fabgate 0.1.6

Pre-fabrication quality gate for KiCad PCB projects — design checks, schematic-layout parity, fab readiness, and HTML/JSON reports. CI/CD for hardware release.

FabGate

Pre-fabrication quality gate for KiCad PCB projects.

FabGate runs design checks, detects schematic–layout issues, evaluates fabrication readiness, and generates clear HTML/JSON reports before you send your board to manufacturing. Think of it as CI/CD for hardware design release.

Evaluate, optimize, and gate — three commands in one CLI:

1. Evaluate — DRC, schematic parity, emcopilot physics → scored report + checklist
2. Optimize — prioritized fix plan; safe auto-fixes on blank/simple boards
3. Gate — CI pass/hold/fail before you order prototypes

Autonomous layout is optional assist only — not the product focus.

pip install fabgate
fabgate evaluate "C:\path\to\your-kicad-project"

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Why not just run KiCad DRC?

KiCad DRC finds clearance and shorting errors — but it does not:

• Gate release with a scored pass / hold / fail verdict
• Flag schematic vs layout mismatches (parts on PCB missing from schematic, and vice versa)
• Run EMC / power / signal-integrity physics review
• Produce a shareable HTML report + fix checklist with KiCad jump coordinates
• Plug into CI with standard exit codes

FabGate bundles that into one pre-fab gate.

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What you get

Core (works out of the box)

Feature	What it does
KiCad DRC	Clearance, shorts, edge violations, silkscreen — via kicad-cli
Schematic parity	Catches layout/schematic mismatches before they become rework
Scored verdict	0–100 score, pass / hold / fail — cosmetic noise capped so one silk warning won't zero your score
HTML + JSON reports	Audit trail you can share with your team or client
Fix checklist	Prioritized actions with KiCad jump coords — press Ctrl+F and go

Deep review (optional)

Feature	What it does
Physics review	EMC, power integrity, signal integrity via emcopilot
Power trace checks	IPC-based width recommendations for high-current nets

Install emcopilot separately:

pip install git+https://github.com/RFingAdam/mcp-pcb-emcopilot.git

Automation & CI

Feature	What it does
CI gate	fabgate gate → exit 0 (pass), 1 (hold), 2 (fail) for GitHub Actions / Jenkins
Safe auto-fixes	Board outline, thickness, GND/power zones, power trace widening
Rollback guardrail	Auto-fixes are undone if blocking issue count goes up
Design scaffold	Create blank KiCad projects from a YAML spec
Full workflow	Design → evaluate → optimize in one pipeline

No LLM calls. Deterministic KiCad rules and physics-based analyzers only.

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Quick start

See QUICKSTART.md for a 5-minute walkthrough.

fabgate doctor
fabgate evaluate "C:\path\to\your-kicad-project"
fabgate open "C:\path\to\your-kicad-project"

Reports are written to reports/:

• *-review.html — full report (open in browser)
• *-evaluation.json — machine-readable results
• *-optimization-checklist.md — what to fix first

Example output

FAIL  Score 72/100
Findings: 48 (blocking 3, warnings 12)

Fix first:
  - Board edge clearance violation @ 89.28, 28.24 mm
  - J101 in schematic but missing from layout
  - +3V3 power trace too narrow @ 126.0, 63.9 mm

Projected score if blocking fixed: 91/100
Checklist: reports\my-board-optimization-checklist.md

CI example

fabgate gate "C:\path\to\your-kicad-project"
# exit 0 = pass (OK to fab)
# exit 1 = hold (human review)
# exit 2 = fail (blocking issues)

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Commands

Command	Purpose
fabgate doctor	Check KiCad CLI + optional emcopilot
fabgate evaluate	Full evaluation + HTML report + checklist
fabgate review	Basic review
fabgate gate	CI exit code for release pipelines
fabgate optimize run	Optimization plan + optional safe auto-fixes
fabgate auto run	Auto-fix loop with rollback guardrail
fabgate design create	Scaffold new KiCad project from spec
fabgate workflow	Design → evaluate → optimize
fabgate open	Open project in KiCad GUI

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Who it's for

• Hardware teams — run a pre-fab gate before every prototype order
• Freelance PCB designers — deliver scored, auditable releases to clients
• Startups — add a KiCad release check to CI without manual DRC hunting

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Development install

git clone <repo-url>
cd fabgate
python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
pip install -e ".[dev,emcopilot]"
fabgate doctor

License

MIT