circuit-weaver 0.28.0

Programmatic circuit design, validation, and KiCad artifact generation

Programmatic KiCad schematic generation, strict validation, and manufacturing export
designed for AI-assisted hardware workflows — Claude Code, Codex, and offline CLI.

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How It Works

Every path through Circuit Weaver follows the same contract: describe the design → validate → generate KiCad artifacts. The diagram above shows what each module does and which function it calls. Pick your entry point (Claude Code skill, Codex agent, or CLI wizard) and the rest is automatic.

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Quick Start

Step 1 — Install

pip install circuit-weaver

Step 2 — Register the skill (one-time, for Claude Code / Codex / OpenCode)

circuit-weaver install-skills            # safe: skips existing skills, reports what would overwrite
circuit-weaver install-skills --dry-run  # preview without touching disk
circuit-weaver install-skills --force --backup   # overwrite existing skills, keep timestamped .bak files

Note: install-skills will not overwrite an existing SKILL.md that differs from the bundled version — it prints a warning and leaves your customizations intact. Pass --force (and optionally --backup) only after reviewing the reported collisions.

Step 3 — Launch

# In Claude Code or Codex — type the skill name:
/circuit-weaver

# Or run offline without any agent:
circuit-weaver design-wizard

That's it. The skill walks you through IC selection, passive generation, and manufacturing export. No YAML hand-editing required.

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Research Traceability

Agentic research runs are expected to persist their output into output/research/. That directory is the source of truth for why an IC was chosen, which citations backed it, and which backend produced the result.

For Codex / Claude / OpenCode workflows, Step 2 IC research should stay in the current agent session. If a premium-research command would delegate to a subagent or fails with a model/tool conflict, use the platform's native web tools instead and persist the backend that actually ran.

# Check which backend and depth are active before research starts
circuit-weaver doctor

# Optional: force backend/depth selection for agent workflows
export CIRCUIT_WEAVER_RESEARCH_BACKEND=standard   # or sonar-pro / auto
export CIRCUIT_WEAVER_RESEARCH_DEPTH=fast         # or normal
# PowerShell: $env:CIRCUIT_WEAVER_RESEARCH_BACKEND="standard"
# PowerShell: $env:CIRCUIT_WEAVER_RESEARCH_DEPTH="fast"

# Persist a completed research result
circuit-weaver save-research --project-dir ./output --file research.json

Each saved run produces {slug}.json, {slug}.md, and summary.md, and the matching design.log entry records the canonical JSON path for later audit.

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What You Get

Every generate run produces a complete artifact bundle:

Artifact	File	Description
KiCad schematic	{project}.kicad_sch	Real, loadable .kicad_sch — not a placeholder
HTML review report	{project}_review.html	Validation results, component rationale, DFM score, BOM
Test point map	{project}_test_points.csv	Auto-detected power, clock, bus, and differential-pair nets
JLCPCB BOM + CPL	bom.csv, cpl.csv	Upload-ready assembly files
Firmware stubs	{project}_pinout.csv, .ioc, sdkconfig	MCU pin map + STM32/ESP32 co-design files
Enclosure model	enclosure.scad	Parametric OpenSCAD model sized to the PCB
Placement SVG	placement.svg	Editable SVG of component placements — import back after editing in Inkscape
PCB file	design.kicad_pcb	Initial PCB with zone-based component placement

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PCB Placement Workflow

Circuit Weaver has a complete placement pipeline — from automatic initial placement through optimization, interactive review, and write-back to KiCad.

1 — Generate initial placement

generate produces an initial .kicad_pcb with topology-aware placement (power zone, digital zone, RF zone, connector zone, passive banks) and exports a placement.svg for editing:

circuit-weaver generate design.yaml -o ./output
# → output/design.kicad_pcb   (zone-based initial placement)
# → output/placement.svg       (editable placement diagram)

2 — Optimize with simulated annealing

# Basic optimization (5 000 iterations, reproducible with seed)
circuit-weaver optimize-placement design.yaml --iterations 5000 --seed 42

# Thermal-aware strategy (minimizes hotspot proximity)
circuit-weaver optimize-placement design.yaml --strategy thermal --iterations 10000

# Read component thermal/SI specs from YAML files
circuit-weaver optimize-placement design.yaml --specs-dir ./specs/

The optimizer minimizes: overlap, boundary violations, thermal clustering, and DFM zone penalties via simulated annealing. Returns a placement JSON with x/y/rotation/layer per component.

3 — Review in the interactive viewer

circuit-weaver placement-viewer design.yaml -o output/viewer.html

Opens a self-contained HTML file with:

• Click-to-highlight nets
• Component hover tooltips (value, footprint, MPN)
• Thermal heatmap overlay (blue → red gradient by power dissipation)
• CSV export button for placement data

4 — Edit in Inkscape → import back

# Export editable SVG
circuit-weaver generate design.yaml --svg-placement -o ./output
# → output/placement.svg

# Edit in Inkscape (drag components, adjust positions)…

# Import edits back to .kicad_pcb and CPL
circuit-weaver import-placement output/placement.svg \
    output/design.kicad_pcb \
    output/design_updated.kicad_pcb \
    --output-cpl output/cpl_updated.csv

5 — Write directly via KiCad API

If KiCad 6+ is installed, write placements directly without SVG round-trip:

from circuit_weaver import check_kicad_available, update_board_placements

if check_kicad_available():
    update_board_placements("design.kicad_pcb", placements)

6 — DFM check and panelization

# Check clearances, pad sizes, and DFM rules
circuit-weaver check-dfm design.yaml

# Get panel layout suggestions for small boards
circuit-weaver panelize design.yaml

# Export dual-sided CPL (top + bottom)
circuit-weaver export-dual-cpl design.yaml -o ./jlcpcb

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CLI Reference

# ── Design lifecycle ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
circuit-weaver validate design.yaml               # Validate spec (no files written)
circuit-weaver generate design.yaml -o ./output  # Full artifact bundle
circuit-weaver erc output/design.kicad_sch        # KiCad built-in ERC
circuit-weaver diff old.yaml new.yaml             # Semantic diff + optional SVG

# ── Placement ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
circuit-weaver optimize-placement design.yaml --iterations 5000 --seed 42
circuit-weaver placement-viewer design.yaml -o output/viewer.html
circuit-weaver import-placement placement.svg board.kicad_pcb out.kicad_pcb
circuit-weaver check-dfm design.yaml
circuit-weaver panelize design.yaml
circuit-weaver export-dual-cpl design.yaml -o ./jlcpcb

# ── Simulation & confidence ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
circuit-weaver simulate design.yaml -o ./sims      # Run SPICE simulations (ngspice)
circuit-weaver confidence design.yaml --run-sims   # Full design readiness score (0-100)
circuit-weaver confidence design.yaml -o report.html --pcb board.kicad_pcb

# ── BOM and manufacturing ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
circuit-weaver cost-bom design.yaml --qty 1,10,100
circuit-weaver export-jlcpcb design.yaml -o ./jlcpcb
circuit-weaver export-gerbers design.yaml -o ./gerbers

# ── Project management ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
circuit-weaver discover                             # Auto-detect projects in CWD
circuit-weaver discover --json --depth 2            # JSON output, search 2 levels deep
circuit-weaver save-research --project-dir ./output --file research.json
circuit-weaver log-event ./project --type scoring --message "Review done"
circuit-weaver doctor                               # Check credentials, backends, and tool availability

# ── Design tools ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
circuit-weaver scaffold --template buck --ref U1   # New spec from template
circuit-weaver list-templates --verbose             # Browse 37 subcircuit templates
circuit-weaver design-enclosure --board-width 50 --board-height 40 -o enclosure.scad
circuit-weaver harvest-specs design.yaml           # Download datasheets + extract specs
circuit-weaver fetch-spice design.yaml             # Fetch SPICE models (TI, ADI, Microchip…)

Run circuit-weaver --help or circuit-weaver <subcommand> --help for full flag reference.

---

Python API

from circuit_weaver.dispatcher import (
    validate_design,
    apply_design_patch,
    generate_artifacts,
    diff_designs,
    ingest_pcb_feedback,
)

# Validate a canonical design spec
report = validate_design(spec)

# Apply a transactional patch and re-validate
result = apply_design_patch(spec, patch)

# Generate the full KiCad artifact bundle
bundle = generate_artifacts(spec, output_dir="out/design")

# Semantic diff between two specs
changes = diff_designs(old_spec, new_spec)

# Feed PCB layout feedback back into the design spec
updated = ingest_pcb_feedback(spec, pcb_feedback)

Validation groups

validate_design runs five grouped checks and returns a structured ValidationReport:

Group	What it checks
structural	Topology, block connections, hierarchy integrity
electrical	Power rails, ground nets, net continuity
implementation	Part bindings, footprint assignments, pinout verification
placement_readiness	Hard-gated — dangling buses, missing I2C pull-ups, orphan interfaces, floating enables; never bypassable by --no-require-valid
presentation	Labels, pin numbers, sheet readability

HTTP API

uvicorn circuit_weaver.api:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 5000

Endpoint	Method	Description
/health	GET	Service health
/templates	GET	Available subcircuit templates
/generate	POST	YAML spec → ZIP of .kicad_sch + report
/validate	POST	YAML spec → validation JSON
/mvp/apply-patch	POST	Transactional patch + re-validation
/mvp/diff	POST	Semantic diff between two specs
/mvp/pcb-feedback	POST	Merge PCB layout feedback into spec

---

What's New in v0.28.0 (unreleased)

Sprint	Feature
41	Every hardcoded *_IC_DATABASE dict drained into ic_data/*.json — 84 IC entries across 37 subcircuit templates now live in JSON. New subcircuits.base.LegacyDBProxy provides a dict-like shim over merge_into_legacy_db({}, topology) so existing template code keeps working. register_ic() entries are visible to every template immediately — no more "I registered RP2040, why doesn't the usb_controller template see it?"
41	SymbolResolver caches negative resolutions per process — a design with N identical unresolvable parts (the toy-phone 12-button matrix case) now triggers 1 tier-chain walk, not N. SymbolResolver.clear_unresolved_cache() exposed for long-running callers
41	Placement preview PCB uses KiCad 10 fixed layer ids — *_placement.kicad_pcb opens cleanly again after KiCad 10 started rejecting ECO1.User / ECO2.User as "not fixed layer hash"
41	74-test every-template smoke regression net — iterates every template in the default registry, asserts generate() returns a valid ComponentDef with pins. Covers the 28+ templates the 9-archetype corpus doesn't exercise
41	Circuit Validity Generational Requirements — new placement_readiness validation category promotes placement-blocking checks (dangling buses, missing I2C pull-ups, floating enables, orphan interfaces, unverified-stub ICs) into a hard category that generate_artifacts always blocks on. generational_repair.py auto-synthesizes missing PULLUPS_ONLY blocks; opt out via auto_repair: false in the spec

v0.27.0

Sprint	Feature
40	Cache-rebuilt components no longer ship as silent 2-pin stubs — SymbolResolver._rebuild_from_cache now marks cache hits without real pin topology as pinout_source="stub", so the existing pinout-source validator gate catches any multi-pin IC (sensor, MCU, H-bridge, gate driver, regulator) that would otherwise emit as a passive. The EasyEDA tier now persists full pin + power + bypass / strap topology via symbol_cache.component_def_to_cache_payload() so round-tripping a part through the cache preserves everything
40	Schematic emission invariant — primitives.assemble_sheet now dedupes structural duplicates before writing (symbol instances, wires, global / hierarchical labels, no-connects, junctions, UUIDs). Catches the placer / topology-dispatcher double-emission class of bug that was causing stacked passives, duplicate wires, and shared-UUID power symbols
40	Placement PCB preview never fabricates footprints or synthetic pads — the generator field now reads placement_preview so reviewers can tell the file apart from fab-ready output; missing footprint bindings emit Placement_Preview:Missing_<ref> placeholders instead of the old SOIC-8 fallback; and no synthetic pads are emitted for any component. KiCad's schematic → PCB forward annotation is the authoritative source of pads
40	generate enforcement is now deterministic across runs — structural + implementation category errors always raise, regardless of require_valid. --no-require-valid now only bypasses soft electrical warnings (dangling dev signals, crystal load-cap tolerance) and the bypass is logged at WARNING level. Two runs on the same spec + cache state always reach the same verdict
40	Report-fidelity diagnostic — report.verify_report_fidelity(report_text, components) flags references to component refs, net names, or annotations that don't exist in the resolved design. Catches the ghost-feature pattern where a report claimed "BME688 I2C + pull-ups" or "LED + current-limit R4" without any backing wires
40	Five-archetype generation regression corpus — tests/test_generation_corpus.py runs generate_artifacts end-to-end on LED driver, IoT sensor, motor controller, USB bridge, and FPGA power carrier samples, enforcing all three Sprint 40 invariants. Breadth-guard test keeps the corpus at ≥ 5 archetypes
39	Step 2 IC research stays in the current agent session across Codex / Claude / OpenCode instead of delegating to a spawned /research / research-analyst path that could trigger model conflicts; workflow docs and skill prompts now describe the real behavior
39	Research-depth latency selector — design-wizard --research-depth {fast,normal} persists into spec metadata; doctor reports the effective depth; Circuit Weaver skill uses a smaller query budget in fast mode

v0.26.1

Sprint	Feature
38	Research workflow is now reproducible end-to-end — design-wizard --research-backend persists the effective backend into spec metadata, save-research records the canonical JSON artifact path in design.log, and the workflow docs now tell agents to treat output/research/ as the source of truth
38	Resolver credential diagnostics now match real runtime behavior — DigiKey checks both DIGIKEY_CLIENT_ID and DIGIKEY_CLIENT_SECRET, Mouser honors MOUSER_SEARCH_API_KEY through the shared credential loader, and circuit-weaver doctor now reports both credential states directly
37	Research persistence + backend selection shipped in the CLI — circuit-weaver save-research, CIRCUIT_WEAVER_RESEARCH_BACKEND, and circuit-weaver doctor backend reporting are now available in the published package

v0.25.0

Sprint	Feature
35	install-skills collision protection — will no longer silently overwrite a curated SKILL.md whose content differs from the bundled source. New --force, --backup, --dry-run flags; skipped entries are reported via skills_skipped so you can review before acting
35	All 11 skills now bundled in the wheel — previously only a stale circuit-weaver/SKILL.md (410 of 651 lines) shipped to PyPI; install-skills from a fresh pip install was missing bom, kicad, digikey, lcsc, mouser, jlcpcb, pcbway, ee, design_wizard, vivado. Kept in sync by scripts/sync_bundled_skills.py with CI + pre-commit drift guards
35	Windows CI leg — windows-latest / Python 3.12 smoke run (non-blocking first sprint) covering CLI commands, doctor, skill installer, and python -m circuit_weaver --version

v0.24.0

Sprint	Feature
34	Data-Driven Template Engine — IC data now lives in JSON files under src/circuit_weaver/ic_data/ (11 categories). New topology_builders.py produces schematic fragments dynamically, replacing hardcoded template classes
34	7 New Subcircuit Templates — RTC (DS3231, PCF8563), EEPROM (24LCxx, 25LCxx), wireless modules (nRF52, ESP32, LoRa), USB-C connectors, SPI bus conditioning, voltage references (REF5025, LM4040), generic connectors — total template count now 37
34	IC Registration CLI — scripts/extract_ic_data.py harvests IC entries from datasheet research; register_ic() API persists to custom.json
33	Platform Compatibility — full Claude Code / Codex / OpenCode support across all skills, updated shim files, skill trigger disambiguation
32	CLI Integration Tests — 24 end-to-end CLI tests; informational output moved to stderr
31	Bug Fixes & Hardening — thread-safe logging bridge, correct zero-check scoring, connector MPN validation, SPICE value parser edge cases

v0.22.0

Sprint	Feature
30	Confidence Dashboard — circuit-weaver confidence aggregates 7 data sources into a 0-100 readiness score with HTML report; now a mandatory step in the wizard flow
30	Workflow Overhaul — wizard now 9 steps: added auto-detection, confidence check, and PCB layout preparation (placement optimizer, SVG editor, autoroute, DFM check)
29	Enhanced Validations — 3 new checks (power budget, thermal limits, signal integrity); cross-reference auditor validates spec-vs-schematic-vs-BOM consistency
28	Circuit Simulation Engine — SPICE netlist generation, ngspice runner with graceful degradation, simulation orchestrator with auto-planning and confidence scoring
27	Project Discovery — circuit-weaver discover auto-detects projects in CWD; all skills now pre-check before asking for paths
26	Logging Overhaul — 13 structured event types in design.log, Python logging bridge, log-event CLI for skill-callable logging, 7 modules instrumented

v0.21.0

Sprint	Feature
25	Component Selection Rationale — HTML review report now includes a per-IC table showing why each part was chosen, key electrical specs, and any reference design cited
25	Auto Test Point Generation — generate_artifacts() emits {project}_test_points.csv and annotates the schematic with TP labels; detects power, ground, clock, bus, and differential-pair nets
24	Firmware Co-Design Export — Auto-generates {project}_pinout.csv, STM32 .ioc skeleton, and ESP32 sdkconfig.defaults when MCU blocks are present
23	KiCad CLI ERC Integration — circuit-weaver erc runs KiCad's built-in ERC and surfaces results in the HTML report with a pass/fail badge
22	Pinout Verification Gate — ICs using unverified stub pinouts now fail validation before any schematic is emitted

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Repo Layout

kicad_automations/
├── src/circuit_weaver/      # Core engine
│   ├── dispatcher.py           # Public API: validate, patch, generate, diff, pcb-feedback
│   ├── design_ir.py            # Canonical design intermediate representation (DesignIR)
│   ├── generator.py            # .kicad_sch file emitter
│   ├── validator.py            # 14-check validation pipeline (electrical + thermal + SI)
│   ├── cross_reference_validator.py  # Spec vs schematic vs BOM audit
│   ├── confidence_dashboard.py # Design readiness scoring (0–100) + HTML dashboard
│   ├── simulation.py           # Simulation orchestrator (plan → run → score)
│   ├── spice_netlist.py        # SPICE .cir netlist generator
│   ├── spice_runner.py         # ngspice subprocess runner with graceful degradation
│   ├── symbol_resolver.py      # IC symbol resolution chain (EasyEDA → cache → stub)
│   ├── symbol_cache.py         # Persistent symbol cache with full pin/power map schema
│   ├── research.py             # Research query orchestration (Perplexity / native web)
│   ├── research_store.py       # Research artifact persistence (JSON + summary.md)
│   ├── doctor.py               # Credential + backend diagnostics (circuit-weaver doctor)
│   ├── logging_bridge.py       # Unified logging: Python logging ↔ DesignLogger bridge
│   ├── design_logger.py        # Structured JSON Lines workflow logging (13 event types)
│   ├── project_discovery.py    # Auto-detect circuit projects in directories
│   ├── review_report.py        # HTML review report generator
│   ├── test_point_gen.py       # Auto test-point classification and CSV export
│   ├── firmware_export.py      # MCU co-design stubs (pinout CSV, .ioc, sdkconfig)
│   ├── placer.py               # Topology-aware schematic placement engine
│   ├── placement_optimizer.py  # Simulated annealing PCB placement optimizer
│   ├── placement_viewer.py     # Interactive HTML viewer (net highlight, thermal heatmap)
│   ├── svg_placement.py        # Bidirectional SVG placement editor (export + import)
│   ├── pcb_export.py           # Initial .kicad_pcb generation with zone-based layout
│   ├── design_scorer.py        # Electrical quality score (0–100, A–F)
│   ├── dfm_checker.py          # DFM rule checks
│   ├── thermal_analysis.py     # Thermal modeling and junction temp analysis
│   ├── si_constraints.py       # Signal integrity constraint solver
│   ├── api.py                  # FastAPI HTTP server
│   ├── helpers/placement.py    # KiCad API abstraction, footprint matching utilities
│   └── subcircuits/            # Reusable circuit template library (37 templates)
├── tests/                   # Regression test suite (450+ tests)
├── skills/                  # Global workflow skills: kicad, bom, digikey, lcsc, ee…
├── project-skills/          # Per-project templates: kicad_gen, autoroute, sim…
├── agents/                  # Hardware reviewer AI agent definitions
├── rules/                   # KiCad workflow policy files
├── samples/                 # Sample designs (iot_sensor_node, zigbee_humidistat…)
└── assets/                  # README visuals: banner, workflow diagram

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Agent Platform Support

Platform	What's included
Claude Code	/circuit-weaver global skill via install-skills
Codex	AGENTS.md guidance + global ~/.codex/skills install
OpenCode / Kilo	opencode.json, .opencode/agents/, .agents/skills/ shims

Install for all platforms at once:

# Bash (Mac/Linux/WSL)
./install.sh --platform all

# PowerShell (Windows)
./install.ps1 -Platform all

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Sample Design

Try the full workflow on a built-in sample:

# Validate
circuit-weaver validate samples/iot_sensor_node/iot_sensor_node.yaml

# Generate schematic + report + test points + firmware stubs
circuit-weaver generate samples/iot_sensor_node/iot_sensor_node.yaml -o ./output

# Export JLCPCB BOM + CPL
circuit-weaver export-jlcpcb samples/iot_sensor_node/iot_sensor_node.yaml -o ./output/jlcpcb

---

Contributing

# Install with dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Install pre-commit hooks
pre-commit install

# Lint
python -m ruff check src tests

# Test
python -m pytest tests -q

Pre-commit hooks run ruff, YAML validation, and circuit-weaver validate --strict on changed design specs automatically.

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License

MIT. See LICENSE.