kifab

Manage KiCad projects in a git-friendly way, with the fabrication service as a first-class part of the project.

KiCad stays the editor. kifab takes care of everything around it:

• Fab libraries, vendored into the project. Symbols, footprints and 3D models of the parts you use live in lib/, so the project builds the same on any machine and in CI.
• The fab's design rules, enforced by KiCad's own DRC. kifab writes them into the project and warns when Board Setup allows less than the fab can make.
• One command to order. kifab bundle checks the project, runs DRC and writes the gerbers, BOM and placement files the fab expects.
• Git hygiene. Generated files are deterministic (same commit, same bytes), and kifab check flags what should not be tracked.

Install

uv tool install kifab        # or: pip install kifab

With the graphical interface: pip install 'kifab[gui]'.

kifab bundle needs kicad-cli (KiCad 10) on PATH, or KIFAB_KICAD_CLI set to the command to run.

sudo apt install libxcb-cursor0 libxcb-icccm4 libxcb-keysyms1 libxcb-shape0 \
    libxcb-render-util0 libxcb-image0 libxcb-randr0 libxcb-xkb1 libxkbcommon-x11-0

The GUI

kifab-gui [PROJECT]

The Parts tab lists the project's library: each part's symbol and footprint, and where it is used. Search the fab's catalogue as you type (R 4k7 0603, C 18p), see stock, price and Basic/Extended class, and add a part to the project with one click. Check and Bundle for the fab run with live progress, and Open in KiCad is a click away.

Using the CLI

Start a project that follows the fab's rules.

kifab init my_project jlcpcb

Find a part and vendor it. No hunting for libraries; the part's symbol, footprint and 3D model are fetched into lib/.

kifab component search R 4k7 0603 --basic --add

Keep the library in step with the schematic. After placing parts in KiCad, vendor everything the schematic uses.

kifab component sync

Check before you order. Works offline on any KiCad project and returns non-zero on errors, so it fits CI.

kifab check

Produce the order files.

kifab bundle

Release from a git tag. A workflow that attaches the bundle to a GitHub release.

kifab ci init

Commands

Examples:

kifab component search R 4k7 0603 -a      # passives by value; -a adds E24 values within ±10%
kifab component add C123456               # by supplier number
kifab component check --boards 10         # stock for ten boards
kifab bundle --json                       # machine-readable result
kifab check --strict                      # warnings fail too

Most commands take the project directory as an optional last argument and default to the current one. Exit codes: 0 ok, 1 errors, 2 bad input.

Details, configuration and file formats are in docs/reference.md.

Compatibility

Fabs, suppliers and library sources are plugins.

Verify before you order. kifab's design rules, catalogue data, stock, prices, vendored libraries and generated manufacturing files come from third-party sources and from interpretations of them. They may be wrong, incomplete or out of date. It is your responsibility to review the result, for example in the fab's own file viewer and checks, before ordering. No guarantee of correctness can be made.

Development

uv sync
scripts/check.sh          # black --check, mypy --strict, pytest

The tests need neither KiCad nor network; see docs/development.md.

License

kifab is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 3 only, as published by the Free Software Foundation. See LICENSE. It comes with no warranty.

kifab's S-expression formatter is ported from KiCad (GPL-3.0-or-later, used under version 3). easyeda2kicad (AGPL-3.0) is run as a separate program; PySide6 (LGPL-3.0) is used for the GUI.