kproj

KiCad project publisher for the SPCoast Hugo site.

kproj takes a point-in-time snapshot of a KiCad project (renders, schematic SVG/PDF, interactive HTML BOM, fabrication artifacts, KiCad source archive) and publishes it as a version entry on the SPCoast site.

Installation

pip install kproj

Requires Python ≥3.10. kproj needs a local kicad-cli install (KiCad 9.x or 10.x) to render/export artifacts, and the iBOM plugin installed into KiCad for the interactive BOM step.

Usage

kproj [<project-or-dir-or-file>] [options]

Run from inside a KiCad project directory, or pass a path to a .kicad_pro / .kicad_sch / .kicad_pcb file, a project directory, or a basename resolved under the KiCad projects root. Defaults to . (the current directory).

Pipeline: render → ibom → fab → publish. Each release generates board renders, schematic SVG/PDF, the interactive HTML BOM, packages fabrication artifacts, and commits (+ pushes) a version page and its assets into the configured site repo.

CLI flags

Run kproj --help for the authoritative, up-to-date flag list. As of this writing:

• --site-repo PATH — override the local site-repo checkout (highest precedence).
• --inventory PATH — inventory CSV to enrich the BOM with curated datasheet names. Unset means kproj never invokes jbom and publishes without datasheet deep-links.
• --fabricator FAB — jBOM fabricator profile (generic, jlc, pcbway, seeed) used for lookup item/header normalization. Default: jlc.
• --ibom-extra-fields FIELDS — comma-separated iBOM table fields to surface from inventory-enriched data (for example Details,Description).
• --datasheet-library PATH — local datasheet-library clone used by the advisory publish guard.
• --datasheet-repo OWNER/REPO — public repo slug that published datasheet deep-links point at.
• --dry-run — read-only mode: surface findings without writing to the site repo.
• --republish / --force — force artifact regeneration and publish even when unchanged checks would otherwise skip producers.
• --no-push — skip git push after the site-repo commit (batch-friendly). Run N batch publishes with this flag, then run a final plain kproj to flush all queued site commits.
• -v / --verbose, -d / --debug — increase logging verbosity. Toolchain discovery lines (Using kicad-cli..., Using jbom...) are shown under verbose mode.

Configuration

Every setting (except the project argument) follows a four-tier precedence, highest first:

1. CLI flag
2. KPROJ_* environment variable
3. ~/.kproj.yaml
4. Hardcoded default

kproj --help documents the full precedence chain, every KPROJ_* environment variable, and a complete ~/.kproj.yaml example inline.

First-time setup

If ~/.kproj.yaml is absent and no inventory is configured, kproj emits a one-time informational hint pointing here — it still publishes successfully, just without datasheet deep-links.

Create ~/.kproj.yaml to configure kproj for your machine:

site_repo: /path/to/your/SPCoast.github.io
no_push: false
kicad_cli: /usr/local/bin/kicad-cli
inventory: /path/to/your/SPCoast-inventory/SPCoast-INVENTORY.csv
datasheet_library: /path/to/your/SPCoast-inventory
datasheet_repo: plocher/SPCoast-inventory
ibom_extra_fields: Details,Description
fabricator: jlc

Every key is optional; omit what you don't need to override. site_repo and no_push control where and how kproj publishes; kicad_cli pins a specific executable instead of relying on auto-discovery; inventory / datasheet_library / datasheet_repo configure the datasheet deep-link feature below. ibom_extra_fields controls which inventory-derived columns are surfaced in the generated iBOM table. fabricator controls which jBOM fabricator profile is used for BOM lookup normalization (default jlc).

Datasheet deep-links

When inventory is configured, kproj queries jbom bom --inventory <path> --fabricator <fabricator> -f "reference,datasheet,datasheet_name" -o - live at publish time and deep-links each curated Datasheet Name into the shared datasheet-library repo (view + download URLs) — no PDFs are copied into the site. Lookup parsing accepts both generic and JLC-oriented header names (Reference/Designator, Description/Comment, Lcsc/LCSC Part #). Without an inventory, kproj never invokes jbom and publishes without datasheet links (an intentional, advisory-free degraded state, not an error).

Exit codes

• 0 — clean: published (or refreshed/noop/private-skip) with no error/warning findings.
• 1 — findings present: the same outcomes above, but with at least one error or warning finding (audit, DRC/ERC, etc.), surfaced on stderr and in the version page's Markdown body.
• 2 — mechanical failure: kicad-cli not found, project resolution failed, or another pipeline step raised.

Composition with other tools

kproj is one tool in a small ecosystem. The release-lifecycle workflow composes via Makefile (see templates/Makefile.kicad):

• jbom fab — generates fabrication artifacts (bom.csv, pos.csv, gerbers.zip) into ./production/. Invoked separately by the user before kproj.
• kproj — reads ./production/ + KiCad project files, publishes a snapshot to the SPCoast site.
• git tag + gh release create (manual or Makefile-driven) — the release-lifecycle layer, external to kproj.

Development

• Python ≥3.10; uv for environment + dependency management (uv sync, uv run).
• uv.lock is committed and authoritative for the development environment. Keep it fresh with uv lock whenever dependency inputs change (including local ../jBOM version shifts). CI validates lock freshness on PRs, and release automation refreshes uv.lock after semantic version bumps.
• pytest + behave for testing; ruff + mypy for lint/type-checking; pre-commit hooks configured.
• docs/DESIGN.md has the implementation specs; docs/adr/ has the Architecture Decision Records; CONTEXT.md has the canonical project vocabulary.
• docs/history.md has the retired v1-development phase tracker, for archival reference.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.