KiCad Studio

KiCad Studio turns VS Code into a practical KiCad workspace: view schematics and PCBs, run DRC/ERC, inspect BOMs and netlists, export manufacturing outputs, compare changes, search components and libraries, and optionally connect AI tooling through kicad-mcp-pro.

Repository And CI/CD

• Canonical Repository: https://github.com/oaslananka/kicad-studio All development and user interaction happens here. Zero GitHub Actions are consumed on this account.
• CI/CD Mirror: https://github.com/oaslananka-lab/kicad-studio Automated CI, security scans, and releases run here. The mirror periodically pulls from canonical.
• Operations: See docs/repository-operations.md for detailed guidance on the dual-owner model.
• Fallbacks: Azure DevOps and GitLab pipelines are maintained for manual redundancy.

What's New In 2.7.0

• VS Code engine raised to ^1.99.0 with matching manifest typings.
• Node.js/npm development toolchain aligned on Node.js 24.x and npm 11+.
• CI and merge queue workflows now use npm ci and fail closed on PR/push security checks.
• Local security scripts run high-severity npm audit, gitleaks, and bundle-size enforcement.
• Taskfile, pre-commit, Renovate, CODEOWNERS, and report hygiene were tightened for release maintenance.

Feature Highlights

• Interactive schematic and PCB viewing through a bundled KiCanvas build.
• DRC/ERC diagnostics mapped into the VS Code Problems panel.
• Fabrication and documentation exports including Gerber, drill, IPC-2581, ODB++, DXF, GenCAD, IPC-D-356, BOM, netlist, 3D GLB/BREP/PLY, and 3D PDF.
• Variants, DRC rules, and AI fix queue sidebars for KiCad 10-era workflows.
• MCP Quality Gates sidebar for release-readiness review when kicad-mcp-pro is connected.
• Optional AI providers: Claude, OpenAI, GitHub Copilot, and Gemini.
• Agent-mode Language Model Tools for DRC/ERC, Gerber export, file opening, component search, library search, active-context reads, and variant switching.
• Optional Claude-backed Language Model Chat Provider registration for compatible VS Code builds.
• kicad-mcp-pro bootstrap, context bridge, and design intent form panel.
• Local KiCad symbol and footprint indexing plus Octopart/Nexar and LCSC component search.
• GitHub-organization-first CI/CD with Azure DevOps and GitLab manual fallback workflows.

KiCad Support Matrix

Capability	KiCad 9	KiCad 10
Schematic / PCB viewer	Supported	Supported with improving upstream KiCanvas coverage
DRC / ERC via kicad-cli	Supported	Supported
Design variants sidebar	Limited project fallback	Supported
.kicad_dru rule discovery	Basic text mode	Supported
3D PDF export	Not available	Supported
Time-domain tuning metadata	Not available	Supported
MCP-assisted fix workflows	Supported when project context exists	Supported

Example Projects

The following open-source KiCad projects have been used for development testing and are cited here with attribution.

Project	Description	License
CH224A-breakout by UW Reality Labs	KiCad 10 breakout board for the CH224A USB-C PD sink controller. Used as a real-world benchmark for schematic viewer, DRC analysis, MCP integration, and AI chat features.	See repository

These projects are not bundled with this extension; attribution is provided for transparency.

AI And MCP

AI Providers

• Claude and OpenAI use SecretStorage-backed API keys.
• GitHub Copilot, GitHub Codex, and Gemini use the VS Code Language Model API when available.
• AI features remain opt-in and are disabled when no provider is configured.

kicad-mcp-pro Integration

• Auto-detects kicad-mcp-pro from uvx, a global executable, pip, or pipx.
• Installs kicad-mcp-pro from VS Code Tasks when uvx, pipx, or pip is available.
• Offers to create .vscode/mcp.json in the active workspace.
• Validates .vscode/mcp.json with KiCad-aware schema completions.
• Registers kicad-mcp-pro as an MCP server definition when the host VS Code build supports the API.
• Negotiates the server version and reports connected, older-than-recommended, incompatible, disconnected, or not-installed states in a single MCP status entry.
• Uses Streamable HTTP-compatible requests for the extension-side MCP client and reuses MCP-Session-Id values when provided by the server.
• Pushes active file, DRC summary, selection context, cursor position, visible layer set, and active variant to MCP.
• Surfaces kicad://project/fix_queue as the AI Fix Queue view.
• Surfaces project_quality_gate_report, placement, transfer, and manufacturing gate results in the Quality Gates view.
• Shows redacted recent MCP request/response traffic through KiCad: Open MCP Log.
• Lets users edit project design intent from a dedicated webview form.

Compatibility

KiCad Studio 2.7.0 supports kicad-mcp-pro >=3.0.0 <4.0.0 and recommends >=3.0.2 <4.0.0. The extension was tested against kicad-mcp-pro 3.0.2. If a connected server reports a version outside the required range, MCP-dependent commands are disabled and KiCad-only viewers, exports, checks, BOM/netlist, language services, and library features continue to work.

See docs/INTEGRATION.md for the detailed MCP workflow.

Quick Start

1. Install KiCad 10 if you want full variant, tuning, and 3D PDF support.
2. Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace.
3. Open a folder containing a .kicad_pro, .kicad_sch, or .kicad_pcb file.
4. Run KiCad: Detect kicad-cli once to validate your local KiCad installation.
5. Open a schematic or PCB file to use the viewer, project tree, BOM, netlist, and export commands.
6. Optionally run KiCad: Install kicad-mcp-pro, then KiCad: Setup MCP Integration.
7. Pick a focused MCP profile with KiCad: Pick MCP Profile if the default full profile is broader than the current workflow.
8. If you want KiCad Studio to appear as a chat-model vendor, run KiCad: Manage Chat Provider and store a Claude API key.

Installation

VS Code

code --install-extension oaslananka.kicadstudio

KiCad CLI

• Windows: KiCad Studio auto-checks common Program Files KiCad locations, including KiCad 10.
• macOS: it checks the KiCad app bundle and common Homebrew paths.
• Linux: it checks standard binary locations such as /usr/bin, /usr/local/bin, and ~/.local/bin.

If detection fails, set kicadstudio.kicadCliPath manually. More detail lives in docs/installation.md.

Key Commands

• KiCad: Detect kicad-cli
• KiCad: Run Design Rule Check (DRC)
• KiCad: Run Electrical Rule Check (ERC)
• KiCad: Export 3D PDF
• KiCad: Setup MCP Integration
• KiCad: Install kicad-mcp-pro
• KiCad: Pick MCP Profile
• KiCad: Run All Quality Gates
• KiCad: Manufacturing Release Wizard
• KiCad: Open MCP Log
• KiCad: Open Design Intent
• KiCad: Open AI Chat
• KiCad: Manage Chat Provider
• KiCad: New Variant
• KiCad: Compare Variant BOMs

Viewer Notes

• Large board files stay interactive up to 10 MB; above that, the viewer falls back to metadata-first behavior.
• The viewer syncs with the active VS Code theme when enabled.
• PCB viewer panels expose layer visibility presets and tuning profile summaries when metadata is available.
• PNG export is generated from the embedded viewer canvas; SVG export uses the extension export command path.

Import And Export Notes

• Board import helpers currently wrap the kicad-cli pcb import formats exposed by the installed KiCad version.
• Current guided import commands target formats such as PADS, Altium, Eagle, CADSTAR, Fabmaster, P-CAD, and SolidWorks PCB.
• If KiCad adds more CLI import formats later, the wrapper layer can extend without changing the rest of the extension architecture.

Configuration

Important settings include:

• kicadstudio.kicadCliPath
• kicadstudio.kicadPath
• kicadstudio.ai.provider
• kicadstudio.ai.model
• kicadstudio.ai.language
• kicadstudio.ai.allowTools
• kicadstudio.cli.defineVars
• kicadstudio.mcp.autoDetect
• kicadstudio.mcp.endpoint
• kicadstudio.mcp.allowLegacySse
• kicadstudio.mcp.pushContext
• kicadstudio.mcp.profile
• kicadstudio.mcp.logSize
• kicadstudio.viewer.largeFileThresholdBytes
• kicadstudio.viewer.syncThemeWithVscode
• kicadstudio.viewer.enableLayerPanel
• kicadstudio.viewer.enableSnapshotExport

Documentation

• docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
• docs/INTEGRATION.md
• docs/KICAD10_MIGRATION.md
• docs/AI_PROVIDERS.md
• docs/installation.md
• docs/CONTRIBUTING.md

Troubleshooting

kicad-cli not found

• Run KiCad: Detect kicad-cli.
• Set kicadstudio.kicadCliPath if KiCad lives in a custom location.
• Check docs/installation.md for per-platform setup notes.

MCP not connected

• Confirm kicad-mcp-pro --version or uvx kicad-mcp-pro --version works locally.
• Verify .vscode/mcp.json exists in the workspace.
• Check that kicadstudio.mcp.endpoint matches your HTTP-mode MCP server when using the context bridge.

Viewer looks incomplete on KiCad 10 content

• Save the file and refresh the viewer.
• Confirm the bundled KiCanvas build refreshed successfully.
• If a new KiCad 10 entity is not yet rendered upstream, use Open in KiCad as the source of truth and file an issue with a fixture.

Development

Local Commands

• npm ci
• npm run check
• npm run check:ci
• npm run format:check
• npm run lint
• npm run typecheck
• npm run test:unit
• npm test
• npm run build
• npm run build:prod
• npm run package

CI/CD Layout

• .github/workflows/ci.yml and .github/workflows/publish.yml are the primary GitHub Actions workflows for the oaslananka-lab organization mirror.
• azure-pipelines-ci.yml and azure-pipelines-publish.yml are manual fallback Azure pipelines.
• .gitlab-ci.yml is a manual fallback GitLab pipeline.

Contributing

Contribution guidance lives in docs/CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT

Operations

See docs/repository-operations.md for CI/CD and release guidance.