AELM — Agent-native Electronic Layout Markup

Design circuits with code, not clicks. Edit a .aelm file and the schematic renders live, side-by-side, in VS Code.

AELM in VS Code

What you get

A compact DSL for schematics — parts, pins, connections, and placement hints.
A live schematic preview that updates on every keystroke.
Git-friendly source files — every change is a text diff.
A format that LLMs and AI agents can read, edit, and generate reliably.
SVG / PNG export for docs, slides, and reports.
Built-in LSP: diagnostics, hover docs, completion for parts, pins, and nets.
A standard parts library (resistors, capacitors, transistors, power symbols, connectors, op-amps, logic gates, flow / block diagram symbols) with 35+ built-in schematic symbols.

Who it's for

Hardware designers who want schematics to live next to firmware in the same repo, with diffable history.
Docs and tutorials where a textual circuit source is easier to maintain than a binary schematic file.
Agentic workflows where a language model needs to read a design, propose a change, and write back a correct edit.
Anyone who prefers code-review-able circuits over clicking through a GUI.

Quick start

Install the extension.
Create a file ending in .aelm.
The schematic opens in the circuit editor next to your code. Type, watch it render.

Example: a minimal circuit

part Resistor {
    pins {
        a: passive @1
        b: passive @2
    }
    symbol: resistor
}

module Divider {
    instances {
        R1: Resistor(value: 10k) place: (0, 0)
        R2: Resistor(value: 10k) place: R1.b(0, -10)
    }
    connections {
        R1.b -> R2.a
    }
}

More examples live at https://github.com/alphaelements/aelm/tree/main/examples.

File types

Extension	Purpose
`.aelm`	Schematic / circuit source
`.alib`	Parts library (reusable part definitions)
`.astyle`	Visual styling (colors, widths, grid)
`.aproj`	Project config (library paths, defaults)

Commands

Open the command palette and type AELM: to see them all.

Command	What it does
`AELM: Show Side by Side`	Code + diagram in parallel
`AELM: Show Diagram Only`	Full-screen schematic
`AELM: Show Code Only`	Back to text editor
`AELM: Export as SVG`	Save the diagram as SVG
`AELM: Export as PNG`	Save the diagram as PNG
`AELM: Zoom to Fit`	Fit the schematic to the viewport

Context-menu actions (right-click a component in the diagram): rotate, mirror, lock, delete, drill into sub-modules.

Documentation

Status

Preview release. The language and editor are usable for real circuits today; the format is stabilising. Breaking DSL changes will be noted in the changelog.

Requirements

VS Code 1.80.0 or later

AELM - Agent-native Electronic Layout Markup

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