Quantum Resource Estimator

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that makes quantum resource estimation accessible through natural language. Built on Microsoft's QDK resource estimator.

What It Does

Estimates physical quantum resources (qubit count, runtime) needed to run quantum algorithms on fault-tolerant hardware. Helps researchers answer questions like:

• "How many qubits does it take to break RSA-2048 with Shor's algorithm?"
• "How does a superconducting qubit hardware compare to trapped-ion for this chemistry simulation?"
• "What's the tradeoff between qubit count and runtime for my algorithm?"

Tools

Tool	Description
estimate_resources	Run a single resource estimation with defaults or custom params
compare_configurations	Side-by-side comparison across hardware architectures
generate_frontier	Pareto frontier: qubit-count vs. runtime tradeoff
list_qubit_models	Reference data for all 6 predefined qubit models
list_qec_schemes	Reference data for QEC schemes (surface_code, floquet_code)
list_algorithm_templates	Predefined algorithms with logical resource counts
explain_parameters	Domain-specific guidance (cryptography, chemistry, optimization)
custom_qubit_model_estimate	Estimation with fully custom qubit parameters

Installation

Requires uv. The qsharp package bundles its own native runtime — no .NET SDK install needed.

Via PyPI (recommended)

No cloning needed. Configure your MCP client directly (see below) — uvx handles installation automatically on first run.

From source

git clone https://github.com/DeDuckProject/quantum-resource-estimator-mcp
cd quantum-resource-estimator-mcp
uv sync

Usage

Configure in Claude Desktop

macOS — ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows — %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json Linux — ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "quantum-resource-estimator": {
      "command": "/path/to/uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "quantum-resource-estimator-mcp",
        "qre-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace /path/to/uvx with the output of which uvx.

Configure in Claude Code

claude mcp add quantum-resource-estimator -- /path/to/uvx --from quantum-resource-estimator-mcp qre-mcp

Replace /path/to/uvx with the output of which uvx.

From source (development)

claude mcp add quantum-resource-estimator -- /path/to/uv run --directory /path/to/quantum-resource-estimator-mcp qre-mcp

Inspect with MCP dev tools

uv run mcp dev src/qre_mcp/server.py

Algorithm Input Methods

1. Template (easiest): algorithm_template="shor_2048" — uses predefined logical counts from published research
2. Logical counts: logical_counts='{"numQubits": 100, "tCount": 200}' — provide your own circuit counts
3. Q# code: qsharp_code="..." — provide Q# source with a parameterless entry point

Example Queries

Via an LLM with this MCP server connected:

"Estimate the resources to break RSA-2048 on superconducting hardware"

"Compare all qubit technologies for the FeMo-cofactor chemistry simulation"

"Show me the qubit vs runtime tradeoff for Shor's algorithm on trapped-ion hardware"

"I have a circuit with 500 logical qubits and 10 million T gates — how many physical qubits do I need?"

Example Output

Predefined Algorithm Templates

ID	Algorithm	Category
shor_2048	Shor's factoring (RSA-2048)	Cryptography
grover_aes128	Grover search (AES-128)	Cryptography
chemistry_femo	FeMo-cofactor simulation	Chemistry
qpe_generic	Quantum phase estimation	General

Note: Templates are provided for demonstration and system exploration only. Logical counts are sourced from published research but may not capture significant details. For research-grade estimates, provide your own logical_counts sourced directly from primary publications. When using a template, estimate_resources() will include a template_info field in the response with the source citation and relevant caveats.

Logs

The server runs over stdio (MCP protocol), so stdout/stderr are not available for human-readable output. Logs are written to a file you can follow in a separate terminal:

tail -F ~/.local/share/qre-mcp/qre-mcp.log

-F (capital F) handles log rotation — the file is capped at 5 MB with up to 3 backups.

To use a custom log path, set the QRE_MCP_LOG environment variable before starting the server.

Running Tests

uv run pytest

Tests cover validators, result formatting, reference data, and parameter building. Integration tests (requiring qsharp) are skipped if the package is not available.