KiCad MCP Server

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for analyzing KiCad schematics. Query components, trace nets, explore connections, and analyze multi-board systems through a simple tool interface.

Features

Circuit Analysis: Load and analyze KiCad .kicad_sch files
Component Queries: Search, filter, and examine components with detailed pin information
Net Tracing: Explore nets, trace signal paths, and find connection routes
Multi-Board Systems: Analyze signals across multiple connected boards
Smart Caching: Optional file caching for faster repeated queries
Dynamic Configuration: Add/remove boards and systems without restarting

Installation

# Install with uv (recommended) uv sync # Or with pip pip install -e .

Requirements: Python 3.10+

Quick Start

1. Configure MCP Client

Add to your MCP client configuration (e.g., Claude Desktop's claude_desktop_config.json):

{ "mcpServers": { "kicad": { "command": "uv", "args": [ "--directory", "/path/to/kicad-mcp", "run", "kicad-mcp" ] } } }

2. Create Configuration File

Create .kicad_mcp.yaml in your project directory:

boards: main: path: /path/to/main.kicad_sch description: Main controller board sensor: path: /path/to/sensor.kicad_sch description: Sensor board systems: complete: boards: [main, sensor] description: Full system with all boards cache: enabled: true directory: ~/.cache/kicad_mcp check_mtime: true

Configuration

Configuration files are searched in priority order:

Environment variable: $KICAD_MCP_CONFIG
Local project: .kicad_mcp.yaml (current directory or parent directories)
Global config: ~/.config/kicad_mcp/config.yaml
Default: Empty configuration (no boards pre-loaded)

Configuration Options

boards: Named board configurations with paths and descriptions
systems: Multi-board system definitions referencing board names
cache.enabled: Enable/disable pickle caching of parsed schematics
cache.directory: Where to store cache files
cache.check_mtime: Invalidate cache when source files change

Available Tools

Board Management

Tool	Description
`list_configured_boards`	List all boards from configuration
`list_configured_systems`	List all multi-board systems
`load_board`	Load a board by name (with caching)
`load_system`	Load a multi-board system
`reload_config`	Reload configuration without restarting

Configuration Management

Tool	Description
`add_board`	Add a new board to configuration
`remove_board`	Remove a board from configuration
`add_system`	Add a new multi-board system
`remove_system`	Remove a system from configuration

Circuit Analysis (Single Board)

Tool	Description
`get_overview`	High-level schematic summary (component count, nets, categories)
`list_components`	List all components, optionally filtered by category
`list_nets`	List all nets, optionally power nets only
`examine_component`	Detailed component info (value, pins, connected nets)
`examine_net`	Detailed net info (connections, component types)
`check_pin_connection`	Find which net a specific pin connects to

Connection Tracing (Single Board)

Tool	Description
`trace_connection`	Find connection path between two components
`find_connected_components`	Find all components within N hops of a component

Multi-Board Analysis

Tool	Description
`get_system_overview`	Overview of multi-board system
`trace_cross_board_signal`	Trace a signal across multiple boards

Usage Examples

Analyze a Single Board

# Get overview get_overview(source="main") # or use direct path: get_overview(source="/path/to/board.kicad_sch") # List all ICs list_components(source="main", category="ICs") # Examine a specific component examine_component(source="main", reference="U1") # Check what IC2 pin 5 connects to check_pin_connection(source="main", reference="IC2", pin_number="5")

Trace Connections

# Find path between two components trace_connection(source="main", start_ref="U1", end_ref="U5") # Find everything connected to a regulator within 2 hops find_connected_components(source="main", reference="U3", max_hops=2) # Examine a power net examine_net(source="main", net_name="VCC")

Multi-Board Systems

# Load and overview a system load_system(system_name="complete") get_system_overview(system_name="complete") # Trace SPI signal across boards trace_cross_board_signal( system_name="complete", signal_net="/MISO", start_component="main:U1", end_component="sensor:U2" )

Dynamic Configuration

# Add a new board add_board( name="power", path="/path/to/power.kicad_sch", description="Power supply board" ) # Create a system with it add_system( name="full_system", boards=["main", "sensor", "power"], description="Complete system with power" ) # Reload after manual config edits reload_config()

Source Parameter

Most analysis tools accept a source parameter which can be:

Board name from configuration (e.g., "main")
Direct file path to a .kicad_sch file (e.g., "/path/to/board.kicad_sch")

System tools use system_name to reference configured multi-board systems.

Development

# Install with dev dependencies uv sync --extra dev # Run tests pytest # Format code black src/ # Type checking mypy src/

License

MIT

KiCad MCP Server

KiCad MCP Server

Features

Installation

Quick Start

1. Configure MCP Client

2. Create Configuration File

Configuration

Configuration Options

Available Tools

Board Management

Configuration Management

Circuit Analysis (Single Board)

Connection Tracing (Single Board)

Multi-Board Analysis

Usage Examples

Analyze a Single Board

Trace Connections

Multi-Board Systems

Dynamic Configuration

Source Parameter

Development

License

Resources

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