python-kicad

python-kicad provides Pydantic models and parsers for KiCad schematic, PCB, and exported netlist files.

  • KiCad 6 and newer
  • Python 3.10 and newer
  • No KiCad installation required
  • MIT licensed

Installation

python -m pip install python-kicad

The distribution is named python-kicad, while the import package remains pykicad:

from pykicad import Pcb, Schematic, read_from_file

document = read_from_file("project.kicad_pcb")
if isinstance(document, Pcb):
    print(document.version)
    print(len(document.footprint))
elif isinstance(document, Schematic):
    print(document.version)
    print(len(document.symbols))

An older, unrelated distribution already uses the pykicad name on PyPI and installs into the same Python import namespace. Do not install pykicad and python-kicad into the same environment.

Supported documents

read_from_file() and read_from_string() recognize:

  • .kicad_pcb board files as Pcb
  • .kicad_sch schematic files as Schematic
  • KiCad-exported S-expression netlists as Netlist

The parser uses one Pydantic model family for released KiCad 6 and newer file variants. Unknown enum values and malformed S-expressions remain validation errors.

from pydantic import ValidationError
from pykicad import read_from_string

try:
    board = read_from_string(
        "(kicad_pcb (version 20240101) (generator pcbnew))"
    )
except (ValueError, ValidationError) as error:
    print(f"Invalid KiCad document: {error}")

Writing limitations

Exact PCB round-tripping is available for an unchanged Pcb loaded through read_from_file() or read_from_string():

from pykicad import read_from_file, write_to_file

board = read_from_file("project.kicad_pcb")
write_to_file(board, "copy.kicad_pcb")

Structured serialization of modified PCB models and schematic writing are not implemented. Attempting either raises ValueError.

Development

Create an environment and install the development dependencies:

python -m pip install -e ".[dev]"
python -m pytest

Build and validate release artifacts with:

python -m build
python -m twine check dist/*
python scripts/check_distribution.py dist/*

See RELEASING.md for the trusted-publishing release process.

Project links

Data verified by PyPI on Jul 31, 2026
Data provided by the project maintainers, verified at the time the release was uploaded to PyPI.

Key dates

PyPI data
Data sourced directly from PyPI's database.
  • Released:
Newer release available (0.6.1)

1 maintainer

PyPI data
Data sourced directly from PyPI's database.
Avatar for esophagoose from gravatar.com esophagoose

Credits

Author: esophagoose

GitHub Statistics

Data verified by PyPI on Jul 31, 2026
The GitHub source repository was provided by the project maintainers and verified by PyPI at the time of upload. Stars, forks, and open issues/PRs are derived from that repository and have not been independently verified.

License expression

MIT
View SPDX License List

Requires

Python >=3.10

Provides Extra

dev

Tags

kicad eda pcb schematic parser pydantic

Classifiers

Report project as malware

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