How to write your automated runcard?

Automation requires to have a more complex workflow than a simple linear sequence of steps. In particular, the following features are requested:

branching

branch more tasks after a single one

merging

require multiple routines to have run before

passing data

values computed from former calibration operations should be available for subsequent ones

conditioning

decide how to proceed based on the calibrations results

In order to implement this features, an adequate representation of the complex calibration task has to be provided, together with a suitable executor, that given a task specification and a machine to run on, it is able to perform the full task in full automation, unless some of the individual operations results in an unexpected outcome.

To provide a cleaner abstraction over the space of possible complex flows, the execution has been split in two different regimes, in order to compose the most general flow of a simpler but more common part, and a more complex but fully generic addition. These two parts are dubbed:

Normal Flow

which is defined by a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), and

Exceptional Flow

that allows to branch off at any point from the Normal Flow, and alter it according to dynamic conditions

How to use

Only the Normal Flow is currently implemented, and it is defined by a runcard like the following:

actions:
 - id: start
   priority: 0
   next: [first, third]
   operation:
   # parameters:
   #   par1: 3.1241
   #   par2: 10_000
   #   ...
 - id: first
   priority: 100
   main: second
   next: [fourth]
   operation:
 - id: second
   priority: 150
   operation:
 - id: third
   priority: 300
   next: [fourth]
   operation:
 - id: fourth
   priority: 200
   operation:

# normal-flow execution: [start, first, second, third, fourth]

A complete specification of the runcard is defined in qibocal.auto.runcard

Caution

operation keys are left empty, since no operation is implemented at the moment (other than a dummy one, exactly identified by a null value, that is also a default)

Important

Consider dropping the main key, for the sake of simplicity: it adds nothing to priority and the “follow the thread” rule