mcp-server-kicad

MCP servers for KiCad schematic, PCB, symbol, footprint, and project automation.

Servers

Installation

pip install mcp-server-kicad

Or run directly with uvx:

uvx --from mcp-server-kicad mcp-server-kicad-schematic
uvx --from mcp-server-kicad mcp-server-kicad-pcb
uvx --from mcp-server-kicad mcp-server-kicad-symbol
uvx --from mcp-server-kicad mcp-server-kicad-footprint
uvx --from mcp-server-kicad mcp-server-kicad-project

Claude Code Plugin

For Claude Code users, install the plugin to get MCP server configuration and schematic design skills bundled together:

claude plugin marketplace add ProductOfAmerica/mcp-server-kicad
claude plugin install kicad

The plugin automatically configures all five MCP servers and includes skills that teach layout conventions for schematic design. See skills/schematic-design/SKILL.md for details.

Configuration

Add the servers to your Claude Desktop or Claude Code MCP config. Set cwd to your KiCad project directory so the servers can auto-detect project files.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kicad-schematic": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "mcp-server-kicad", "mcp-server-kicad-schematic"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/kicad/project"
    },
    "kicad-pcb": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "mcp-server-kicad", "mcp-server-kicad-pcb"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/kicad/project"
    },
    "kicad-symbol": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "mcp-server-kicad", "mcp-server-kicad-symbol"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/kicad/project"
    },
    "kicad-footprint": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "mcp-server-kicad", "mcp-server-kicad-footprint"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/kicad/project"
    },
    "kicad-project": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "mcp-server-kicad", "mcp-server-kicad-project"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/kicad/project"
    }
  }
}

Project Path Resolution

The servers resolve file paths in this order:

1. Auto-detect: Scans the current working directory for a .kicad_pro file and derives schematic, PCB, symbol library, and footprint library paths from it.
2. Environment variables: KICAD_SCH_PATH, KICAD_PCB_PATH, KICAD_SYM_LIB, KICAD_FP_LIB, and KICAD_OUTPUT_DIR override auto-detected values.
3. Tool parameters: Every tool accepts an explicit path parameter that takes highest priority.

Environment Variables

Available Tools

Schematic Tools (41 tools)

Read Tools

Write Tools

ERC Analysis

Schematic Export Tools

PCB Tools (30 tools)

Read Tools

Write Tools

DRC Analysis

PCB Export Tools

Symbol Tools (5 tools)

Footprint Tools (4 tools)

Project Tools (24 tools)

Scaffolding

Sheet Management

Hierarchy Inspection

Cross-Sheet Analysis

Annotation

Export & Utilities

System Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• KiCad 9.x or 10.x -- required for CLI-based tools (ERC, DRC, exports). CI runs the full suite against KiCad 9 on Linux and KiCad 10 on macOS. The read/write tools produce KiCad 9 file formats, which both versions open; reading files that KiCad 10 itself has saved is not yet supported (#9). kicad-cli is found on PATH, or inside /Applications/KiCad/KiCad.app on macOS, where the installer does not add it to PATH. Set KICAD_CLI_PATH to the executable if it lives anywhere else. These tools are always registered; without kicad-cli they fail with a message naming KICAD_CLI_PATH rather than disappearing from the tool list.
• The schematic and PCB read/write tools use kiutils for file parsing and do not require a KiCad installation.

Finding your KiCad install

Everything else in the KiCad tree is located relative to kicad-cli, the same way KiCad itself does it, so a stock install on any platform needs no configuration. The stock symbol libraries and the bundled Python that provides pcbnew are both found automatically.

Override any of it if your install is unusual:

Windows and OneDrive: if your Documents folder is redirected to OneDrive, kicad-cli can die at startup with an access violation (exit 3221225477) because it cannot create its KiCad subfolder there. Every invocation fails, including kicad-cli --version. Point KiCad's own KICAD_DOCUMENTS_HOME at a non-synced directory to fix it.

Debugging

Use the MCP Inspector to test and debug the servers interactively:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector mcp-server-kicad

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and guidelines.

License

MIT