What can you do with this server?

The mcp-server-kicad provides 109 MCP tools for programmatic interaction with KiCad projects, enabling AI assistants to read, modify, and analyze schematic, PCB, and library files without corruption. Key capabilities: * Schematic: Create and edit schematics (place/move/remove components, add wires/labels/junctions/power symbols, set properties, auto-place decoupling capacitors, wire pins to nets). Analyze schematics (get summaries, list elements, trace nets, find pin positions, run ERC). Export to PDF, SVG, DXF, netlists, BOM. * PCB: Edit PCB layouts (place/move/remove footprints, add traces/vias/text, create/fill zones, set net classes, autoroute). Analyze PCBs (list elements, check placements, run DRC, validate). Export to PDF, SVG, DXF, Gerbers, 3D models (STEP/STL/GLB), pick-and-place, IPC-2581. * Library management: View and create symbols and footprints, get detailed info, export SVG, upgrade formats. * Project management: Create projects, manage hierarchical sheets (add, remove, modify, duplicate, reorder), annotate, validate hierarchy, trace nets across sheets, flatten hierarchy, export hierarchical netlists. * Design rule checks: Run ERC and DRC. * Utilities: Get KiCad version, run jobsets, auto-detect project paths, support environment variables, work with KiCad 9/10 files, byte-preserving edits ensure file integrity.

Which integrations are available for this server?

Provides tools for KiCad schematic, PCB, symbol, footprint, and project automation, including read/write operations, ERC/DRC analysis, autorouting, and various exports (PDF, SVG, Gerber, 3D models, BOM, netlist, etc.).

How do I use mcp-server-kicad?

1. Click on "Install Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@mcp-server-kicad generate a bill of materials for my current schematic" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

mcp-server-kicad

by ProductOfAmerica

Overview Schema Related Servers Score Discussions

Python

Local

mcp-server-kicad

Let an AI assistant edit real KiCad projects without corrupting them.

109 MCP tools covering schematic capture, PCB layout, symbol and footprint libraries, ERC and DRC, and manufacturing exports. No screenshots, no copy-paste, no hand-edited s-expressions: the model calls tools, KiCad files change on disk.

PyPI Python KiCad Tests License

Quick start • What you get • Configuration • Tool reference • Requirements • Contributing

What it looks like

"Add a 100 nF decoupling cap on U1's VCC pin, then check ERC."

  get_pin_positions            locate U1's VCC and GND pins
  auto_place_decoupling_cap    place C3, wire it, drop the junctions
  run_erc                      report what the change broke

"Now push the netlist to the board and route it."

  update_pcb_from_schematic    sync footprints and pad nets onto the PCB
  autoroute_pcb                route with Freerouting
  run_drc                      clearance, width, and unconnected checks

Every tool works on the real file. Writes go through a byte-preserving substrate, so bytes you did not ask to change reach the disk unchanged, and an edit that cannot be done correctly is refused with the file intact.

Related MCP server: kicad-mcp-pro

Quick start

Claude Code

Install the plugin. It wires up the server and ships the design skills with it:

claude plugin marketplace add ProductOfAmerica/mcp-server-kicad
claude plugin install kicad

Claude Desktop

Download kicad-<version>.mcpb from the latest release and install it from Settings, then Extensions. Claude Desktop fetches Python and the package itself, so KiCad is the only thing you need installed first.

Fill in the schematic, board, and export paths it asks for. Unlike the Claude Code plugin, Desktop does not run from your project directory, so nothing is auto-detected. Leave the kicad-cli field blank unless KiCad lives somewhere unusual; stock installs are found on their own, on every platform. The design skills are Claude Code only.

Everything else

pip install mcp-server-kicad

Then point your MCP client at the unified server and set cwd to a KiCad project directory so paths resolve themselves:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kicad": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "mcp-server-kicad", "mcp-server-kicad"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/kicad/project"
    }
  }
}

That single entry registers all 109 tools. Prefer to split them across five smaller servers? See Configuration.

What you get

Five tool servers

Run them as one unified server, or separately when you want a smaller tool surface in context.

Server	Tools	What it does
`mcp-server-kicad-schematic`	42	Schematic read/write, net tracing, ERC, exports (PDF, SVG, DXF, netlist, BOM)
`mcp-server-kicad-pcb`	34	Board read/write, netlist import, zones, DRC, autorouting, exports (Gerber, drill, 3D, pick-and-place)
`mcp-server-kicad-project`	24	Project scaffolding, hierarchical sheets, hierarchy validation, annotation, cross-sheet net tracing
`mcp-server-kicad-symbol`	5	Symbol library browsing, authoring, SVG export, format upgrade
`mcp-server-kicad-footprint`	4	Footprint library browsing, SVG export, format upgrade

Six design skills (Claude Code plugin)

Tools alone let a model click every button. The bundled skills teach it which buttons, in what order, and what "done" looks like.

Skill	Kicks in when
`using-kicad`	Any electronics or EDA conversation starts. Routes to the right skill below
`circuit-design`	Choosing topology, regulators, and component values, before any file exists
`schematic-plan`	Planning exact placement coordinates and wiring. Pure planning, no writes
`schematic-design`	Executing that plan, or modifying an existing schematic
`pcb-layout`	Placing footprints, routing, zones, stackup, trace widths
`verification`	ERC and DRC failures, unconnected nets, export prep

The design skills hand their artifacts to independent reviewer subagents (agents/) before moving on, so a bad BOM or a bad placement plan gets caught before it becomes a schematic.

Configuration

Split servers

Five entries instead of one, when you want to load only part of the tool surface:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kicad-schematic": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "mcp-server-kicad", "mcp-server-kicad-schematic"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/kicad/project"
    },
    "kicad-pcb": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "mcp-server-kicad", "mcp-server-kicad-pcb"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/kicad/project"
    },
    "kicad-symbol": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "mcp-server-kicad", "mcp-server-kicad-symbol"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/kicad/project"
    },
    "kicad-footprint": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "mcp-server-kicad", "mcp-server-kicad-footprint"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/kicad/project"
    },
    "kicad-project": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "mcp-server-kicad", "mcp-server-kicad-project"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/kicad/project"
    }
  }
}

Each is also runnable directly:

uvx --from mcp-server-kicad mcp-server-kicad-schematic

How paths resolve

Highest priority wins:

Tool parameters. Every tool accepts an explicit path.
Environment variables. They override anything auto-detected.
Auto-detect. The working directory is scanned for a .kicad_pro, and the schematic, board, and library paths are derived from it.

Variable	Points at
`KICAD_SCH_PATH`	a `.kicad_sch` schematic file
`KICAD_PCB_PATH`	a `.kicad_pcb` board file
`KICAD_SYM_LIB`	a `.kicad_sym` symbol library file
`KICAD_FP_LIB`	a `.pretty` footprint library directory
`KICAD_OUTPUT_DIR`	where exports and reports are written

Requirements

Python 3.10+
KiCad 9.x or 10.x, for the tools that shell out to kicad-cli: ERC, DRC, and every export. The read and write tools parse files directly and need no KiCad install at all.

CI runs the full suite on Linux against KiCad 9 and on macOS against KiCad 10, plus a KiCad-free matrix across Python 3.10 through 3.13.

Finding your KiCad install

kicad-cli is looked up on PATH, then inside /Applications/KiCad/KiCad.app on macOS, then in the standard Windows install folders, machine-wide under Program Files and per-user under AppData, newest version first. Neither installer adds it to PATH. Everything else in the KiCad tree is located relative to it, the same way KiCad itself does it, so a stock install on any platform needs no configuration: the stock symbol libraries and the bundled Python that provides pcbnew are both found automatically.

Override any of it if your install is unusual:

Variable	Overrides
`KICAD_CLI_PATH`	the `kicad-cli` executable, and everything derived from its location
`KICAD_SYMBOL_DIR`	the directory holding the stock `.kicad_sym` libraries
`KICAD_PYTHON`	the interpreter used for `pcbnew` (`fill_zones`, `autoroute_pcb`)

CLI-backed tools are always registered. Without kicad-cli they fail with a message naming KICAD_CLI_PATH, rather than vanishing from the tool list.

KiCad 10 files

File	What works today
`.kicad_sch`	Everything, read and write: the whole schematic server and the whole project server
`.kicad_pcb`	Everything, read and write
`.kicad_sym`, `.kicad_mod`	Everything: your own libraries as well as the stock ones

Every tool parses and edits through the byte-preserving substrate, so none of them refuses a file on its format version and none of them rewrites bytes you did not ask to change. One caveat, and it is not about the file format: autoroute_pcb hands the board to pcbnew for the DSN export and the SES import, so it additionally needs a pcbnew whose era matches the board. It checks that before it starts. A KiCad 10 board on a KiCad 9 pcbnew is refused with a message naming both versions, rather than failing somewhere inside the export; install KiCad 10 or point KICAD_PYTHON at one. The other direction runs, and the result carries a warning: a KiCad 9 board routed through a KiCad 10 pcbnew comes back as a routed copy in the KiCad 10 format, because that is what pcbnew saves. Your original board is untouched either way. The design behind the substrate is written up in docs/adr-cst-substrate.md.

Windows: Controlled Folder Access

Windows Defender's ransomware protection, Controlled Folder Access, guards your Documents folder and blocks writes from applications it does not recognise. KiCad keeps its own data there, a 3D cache and templates under Documents\KiCad, so a blocked write kills kicad-cli at startup with an access violation (exit 3221225477) before it does any work. Every invocation fails, --version included.

The block surfaces as error 2: The system cannot find the file specified, which is why this reads like a missing folder rather than a permission problem. Measured on a machine with the feature on: the folder is plainly there and a write into it still fails with FileNotFoundError.

kicad-cli is handled for you. On that crash the server retries once with KiCad's own KICAD_DOCUMENTS_HOME pointed at a local folder outside the protected set, then reuses it for the session. Nothing to configure, and a machine without the block never sees any of it. Setting KICAD_DOCUMENTS_HOME yourself picks the folder and disables the retry, on the grounds that a directory you chose is yours to fix.

Your project files are a separate matter. The same block applies to any write, so if your KiCad project lives under Documents, the write tools can fail the same confusing way, and the server cannot repair that: it is the location you asked it to edit. Either keep projects outside the protected folders, or allow the tools through at Windows Security, Virus & threat protection, Ransomware protection, Allow an app through Controlled folder access.

Tool reference

Read

Tool	Description
`get_schematic_summary`	Get item counts for a schematic sheet
`list_schematic_components`	List all components (symbols) on a sheet
`list_schematic_labels`	List all net labels on a sheet
`list_schematic_wires`	List all wires on a sheet
`list_schematic_global_labels`	List all global labels on a sheet
`list_schematic_hierarchical_labels`	List all hierarchical labels on a sheet
`list_schematic_sheets`	List all hierarchical sheet blocks on a sheet
`list_schematic_junctions`	List all junctions on a sheet
`list_schematic_no_connects`	List all no-connect flags on a sheet
`list_schematic_bus_entries`	List all bus entries on a sheet
`get_symbol_pins`	Get pin info for a symbol in the schematic's `lib_symbols`
`get_pin_positions`	Get absolute pin positions for a placed component, accounting for rotation and mirror
`get_net_connections`	Get all connections for a named net (multi-hop BFS wire tracing)
`list_unconnected_pins`	List unconnected pins from ERC data

Write

Tool	Description
`place_component`	Place a component in the schematic
`remove_component`	Remove a component by reference designator
`move_component`	Move a placed component to a new position
`set_component_property`	Set any property (Value, Reference, Footprint, ...) on a placed component
`add_lib_symbol`	Load a symbol definition from a `.kicad_sym` library into the schematic
`add_wires`	Add one or more wires between points, auto-creating junctions on T-connections
`remove_wire`	Remove a wire segment
`add_junctions`	Add one or more junction dots
`remove_junction`	Remove a junction dot
`add_label`	Add a net label at a position
`remove_label`	Remove a net label or global label
`add_global_label`	Add a global net label visible across all sheets
`add_hierarchical_label`	Add a hierarchical label for sheet-to-sheet connections
`remove_hierarchical_label`	Remove a hierarchical label by name or UUID
`modify_hierarchical_label`	Modify text, shape, or position of a hierarchical label
`add_power_symbol`	Place a power symbol (VCC, GND, +3V3, ...) with auto PWR_FLAG
`add_text`	Add a text annotation to the schematic
`remove_text`	Remove text annotation(s) by content, optionally filtered by position
`wire_pins_to_net`	Wire one or more pins to a named net
`connect_pins`	Wire two component pins together
`auto_place_decoupling_cap`	Automatically place a decoupling capacitor near an IC
`no_connect_pin`	Place a no-connect flag on an unused pin (idempotent)
`remove_no_connect`	Remove no-connect flag(s) from a pin
`set_page_size`	Set the schematic page size

Analysis and export

Tool	Description
`run_erc`	Run Electrical Rules Check, with `project_path` support for hierarchies
`export_schematic`	Export schematic to PDF, SVG, or DXF
`export_netlist`	Export the schematic netlist
`export_bom`	Export a Bill of Materials as CSV

Read

Tool	Description
`list_pcb_footprints`	List all footprints on the board
`list_pcb_traces`	List all traces on the board
`list_pcb_nets`	List all nets on the board
`list_pcb_zones`	List all zones on the board
`list_pcb_layers`	List all layers on the board
`list_pcb_graphic_items`	List all graphic items on the board
`get_board_info`	Board summary: footprint count, trace count, net count, thickness
`get_footprint_pads`	Get pad info for a placed footprint
`get_footprint_bounds`	Get the board-coordinate bounding box of a placed footprint

Write

Tool	Description
`place_footprint`	Place a footprint on the board
`move_footprint`	Move a footprint to a new position
`remove_footprint`	Remove a footprint by reference designator
`add_trace`	Add a trace segment between two points
`remove_traces`	Remove trace segments matching filters
`set_trace_width`	Change the width of existing traces
`remove_dangling_tracks`	Detect and remove trace segments with unconnected endpoints
`add_via`	Add a via at a position
`add_thermal_vias`	Add a grid of thermal vias under a footprint pad
`add_pcb_text`	Add text to the board (silkscreen, fab layer, ...)
`add_pcb_line`	Add a graphic line (edge cuts, silkscreen, ...)
`add_copper_zone`	Create an unfilled copper zone
`add_keepout_zone`	Create a keep-out zone restricting tracks, vias, pads, pours, or footprints
`fill_zones`	Fill all copper zones on the board
`set_net_class`	Create or update a net class with design rules
`update_pcb_from_schematic`	Import or sync the schematic netlist onto the board (footprints and pad nets)

Analysis and export

Tool	Description
`run_drc`	Run Design Rules Check on the board
`check_placement`	Check whether a proposed footprint position hits a keep-out zone or the board edge
`validate_board`	Check every placed footprint against keep-out zones and the board edge
`autoroute_pcb`	Autoroute traces using the Freerouting autorouter
`export_pcb`	Export board layers to PDF, SVG, or DXF
`export_gerbers`	Export Gerber files, all layers or a specific list
`export_3d`	Export a 3D model (STEP/STL/GLB) or render the 3D view to PNG
`export_positions`	Export a component position file for pick and place
`export_ipc2581`	Export in IPC-2581 format for manufacturing data exchange

Scaffolding

Tool	Description
`create_project`	Create a KiCad 9 project (`.kicad_pro`, `.kicad_prl`, `.kicad_sch`)
`create_schematic`	Create a blank schematic file
`create_symbol_library`	Create a blank symbol library file
`create_sym_lib_table`	Create a `sym-lib-table` file

Sheet management

Tool	Description
`add_hierarchical_sheet`	Add a hierarchical sheet with matching labels in the child
`remove_hierarchical_sheet`	Remove a hierarchical sheet block from a parent
`modify_hierarchical_sheet`	Modify sheet name, file, width, or height
`move_hierarchical_sheet`	Move a sheet block to a new position, pins included
`add_sheet_pin`	Add a pin to an existing hierarchical sheet block
`remove_sheet_pin`	Remove a pin from a hierarchical sheet block
`duplicate_sheet`	Duplicate a sheet, copying the child file with new UUIDs
`reorder_sheet_pages`	Reorder sheets by specifying the desired UUID order

Hierarchy inspection

Tool	Description
`is_root_schematic`	Check whether a schematic is the root or a sub-sheet
`list_hierarchy`	List the full sheet hierarchy tree from root
`get_sheet_info`	Get sheet details with pin and label matching status
`validate_hierarchy`	Check for orphaned labels and pins, direction mismatches, duplicate refs

Cross-sheet analysis

Tool	Description
`trace_hierarchical_net`	Trace a net across the hierarchy through pins and labels
`list_cross_sheet_nets`	List all nets crossing sheet boundaries
`get_symbol_instances`	List symbol instances from the root schematic

Annotation, export, utilities

Tool	Description
`annotate_schematic`	Auto-assign reference designators, respecting hierarchy
`export_hierarchical_netlist`	Export a netlist with hierarchy info (requires `kicad-cli`)
`flatten_hierarchy`	Flatten a hierarchical schematic into a single sheet
`run_jobset`	Run a KiCad jobset file
`get_version`	Get KiCad version information

Symbol

Tool	Description
`list_lib_symbols`	List all symbols in a `.kicad_sym` library
`get_symbol_info`	Get detailed pin and property info for a library symbol
`add_symbol`	Add a new symbol to a `.kicad_sym` library
`export_symbol_svg`	Export a symbol library to SVG images
`upgrade_symbol_lib`	Upgrade a symbol library to the current KiCad format

Footprint

Tool	Description
`list_lib_footprints`	List all footprints in a `.pretty` library directory
`get_footprint_info`	Get pad and outline details for a `.kicad_mod` file
`export_footprint_svg`	Export a footprint to SVG
`upgrade_footprint_lib`	Upgrade a footprint library to the current KiCad format

Debugging

Drive the servers by hand with the MCP Inspector:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uvx --from mcp-server-kicad mcp-server-kicad

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, and docs/adr-cst-substrate.md for the architecture decisions behind the byte-preserving write path.

License

MIT

Install Server

license - permissive license

quality

maintenance

How are these scores calculated?

Maintenance

–Maintainers

16hResponse time

2dRelease cycle

64Releases (12mo)

Commit activity

Resources

GitHub Repository

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mcp-server-kicad

What it looks like

Quick start

Claude Code

Claude Desktop

Everything else

What you get

Five tool servers

Six design skills (Claude Code plugin)

Configuration

Split servers

How paths resolve

Requirements

Finding your KiCad install

KiCad 10 files

Windows: Controlled Folder Access

Tool reference

Debugging

Contributing

License

Maintenance

Resources

Tools

Related MCP Servers

KiCad MCP Server

kicad-mcp-pro

kicad-mcp

kicad-mcp

Related MCP Connectors

Latest Blog Posts

MCP directory API