kicad-mcp-server 3.5.0

MCP server for AI-assisted PCB design with KiCad

KiCad MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for KiCad 9.x, enabling AI-assisted PCB design through Claude Code or other MCP clients.

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✨ What's New in v3.5.0

• 🏗️ Modular Architecture - Refactored from 987-line monolithic script to clean package structure
• 🔒 Security Hardening - Path validation, injection prevention, restricted file access
• ⚙️ Environment Configuration - All settings configurable via environment variables
• 🧹 Task Cleanup - New cleanup_tasks tool for managing old async tasks
• ✅ Unit Tests - 55 comprehensive tests covering core functionality
• 📝 Type Annotations - Full type hints throughout codebase
• 📊 Proper Logging - Structured logging framework replacing stderr prints

Features

• DRC/ERC Check - Design Rule Check and Electrical Rule Check
• Zone Fill - Automatic copper zone filling
• Auto-routing - FreeRouting integration with async support (bypass 10-min timeout)
• 3D Rendering - Native KiCad 9 3D render (top/bottom/iso views)
• Export - Gerber, Drill, BOM, Netlist, PDF, SVG, STEP
• JLCPCB Package - Complete manufacturing files for JLCPCB/PCBWay

Architecture

Local Machine                    VPS (KiCad 9.x)
┌─────────────────┐              ┌─────────────────────┐
│  Claude Code    │     MCP      │  MCP Server v3.5.0  │
│  or MCP Clients │◄────SSH─────►│  kicad-cli + pcbnew │
└─────────────────┘              │  + FreeRouting      │
                                 └─────────────────────┘

Requirements

VPS

• Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 12+
• KiCad 9.0.6+
• Python 3.10+
• Java 17+ (for FreeRouting)
• xvfb (for headless rendering)

Local

• Claude Code with MCP support
• SSH access to VPS

Quick Install

On VPS

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/bunnyf/pcb-mcp.git
cd pcb-mcp

# Run install script
chmod +x scripts/install.sh
./scripts/install.sh

Or manual install:

# Install KiCad 9
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kicad/kicad-9.0-releases -y
sudo apt update
sudo apt install kicad xvfb -y

# Install FreeRouting
sudo apt install openjdk-17-jre -y
sudo wget -q https://github.com/freerouting/freerouting/releases/download/v1.9.0/freerouting-1.9.0.jar -O /opt/freerouting.jar

# Setup MCP Server
mkdir -p /root/pcb/{mcp,projects,tasks}
cp kicad_mcp_server.py /root/pcb/mcp/
chmod +x /root/pcb/mcp/kicad_mcp_server.py

Claude Code Configuration

Add to your Claude Code MCP settings (~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kicad": {
      "command": "ssh",
      "args": [
        "your-vps-host",
        "python3 /root/pcb/mcp/kicad_mcp_server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Available Tools (23)

Check

Tool	Description
run_drc	PCB Design Rule Check
run_erc	Schematic Electrical Rule Check

Operations

Tool	Description
fill_zones	Fill all copper zones
auto_route	Auto-routing with FreeRouting (async)

Async Tasks

Tool	Description
get_task_status	Query async task status
list_tasks	List all async tasks
cleanup_tasks	Clean up old completed/failed tasks

Info

Tool	Description
list_projects	List all projects
get_board_info	Board dimensions, layers, components
get_output_files	List output files
get_version	Version info

PCB Export

Tool	Description
export_gerber	Gerber + Drill files
export_3d	3D render (top/bottom/iso/all)
export_svg	PCB SVG images
export_pdf	PCB PDF
export_step	STEP 3D model

Schematic Export

Tool	Description
export_bom	Bill of Materials (CSV)
export_netlist	Netlist (KiCad XML/SPICE)
export_sch_pdf	Schematic PDF
export_sch_svg	Schematic SVG

Manufacturing

Tool	Description
export_jlcpcb	Complete JLCPCB package
export_all	Export all files

File

Tool	Description
read_file	Read file content

Complete Example Project

🎯 USB NVMe Adapter

A production-ready PCB design created entirely using KiCad MCP Server + Claude Code:

• Design: USB-C to M.2 NVMe adapter (4-layer PCB)
• Workflow: 100% AI-assisted design, no local EDA software
• Components: ASM2362 bridge, TPS62913 DC-DC, USB-C connector
• Outputs: Manufacturing files, 3D renders, complete documentation

See the complete example: examples/usb_nvme_adapter

Usage Examples

Basic Workflow

User: List projects
AI: [calls list_projects]

User: Run DRC on my_board
AI: [calls run_drc with project="my_board"]

User: Generate 3D renders
AI: [calls export_3d with project="my_board", view="all"]

User: Export for JLCPCB
AI: [calls export_jlcpcb with project="my_board"]

Auto-routing (Async)

User: Auto-route my_board
AI: [calls auto_route] 
    → Returns task_id: "route_my_board_20241231_101530"

User: Check routing status
AI: [calls get_task_status with task_id]
    → {"status": "started", "log_tail": "..."}

# After completion:
AI: [calls get_task_status]
    → {"status": "completed", "message": "Auto-routing complete!"}

Output Directory Structure

project/output/
├── gerber/      # Gerber + Drill files
├── bom/         # BOM CSV
├── netlist/     # Netlist files
├── 3d/          # 3D renders (PNG) + STEP model
├── images/      # SVG images
├── docs/        # PDF documents
├── reports/     # DRC/ERC reports (JSON)
├── jlcpcb/      # Complete JLCPCB package
└── backup/      # Pre-autoroute backups

Project Sync

Use rsync to sync projects between local and VPS:

# Upload to VPS
rsync -avz ~/pcb/my_board/ vps:/root/pcb/projects/my_board/

# Download from VPS
rsync -avz vps:/root/pcb/projects/my_board/output/ ~/pcb/my_board/output/

Configuration

All server settings can be configured via environment variables. See .env.example for details.

Key Environment Variables

# Base directories
KICAD_MCP_PROJECTS_BASE=/root/pcb/projects
KICAD_MCP_TASKS_DIR=/root/pcb/tasks

# External tools
KICAD_MCP_KICAD_CLI=kicad-cli
KICAD_MCP_FREEROUTING_JAR=/opt/freerouting.jar

# Timeouts (seconds)
KICAD_MCP_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT=300
KICAD_MCP_AUTOROUTE_TIMEOUT=600

# File limits
KICAD_MCP_MAX_FILE_SIZE=10485760  # 10MB

# Render settings
KICAD_MCP_RENDER_WIDTH=1920
KICAD_MCP_RENDER_HEIGHT=1080

# Task cleanup
KICAD_MCP_TASK_MAX_AGE_DAYS=7

Security Features

v3.5.0 includes comprehensive security hardening:

• Path Validation - Prevents directory traversal attacks
• Restricted File Access - read_file tool limited to projects/tasks directories
• Shell Injection Prevention - Uses shlex.quote() for all dynamic script generation
• Input Validation - Project names sanitized to prevent path manipulation
• Safe Command Execution - Proper subprocess handling with timeout protection

Development

Running Tests

# Install dev dependencies
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

# Run tests
pytest tests/ -v

# Run with coverage
pytest tests/ --cov=kicad_mcp_server --cov-report=html

Code Quality

# Type checking
mypy kicad_mcp_server/

# Linting
ruff check kicad_mcp_server/

License

GNU General Public License v3.0 or later - see LICENSE

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome!

Acknowledgments

• KiCad - Open source EDA
• FreeRouting - Open source PCB auto-router
• Anthropic - Claude AI and MCP protocol