KiCad Studio Kit
A focused VS Code workspace for professional KiCad review, validation, manufacturing handoff, and AI-assisted MCP workflows.
KiCad Studio turns VS Code into a KiCad-aware engineering cockpit: project navigation, schematic and PCB inspection, DRC/ERC review, repeatable release outputs, and MCP readiness for AI-assisted workflows.
Quick Start
- Install KiCad Studio from the Visual Studio Marketplace or Open VSX.
- Open a folder containing a
.kicad_pro, .kicad_sch, or .kicad_pcb file.
- Run KiCad: Detect kicad-cli if KiCad is not already available on
PATH.
- Open a schematic or PCB file to inspect the design inside VS Code.
- Run KiCad: Run DRC or KiCad: Run ERC to populate Problems and validation views.
- Optional: start
kicad-mcp-pro and connect your AI client with the generated .vscode/mcp.json schema.
Core Workflow
Feature Matrix
| Workflow |
KiCad Studio |
Engineering value |
| Project navigation |
Native VS Code sidebar for KiCad projects, boards, schematics, jobsets, rules, and generated outputs |
Keeps hardware and software workspace context together |
| Schematic and PCB review |
Custom editors with KiCad-aware controls and CLI fallback paths |
Inspect design files without losing KiCad as the source of truth |
| DRC/ERC validation |
Problems integration, freshness state, quality gates, and focused validation views |
Separates fresh failures from stale reports |
| Manufacturing handoff |
Repeatable BOM, netlist, plot, drill, and jobset-driven export commands |
Turns review output into reproducible release artifacts |
| MCP readiness |
kicad-mcp-pro discovery, version gating, tool status, and workspace context |
Keeps AI-assisted commands safe when the MCP server is missing or incompatible |
| Localization |
Marketplace copy plus extension string infrastructure |
Prepared for maintained user-facing locales |
Screenshots
Project Tree
Schematic Viewer
PCB Viewer
DRC Results
KiCad CLI-Only Comparison
| Workflow |
KiCad CLI-only |
KiCad Studio |
| Open project context |
Requires remembering paths, commands, and output locations |
Discovers KiCad project structure inside the active VS Code workspace |
| Inspect design state |
Exports or external KiCad windows are needed for most review loops |
Keeps schematic and PCB review next to source changes |
| Run DRC/ERC |
Terminal output and report files must be correlated manually |
Problems, validation views, and quality gates show actionable diagnostics |
| Share AI context |
Scripts must manually expose project files and tool capabilities |
MCP dashboard gates compatible kicad-mcp-pro tools and workspace context |
MCP Compatibility
KiCad Studio 1.9.4 supports kicad-mcp-pro >=3.5.2 <4.0.0 and was tested against 3.9.2. If a connected server reports a version outside the required range, MCP-dependent commands are disabled while KiCad-only features continue to work.
Marketplace Listing Copy
The manual Marketplace and Open VSX checklist and English short/long listing copy live in docs/marketplace-listing.md.
Release Notes
Release notes for Marketplace and Open VSX users live in CHANGELOG.md.
Local Development
corepack enable
corepack pnpm run dev:doctor -- --ci
corepack pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
corepack pnpm --filter kicadstudiokit run marketplace:check
corepack pnpm --filter kicadstudiokit run build
corepack pnpm --filter kicadstudiokit run package
Marketplace Dry Run
corepack enable
corepack pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
corepack pnpm --filter kicadstudiokit run marketplace:check
corepack pnpm --filter kicadstudiokit run build
corepack pnpm --filter kicadstudiokit run package
corepack pnpm --filter kicadstudiokit exec vsce ls --tree --no-dependencies
Use GitHub Issues for reproducible bugs, feature requests, Marketplace rendering problems, and KiCad compatibility reports. Include the KiCad version, operating system, extension version, and the command or file type that reproduced the issue.
Commercial users who rely on KiCad Studio for release, manufacturing, or AI-assisted review workflows can sponsor continued development through the repository sponsor links and support channels.
