Working in the lab · Chapter 3 of 14

Run a circuit

QASM → quote → hardware confirm → result.

~2 min read4 sectionssame text as the guide inside the lab
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A .qasm file is the one thing the run engine accepts directly. Open one and the Run rail on the right becomes the submit flow.

The Run rail, field by field

  • Circuit — which .qasm in the project. It follows the editor while you are on a circuit and stays put when you open a README, so a Run button never silently re-aims.
  • Machine — the catalogue. Offline machines are listed but disabled. Under the picker: the machine's codename in mono with a one-click copy, a status chip (available / queue N / offline), simulator or real hardware, and qubit count.
  • Shots — 1 to 100 000.
  • Cost — the server's quote for exactly these inputs, refreshed about half a second after any change. While it says Pricing… the button waits: a price is only true for the inputs it was quoted for. Under it, your balance.

Problems show up in place, in the server's words: an invalid circuit ("This circuit isn't valid for that machine" plus the reason), or Not enough credits — top up in the console.

Submit

Submit run on a simulator submits immediately. On real hardware it opens Run on real hardware? — the file, the machine and its codename, the shot count, and "This holds N credits now and settles when the job finishes. Your balance is B." Confirm with Run — N cr.

After submit: the run is tracked in the Runs rail, the dock opens on output, and the log gets one line: submitted bell.qasm → <machine> · 1024 shots · 1.20 cr · run <id>.

Credits, plainly

  • A run holds credits at submit and settles when it finishes.
  • Cancel a queued run (Stop icon in the Runs rail) and the hold comes back.
  • A failure on the machine's side is refunded automatically by the run engine — the Output pane's credit line says so when it happens, and says "pending review" or "declined" when that is the truth instead.
  • A hardware job still unfinished after 72 hours is failed and refunded.

Reading the result

Select a run in the Runs rail (it is auto-selected on submit). The Output pane shows a submitted → running → result timeline, a sorted histogram (the top 16 outcomes, Show all N outcomes to expand), the credit line, and Explain this result — a metered Copilot turn, cancellable, priced on the footer as it settles. Failures lead with a plain sentence; the raw machine error is one disclosure away.

Real machines queue for minutes to hours. You can close the lab; the run keeps going and is listed in this browser's Runs rail when you return (the list is kept per project in this browser; the run itself lives in your account and the console).

Related: Machines & credits · Circuit builder & emulator