Post-Quantum, Measured: the lab

Runnable companion code and captured output for the book Post-Quantum, Measured by Danny B. Carr, Jr. (Carr Digital LLC).

Every performance number, certificate size, and handshake result the book labels Verified was produced by the scripts in this repository, on stock OpenSSL, on one laptop. This repo exists so you can run them yourself and check.

The verification standard

The book labels every claim one of three ways:

• Verified. Measured in this lab. The script and its captured output are both here.
• Reported. Cited to a standard or vendor document, not re-derived.
• Proposed. Designed but not yet shipped or measured.

Only Verified claims live in this repository. If a number in the book is marked Verified and you cannot reproduce it from here, that is a bug worth reporting.

Requirements

• OpenSSL 3.5 or later. ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA are native from 3.5. Measurements here were taken on OpenSSL 3.5.5 (27 Jan 2026).
• Python 3.11 or later. Developed against 3.14.4.
• qiskit for the quantum demo only. No IBM Quantum account needed, it runs on the local statevector simulator.
• Dart SDK for the audit-pqcrypto/ interop check only.

No network, no HSM, no cloud account. Every lab runs on the machine in front of you.

Labs

Path	What it does	Book chapter
src/lab-quantum/quantum_threat_demo.py	Shor factors 15, Grover searches. Why RSA and ECDSA break and symmetric keys only halve.	1
src/lab-b-tls/mlkem_demo.py	Full ML-KEM-768 encapsulate and decapsulate flow	3
src/lab-b-tls/hybrid_kem_wrap.py	Hybrid X25519 + ML-KEM-768 key wrapping	3, 9
src/lab-c-mldsa/pqc_sign.py	ML-DSA-65 file signing CLI. Detached signatures, like gpg --sign but post-quantum.	4
src/lab-b-tls/pqc_tls_lab.py	TLS 1.3 handshake over the X25519MLKEM768 hybrid group	6
src/lab-b-tls/pqc_ca.py	Three-tier ML-DSA-65 PKI, root through leaf	7
src/lab-ca/run-mixed-chain-lab.sh	Certificate chain size ledger and KEM-cert issuance mechanics	7
src/lab-ca/san-size-sweep.sh	How SAN count moves leaf size, and where a chain crosses the TLS record and initcwnd thresholds	7
src/lab-ops/run-ops-labs.sh	OCSP and CRL sizing, cross-signed root rotation	8
src/lab-a-hybrid/envelope_v3.py	Reference implementation of a hybrid application-layer envelope format	9
src/lab-d-bench/pqc_bench.py	Benchmark suite via direct ctypes bindings to libcrypto, not subprocess timing	10
audit-pqcrypto/run-interop.sh	ML-KEM-768 interop: pure-Dart pqcrypto against OpenSSL, both directions	9

The certificate-size labs use fixed serials and a fixed validity window so DER byte counts are stable across runs. The only size drivers left are the algorithm and the extension set, which is the point.

Captured output

evidence/ holds what these scripts actually printed here, with the OpenSSL version stamped in each file. Compare your run against it.

evidence/quantum/          Shor and Grover demo
evidence/tls/              ML-KEM-768, hybrid wrap, PQC TLS handshake
evidence/signatures/       ML-DSA-65 signing, PQC CA chain
evidence/benchmarks/       full benchmark suite
evidence/research/         chain size ledger, SAN sweep, ops labs
evidence/lab-a-*.txt       hybrid envelope reference

ca/ and tls/certs/ hold generated certificates from the PKI labs. Public certificates only. No private key material is published in this repository, and none of it would be trustworthy if it were: regenerate your own with src/lab-b-tls/pqc_ca.py.

Running a lab

openssl version                      # need 3.5+
python3 src/lab-b-tls/mlkem_demo.py
bash   src/lab-ca/san-size-sweep.sh

Each script is self-contained and prints what it measured. The shell labs work in a temporary directory and clean up after themselves.

Related: the certificate compatibility matrix

The book's certificate work continues in a separate repository, pqc-cert-matrix: what actually happens when a post-quantum or hybrid X.509 chain meets real client software. Eight chain shapes across eleven client stacks, 88 cells, each a script plus captured output, plus transport measurements from key-log-decrypted handshakes. Same evidence standard as this repository. Written up at Hybrid certificates, weighed.

The book

Post-Quantum, Measured: migrating TLS, PKI, and application crypto with evidence you can reproduce.

Get the book: https://leanpub.com/post-quantum-measured

Also on Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HBW7VNSN

Free whitepaper and details: https://post-quantum-measured.pages.dev

The book is the migration: the sequencing, the tradeoffs, the failure modes, and the judgment about what matters and when. This repository is the proof that the numbers in it are real.

License

Code and captured output are MIT licensed (see LICENSE). The book text is not in this repository and is not covered by that license.

Third-party standards documents and vendor pages cited by the book are not redistributed here. The book cites them by URL and access date.