Prepare patch release 0.40.1 (#2279) (#2281)

* prepare release 0.40.1

* Update release-notes/0.40.1.rst



* update pr url

---------

Co-authored-by: abbycross <across@us.ibm.com>

Author: kt474

docs/conf.py

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 # The short X.Y version
 version = ''
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags
-release = '0.40.0'
+release = '0.40.1'
 
 # -- General configuration ---------------------------------------------------
 

pyproject.toml

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ zip-safe = false
 root = "."
 write_to = "qiskit_ibm_runtime/VERSION.txt"
 version_scheme = "release-branch-semver"
-fallback_version = "0.40.0"
+fallback_version = "0.40.1"
 
 [project]
 name = "qiskit-ibm-runtime"

release-notes/0.40.1.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+0.40.1 (2025-06-04)
+===================
+
+Bug Fixes
+---------
+
+- Fixed an issue where if there was no instance saved nor passed in at initialization, the service could not make
+  any API calls until :meth:`.QiskitRuntimeService.backend` or :meth:`.QiskitRuntimeService.backends` is called first.
+
+- Fixed a bug where if ``use_fractional_gates`` is set but the backend configuration was already cached, 
+  the incorrect configuration could be returned. (`2269 <https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit-ibm-runtime/pull/2269>`__)
+
+
+Other Notes
+-----------
+
+- Error messages related to ``rzz`` gate angles being outside of the allowed
+  range of 0 to :math:`\pi/2` during circuit validation have been updated to
+  clarify that the angle value requested in the circuit was the problem and not
+  an angle value provided by the backend. (`2276 <https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit-ibm-runtime/pull/2276>`__)