--- title: Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (QDK) Installation description: A walkthrough shows how to install Microsoft's Quantum Development Kit (QDK), covering the VS Code extension and the Python packages (pip install qdk,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-quantum-development-kit-qdk-installation-tkf0x4lee twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (QDK) Installation | daily.dev og:description: A walkthrough shows how to install Microsoft's Quantum Development Kit (QDK), covering the VS Code extension and the Python packages (pip install qdk,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-quantum-development-kit-qdk-installation-tkf0x4lee og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/Tkf0X4lee.png og:image:alt: Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (QDK) Installation og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (QDK) Installation **[Microsoft Developer](https://daily.dev/sources/microsoftdeveloper)** · 8 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A walkthrough shows how to install Microsoft's Quantum Development Kit (QDK), covering the VS Code extension and the Python packages (pip install qdk, qdk-chemistry). It includes a quick installation path for those already familiar with VS Code and Python, plus a detailed setup guide for VS Code, Python, and virtual environments across Windows, Mac, and Linux, including WSL considerations. Features like Q#/QASM editing, quantum simulation, resource estimation, and GitHub Copilot integration are highlighted. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I install the Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (QDK) in VS Code? Open VS Code, go to the Extensions area, search for QDK, and install the Microsoft Quantum Development Kit extension, which takes just a couple of seconds. This gives Q# and QASM editor support, one-click quantum simulation with histograms, circuit rendering, a quantum debugger, a drag-and-drop circuit editor, Azure Quantum job submission, and GitHub Copilot integration. _daily.dev keeps developers setting up new toolchains like the QDK current on install steps and tips._ ### How do I install the QDK Python package with Jupyter notebook support? Run pip install qdk, and include the jupyter extra in square brackets for Jupyter notebook integration. This adds Q# language support in notebook cells, Python integration with Q# and OpenQASM, resource estimation for different qubit architectures, simulator choices like a GPU simulator and a stabilizer simulator scaling to thousands of qubits, and advanced noise modeling. _Developers wiring up Python and Jupyter for a new SDK can track setup gotchas on daily.dev._ ### Should I use Python for Windows or WSL when working with the QDK on Windows? Use Windows Subsystem for Linux if you need scientific packages that are not available for Python on native Windows, since some of these packages only work correctly inside WSL. Otherwise, native Windows Python installed via winget install python3 works fine for standard QDK usage. _daily.dev helps developers weighing WSL versus native Windows setups stay on top of platform quirks._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [QpiAI Launches Open Quantum SDK for Developers and Researchers](https://daily.dev/posts/qpiai-launches-open-quantum-sdk-for-developers-and-researchers-n4egljuyr) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A Practical Guide to Choosing the Right Quantum SDK](https://daily.dev/posts/a-practical-guide-to-choosing-the-right-quantum-sdk-lsze76b7e) · Towards Data Science · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#python](https://daily.dev/tags/python), [#github](https://daily.dev/tags/github), [#azure](https://daily.dev/tags/azure), [#quantum-computing](https://daily.dev/tags/quantum-computing), [#vscode](https://daily.dev/tags/vscode) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-quantum-development-kit-qdk-installation-tkf0x4lee) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (QDK) Installation","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-quantum-development-kit-qdk-installation-tkf0x4lee","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-quantum-development-kit-qdk-installation-tkf0x4lee"},"datePublished":"2026-08-19T13:02:56.562Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T09:02:08.085Z","description":"A walkthrough shows how to install Microsoft's Quantum Development Kit (QDK), covering the VS Code extension and the Python packages (pip install qdk,...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fthyzc00Mx8/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fthyzc00Mx8/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Microsoft Developer","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Microsoft Developer","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--xZzU3zUq--/f_auto/v1746714872/logos/microsoftdeveloper","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/microsoftdeveloper"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-quantum-development-kit-qdk-installation-tkf0x4lee","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"python,github,azure,quantum-computing,vscode","timeRequired":"PT8M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (QDK) Installation","description":"A walkthrough shows how to install Microsoft's Quantum Development Kit (QDK), covering the VS Code extension and the Python packages (pip install qdk,...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fthyzc00Mx8/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-08-19T13:02:56.562Z","duration":"PT8M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/Tkf0X4lee","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/fthyzc00Mx8"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Microsoft Developer","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/microsoftdeveloper"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (QDK) Installation"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-quantum-development-kit-qdk-installation-tkf0x4lee#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I install the Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (QDK) in VS Code?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Open VS Code, go to the Extensions area, search for QDK, and install the Microsoft Quantum Development Kit extension, which takes just a couple of seconds. 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