1# Access and authentication
2
3Access to Google Hardware is currently restricted to those in an approved
4group.  In order to do this, you will need to apply for access, typically
5in partnership with a Google sponsor.
6
7Access and authentication for Google Hardware is done through Google Cloud
8Platform.  In order to use Google Hardware through the Quantum Computing
9Service, you will need a Google account and a Google Cloud Project.
10There are two main categories of these accounts:
11
12*   Personal accounts, such as a gmail.com account and a personally created
13project.
14*   Google enterprise (or Google Workspace) account.  These accounts are typically
15centrally administered through an IT professional at your organization.
16You may need to work with them in order to create projects, enable the API,
17and do other steps in this guide, as those functions may be currently
18restricted by your organization to prevent inadvertent costs or cloud-related
19activity.
20
21##  Create a project
22
23You will need to use a Google Cloud Project to access Google Hardware though
24the Quantum Computing Service.   If you have an existing project used for
25Google Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, or other functionality, you can re-use
26that project.  Alternatively, you can create a new project.
27
28[Learn more about creating a project](https://cloud.google.com/docs/overview/)
29
30Each project will have a project id that will be used in your code and
31throughout these guides.
32
33You do not need billing information to use the service at this time.
34
35## API Access
36
37You will need to configure your project to be able to access the API.
38
39*   Log in and agree to Terms of Service
40*   Follow this link to
41[enable the Quantum Engine API](https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/library/quantum.googleapis.com?returnUrl=quantum)
42in your Google Cloud Platform project.
43
44If you are not able to enable the Quantum Engine API, then contact your Google
45sponsor so that your project can be put on the approved list.
46
47## User access
48
49Each user (i.e. email address) will need to be associated with the project
50and have appropriate IAM permissions on the project in order to access
51the API through this project.
52
53Each user will also have to be added to an approved list in order to access
54the Quantum Computing Service.  Please submit any new users to your Google
55sponsor so that they can be added.
56
57## Next Steps
58
59At this point, you should now have access to the Quantum Computing Service.
60You can try out our [Getting Started Guide](../tutorials/google/start.ipynb).
61
62You can also learn more about how to use the [Engine class](engine.md) to
63access Google hardware or about [Google devices](devices.md) in the
64documentation section for Google.
65