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

• GitHub mirror and Marketplace-facing repository: https://github.com/oaslananka/kicad-studio
• Primary source of truth and CI/CD: https://dev.azure.com/oaslananka/open-source/_git/kicad-studio
• GitHub Actions are kept as manual fallback workflows only.
• Azure DevOps runs the main CI pipeline and the approval-gated publish flow.

What's New For KiCad 10

• KiCad 10-aware viewer metadata for layer summaries, tuning profiles, and selection context.
• KiCad design variants sidebar with active-variant switching and BOM override diffing.
• .kicad_dru language support, schema wiring, and DRC rules sidebar.
• 3D PDF export command through kicad-cli pcb export 3dpdf.
• Optional MCP bridge for context push, fix queue surfacing, and design intent editing.
• AI prompt updates for KiCad 10 concepts such as variants, graphical DRC rules, hop-over display, and time-domain tuning.

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.
• 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.
• Azure-first CI/CD with manual GitHub fallback workflows.

KiCad Support Matrix

AI And MCP

AI Providers

• Claude and OpenAI use SecretStorage-backed API keys.
• GitHub Copilot 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.
• Offers to create .vscode/mcp.json in the active workspace.
• Registers kicad-mcp-pro as an MCP server definition when the host VS Code build supports the API.
• 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.
• Lets users edit project design intent from a dedicated webview form.

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: Setup MCP Integration if kicad-mcp-pro is installed locally.
7. 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: 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.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 run lint
• npm run test:unit
• npm test
• npm run build
• npm run build:prod
• npm run package

CI/CD Layout

• azure-pipelines-ci.yml is the primary CI definition.
• azure-pipelines-publish.yml is the approval-gated Marketplace publish pipeline.
• .github/workflows/ci.yml and .github/workflows/publish.yml are manual fallback workflows only.

Contributing

Contribution guidance lives in docs/CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT