard live
calibration ownership assigned

Historical Qiskit Experiments calibration APIs illustrate calibration artifact and parameter-management concepts. Those pulse-calibration APIs have been removed; use the current controller and provider interfaces when implementing this pattern. [R84]

G.6 Compiler and target checklist

Diagram loads as you read

G.6 Compiler and target checklist · Figure 3

View diagram source

flowchart TB
    Target[Target model] --> Connectivity[Connectivity]
    Target --> Native[Native operations]
    Target --> Timing[Timing constraints]
    Target --> Dynamic[Dynamic features]
    Target --> Limits[Depth, shots, width limits]
    Target --> Tests[Contract tests]

Check	Status
target model generated from source of truth
native operations listed
connectivity validated against hardware
dynamic feature support documented
compiler contract tests pass
representative workloads compile
unsupported workloads fail clearly
target-model hash stored in evidence packages

G.7 Limited-availability checklist

Diagram loads as you read

G.7 Limited-availability checklist · Figure 4

View diagram source

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> InternalOnly
    InternalOnly --> TrustedUsers
    TrustedUsers --> LimitedExternal
    LimitedExternal --> GeneralAvailability
    TrustedUsers --> Rollback
    LimitedExternal --> Rollback
    Rollback --> InternalOnly

Check	Status
approved user list defined
workload restrictions documented
queue and cost limits configured
support channel assigned
incident severity definitions published
user-facing limitations documented
feedback capture mechanism enabled
promotion criteria to general availability defined

G.8 Release decision record

Illustrative listing · yaml

commissioning_release_decision:
  system: string
  release_stage: internal | limited | general
  date: date
  approvers:
    technical: string
    operations: string
    security: string
    executive: string
  accepted_limitations:
    - string
  evidence_packages:
    - string
  rollback_plan: string
  next_review_date: date

A commissioning release without this record should be considered unofficial.