Makie.jl recipe for interactive circuit visualisation

[Avika2211]

[Proposal] Circuit Visualization Recipes with Makie.jl

Summary

My proposal suggests adding support for visualizing electronic circuits in Julia using Makie.jl recipes. My goal is to enable users to compose schematic diagrams using standard components like resistors, capacitors, wires, and voltage sources, rendered in 2D.

This would benefit:

• Educational tools (e.g., Pluto notebooks for electronics)
• Lightweight schematic sketching and documentation
• Rapid prototyping of circuit layouts

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Scope

The initial focus is on 2D visual circuit components with grid-based layout support. Core features could include a set of reusable recipes, labeled components, and clean wire routing.

In the future, the system could be extended toward interactive or even 3D circuit visualizations, leveraging Makie’s full capabilities.

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Thanks,
Avika

[Krastanov]

I think there is some confusion here. This library is for quantum circuits, not for electronic circuits. They do not have all that much in common.

A Makie recipe for plotting of quantum circuits would be great. If you would like to tackle this, could you give more details about the API you plan to implement. A few example snippets could also be helpful.

[Avika2211]

Thanks for the clarification! You're absolutely right — my original idea was more aligned with electronic schematics, but I’d be happy to shift focus toward visualizing quantum circuits directly.

Makie seems like a great fit for this, and I’d love to explore building a recipe-based API for rendering quantum circuits in Julia.

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API Sketch (First draft)

1. Simple Circuit Definition

using QuantikzMakie  # hypothetical module

qc = QuantumCircuit(3)

add_gate!(qc, :H, 1, at=1)
add_gate!(qc, :CNOT, (1, 2), at=2)
add_gate!(qc, :X, 3, at=3)

draw(qc)
This defines a 3-qubit circuit across 3 time steps. draw(qc) would use Makie to render gates as boxes with labels and arrows, over wires for each qubit line.

2. Compositional API Style
julia
qc = QuantumCircuit(2) do circ
    put!(circ, :H, 1, at=1)
    put!(circ, :CNOT, (1, 2), at=2)
end

draw(qc, style = :handdrawn, fontsize = 16)



## Internals
Internally, the structure can use a 2D layout grid: gates[qubit][time]

Each gate becomes a Makie.block in a scene with automatic alignment

draw(qc) builds a composed scene of labeled boxes, connector wires, and optional styles

Could support interactivity like hover-to-expand or tooltips in Pluto/GLMakie

This would make it easier to quickly sketch and share quantum circuits in Pluto notebooks or Julia scripts, with full Makie power for styling and animation.

Happy to iterate on the API, naming, or architecture based on your preferences.

Thanks again for the nudge in the right direction!

[Krastanov]

It would be helpful to first look through the API that exists in this package and read through some of its code yourself (without an LLM -- LLMs can of course be quite helpful, but the human in charge of them needs to be able to check their work).

For instance, the API for creating a circuit and creating gates that exists in this package is quite different from the one suggested here. Keeping things consistent would be useful.

[Avika2211]

I see, I'll just go through them, better it and come up with a more informed and consistent version!

[Krastanov]

As mentioned here #34 (comment) I will close this project for now.