Config schema

The source of truth for configuration is the Pydantic model tree in arcade/config.py. Invalid YAML fails at arcade.config.load_config with field paths and messages. Prefer validating with arcade validate before a long run.

Artifact	Role
`configs/example.yaml`	Annotated template checked into the repository
`arcade template`	Emit a commented skeleton to standard output
Compare classifiers	Fair bake-off pattern for your own traces

Top-level sections

Key	Model	Default intent
`data`	`DataConfig`	Required. Path, keys, demodulation, and split
`classifiers`	`ClassifiersConfig`	Who runs and per-method options
`tuning`	`TuningConfig`	Off by default
`sweep`	`SweepConfig`	Duration and truncation sweep
`hardware`	`HardwareConfig`	Analytical FPGA estimate
`visualization`	`VisualizationConfig`	Plots and summary report
`optimization`	`OptimizationConfig`	Prune, distill, or quantize when enabled
`qec`	`QECConfig`	Optional logical error and FTQC curves

`data` highlights

Field	Meaning
`path`	File path. Required.
`format`	`auto`, `hdf5`, `npy`, `npz`, or `pickle`
`num_qubits`	Qubit count. Required.
`num_levels`	`2` for qubit labels; `3` for leakage or qutrit labels
`qubit_bit_order`	`lsb0` for the zoo; `msb0` in some paper YAMLs. Wrong order destroys joint accuracy.
`demodulation`	Digital demodulation of ADC data: `enabled`, `frequencies`, `sampling_rate`, and related fields
`preprocessing`	`boxcar_window`, `truncate_at`, `normalize`
`split`	`mode: ratio` or `per_class` with fixed counts

`classifiers`

Field	Notes
`run`	Registry names or dotted `pkg.mod.Class` paths. The magic value `all` expands to every registered name.
`filter_types`	Shared matched-filter bank. Default is `[MF]`.
`threshold_mode`	`per_qubit`, `best_separation`, or `otsu`
Per-name blocks	For example `fnn: { config_file: configs/nn_lienhard_fnn.yaml }`

Extra keys are allowed so each method can keep its own option dictionary.

`sweep`, `hardware`, and `visualization`

Section	Key fields
`sweep`	`enabled`, `n_points`, `lengths`
`hardware`	`enabled`, `target_fpga`, `clock_period_ns`, `run_synthesis`
`visualization`	`output_dir`, `format` as `pdf`, `html`, or `png`, plus `summary_sections`

Validate and run

arcade validate configs/example.yaml
arcade run configs/paper_all_methods_benchmark.yaml
arcade describe fnn
arcade list

Full model docs live under API modules.