Open KiCad MCP server

Connect your design agents to the KiCad session already on screen.

KiPilot is an open-source MCP server that lets GitHub Copilot, Claude, and other MCP-aware agents work against a live KiCad session through the official IPC path. Agents can inspect board context, preview controlled edits, and apply approved changes while the KiCad UI remains the source of truth. On KiCad 11 builds, the schematic surface does the same job: draw wires, labels, and text, manage the editor selection, script design variants, and export SVG, PDF, netlist, and BOM output.

Why KiPilot

KiPilot matters when the job is bigger than a click.

If you already know the exact KiCad button to press, the native UI is faster. KiPilot becomes valuable when you want an agent to inspect the live board or schematic, reason across many objects, and carry out a controlled sequence of edits while you watch the result in KiCad.

01

Not worth an agent on its own

These are useful low-level actions, but weak standalone reasons to involve an LLM.

  • "Drop a via at this point."
  • "Rotate this one footprint by 90 degrees."
  • "Add one wire between these two pins."
  • "Move this single part by 1 mm."
02

Strong board-understanding requests

This is where natural language starts to save time: the agent can find, filter, and explain the right PCB objects before you touch the layout.

  • "List everything tied to the 3V3 net."
  • "Find every 0402 resistor on the top layer."
  • "Tell me which netclass this net belongs to."
  • "Inspect the USB diff-pair area, flag suspicious stubs, and select the affected items."
02b

Strong schematic-understanding requests

The same idea applies to the sheet: the agent resolves hierarchy, netlist, and labels from the live schematic editor instead of from exported files.

  • "Walk the sheet hierarchy and tell me which sheet owns this symbol."
  • "List every label and global label, and flag nets with no label at all."
  • "Diff the netlist against what the BOM export would contain."
  • "Show me the title block, page settings, and dirty state of this sheet."
03

Strong board-changing requests

The agent earns its keep when one request expands into many precise PCB actions with constraints, context, and reviewable output.

  • "Pull the decoupling capacitors closer to U5 power pads without breaking clearance, and keep them on the top side."
  • "Find missing GND stitching along this board edge, propose vias, then place them every 5 mm."
  • "Re-group the connector area while keeping silkscreen readable."
  • "Move all 3V3 test points to the top layer and align them in one row."
  • "Shift this whole functional block and report which copper still needs manual rerouting."
  • "Update the board title block, assembly-relevant footprint attributes, and position-export fields together."
03b

Strong schematic-changing requests

Schematic edits solve the same problem: one intent becomes many precise items, and the KiCad Schematic Editor shows the result immediately.

  • "Draw a documented test-point block for these nets and annotate it."
  • "Stamp the title block, set the page size, and export the sheet to PDF and SVG."
  • "Create a DNP variant, describe it, switch to it, and export that BOM."
  • "Highlight every item you created and give me the s-expression of the selection."
What KiPilot is actually for

Intent in, board- and schematic-aware workflow out.

KiPilot becomes compelling when the request is not a single click, but a document-level task. The agent can inspect the live board or schematic, find the related objects, apply consistent changes across them, and keep the whole workflow reviewable in the KiCad UI.

Where it becomes genuinely useful
  • "Clean up this board region using these rules."
  • "Make room for this module."
  • "Reorganize this block using the layout pattern from the previous board."
  • "Find the related objects and apply consistent changes across them."

This is already too much repetitive work, context switching, and error-prone clicking to be pleasant by hand. That is where an agent starts saving real time.

Features

Board editing, manufacturing exports, design rules, and schematic capture on KiCad 11 builds.

KiPilot drives the live KiCad board editor as its primary surface, and the schematic editor on builds that expose the newer schematic IPC handlers. That covers hierarchy, netlist, page settings, and title block metadata, plus hit-testing, selection management, item creation and editing, design variants, save, save-as, revert, and export workflows.

  • Work against the PCB editor that is already open in KiCad
  • Inspect live board context before or during edits
  • Run the real KiCad manufacturing exports — Gerber, drill, position, PDF, SVG, DXF, ODB++, IPC-2581, IPC-D-356, GenCAD, statistics, 3D models, and 3D renders
  • Read and update board design rules and custom rules, and manage the fonts, 3D models, and datasheets embedded in the board file
  • Forward-annotate a schematic netlist into the board, edit project net classes, and query KiCad-side bounding boxes
  • Use higher-level MCP helpers built on top of raw IPC mutations, including true footprint side flips with mirrored artwork
  • Flip any flippable board item by ID, resolve layers by canonical name, and read or update the board plot settings stored in the current PCB
  • Use a source-build-gated schematic surface for hierarchy, netlist, hit-testing, selection management, metadata updates, and export jobs
  • Create and edit schematic items, manage design variants, and persist, copy, or revert the sheet while the Schematic Editor stays the source of truth

GitHub

A public GitHub repository that shows exactly what an MCP host can call.

The server is inspectable, installable from source, and built around a concrete MCP tool surface rather than an opaque desktop automation layer.

KiPilot is published as an open repository so teams can inspect the code, run it on their own machines, and understand the MCP surface before they connect an agent.

  • Python MCP server for a live KiCad session
  • Setup notes for VS Code, Claude, and other stdio MCP clients
  • Tool names and behavior visible before adoption
Open GitHub repository

Install

Download a Windows ZIP or install from source.

On Windows, the fastest path is the downloadable ZIP release with a bundled runtime. Source installation remains available for development, auditing, and non-Windows setups. The current release is v0.3.0 with 135 MCP tools.

Extract the ZIP, point your MCP host at kipilot-mcp.exe, or use the repository when you want a source-based install and local development workflow.

  • Downloadable Windows ZIP release with bundled server runtime
  • Open-source source-install path still available for development and review
  • Same stdio MCP server model either way
Download latest Windows ZIP Read install docs