- Detects F.Cu<->B.Cu layer mismatch in route_pad_to_pad
- Splits route into: trace on start layer + via at midpoint + trace on end layer
- route_trace description warns: use route_pad_to_pad for cross-layer routing
- route_pad_to_pad description highlights automatic via insertion
Bug 1 — Rounded corners missing (src/tools/board.ts schema)
Symptom: Claude sends shape='rectangle' + radius=2.5, but the Zod schema
only listed 'rectangle', 'circle', 'polygon' as valid shapes. The JS
handler never passed cornerRadius through the IPC path, and Python only
generated arcs for shape='rounded_rectangle'. Result: 4 straight lines,
no arcs.
Fix: Added 'rounded_rectangle' and 'cornerRadius' to the Zod schema in
src/tools/board.ts so Claude can send the correct shape directly.
Also added a Python-side auto-upgrade: if shape='rectangle' and
cornerRadius>0, silently promote to 'rounded_rectangle' so legacy
callers still work (python/commands/board/outline.py).
Bug 2 — Board outline placed at (-w/2, -h/2) instead of (0, 0)
Symptom: A 30x30 mm board outline was placed centred at the origin
(start -15 -15) ... (end 15 15) instead of the expected top-left at
(0,0) → (30,30).
Root cause: src/tools/board.ts extracted x/y from params and renamed
them to centerX/centerY before forwarding to Python:
const { x, y, ...otherParams } = params;
callKicadScript('add_board_outline', { centerX: x, centerY: y, ...otherParams })
Python received centerX=0, centerY=0 and used that as the board centre,
placing the outline at (-15,-15)→(+15,+15).
Fix: Pass x/y directly as top-left corner coordinates. Python already
contains the correct logic: center = x + width/2, y + height/2. Removed
the incorrect rename in board.ts:
callKicadScript('add_board_outline', { shape, ...params })
Bug 3 — print() on stdout corrupted JSON-RPC protocol → Timeout
Symptom: Claude Desktop reported 'Timeout' for add_board_outline even
though Python completed the command in <5 ms. KiCAD was falsely launched.
Root cause: Debug print() statements written to stdout (the same channel
used for JSON-RPC responses) injected non-JSON lines into the protocol.
Node.js could not parse the response → timeout → Claude Desktop invented
a 'KiCAD UI required' workaround.
Fix: Removed all print() calls from outline.py. Logger.info/debug writes
to the log file (~/.kicad-mcp/logs/kicad_interface.log) and is safe.
Files changed:
src/tools/board.ts — Zod schema + removed centerX/centerY rename
python/commands/board/outline.py — auto-upgrade rectangle+radius, remove print()
- searchTools() previously only searched routed tool categories, so
direct tools like snapshot_project, save_project, create_project
returned 0 results when Claude called search_tools('snapshot')
- Direct tools are now searched first, with a hint that they must be
called directly (not via execute_tool)
Also includes routing.py zone-inset fix for rounded board corners
(already staged from previous session)
save_project uses project_commands.board, which was NOT in the propagation
list after pcbnew.LoadBoard() in _handle_import_svg_logo. As a result,
save_project() wrote the old in-memory board (without logo gr_poly entries)
back to disk, erasing the logo every time.
Fix: call _update_command_handlers() after reload, which updates all
command handler board references including project_commands.
Claude sends {shape:'rectangle', params:{x,y,width,height,...}} but handlers
were reading params.get('width') on the outer dict → None → wrong board size.
outline.py: extract inner = params.get('params', params) at method start,
read all dimensions from inner dict.
kicad_interface.py (_ipc_add_board_outline): delegate 'rectangle' to SWIG
path (same as 'rounded_rectangle') so Claude's shape+dims call is handled
correctly. For polygon IPC path: also unwrap inner params for points/width.
FootprintLoad+Flip() on standalone footprint (not yet in board) causes
a 30-second block in KiCAD 9 pcbnew. Solution: add footprint to board
first, then call Flip() with board context available.
Fixes B.Cu placement timeout that killed the Python process.
create_component_instance used line-based insertion which placed new
symbols BEFORE (kicad_sch ...) header when the file was written as
a single line by sexpdata.dumps(). Switch to rfind()-based string
insertion which is format-independent.
Also remove StreamHandler(sys.stdout) from logging — Python logs now
go only to file (~/.kicad-mcp/logs/kicad_interface.log) to avoid
polluting MCP stderr with INFO/DEBUG entries shown as [error].
- add_schematic_net_label: warn in description that coords must be exact pin endpoints; recommend connect_to_net instead
- connect_to_net: stub wire direction now follows pin angle (was hardcoded +X)
- pin_locator.py: add get_pin_angle() and _get_lib_id() helpers
- new tool: get_schematic_pin_locations(schematicPath, reference) → returns exact x/y of every pin endpoint, so Claude can place labels correctly
KiCad 9 refuses to load any schematic whose lib_symbols section contains
an (extends ...) clause, because the extends mechanism is only valid
inside .kicad_sym library files - not inside schematics.
The previous implementation kept the (extends ...) clause and prepended
the parent symbol block with a qualified name, but left the child's
extends referring to the unqualified parent name, causing:
'Error loading schematic: No parent for extended symbol Q_NMOS_GSD'
Fix: add _iter_top_level_items() and _inline_extends_symbol() helpers.
When a library symbol uses extends, the parent's content (pins, graphics,
sub-symbols) is now merged directly into the child definition:
- Parent properties are overridden by child property values
- Sub-symbol names are renamed from ParentName_X_Y to ChildName_X_Y
- The (extends ...) clause is removed entirely
- Only the fully-resolved child symbol is injected into lib_symbols
Affected symbols include Transistor_FET:2N7002, Transistor_BJT:*,
Regulator_Linear:*, Regulator_Switching:* and many others (~30% of the
KiCad standard library uses extends).
Fixes#52
PROBLEM
-------
Upstream commit b98c94b added 7 comment lines (;; PASSIVES, ;; SEMICONDUCTORS,
;; INTEGRATED CIRCUITS, ;; CONNECTORS, ;; POWER/REGULATORS, ;; MISC,
;; TEMPLATE INSTANCES) to template_with_symbols_expanded.kicad_sch.
KiCAD's S-expression parser does NOT support any comment syntax.
It expects every non-empty line to begin with '('. These comments caused
KiCAD 9 to refuse opening any schematic generated from this template:
Expecting '(' in <file>.kicad_sch, line 8, offset 5
AFFECTED USERS
--------------
Any project whose .kicad_sch was generated by the MCP server after upstream
commit b98c94b and before this fix contains the same invalid lines. Those
files must be repaired manually: open the .kicad_sch in a text editor and
delete every line beginning with ';;'.
FIX
---
Remove all 7 ;; lines from the template. No functional change — the comments
provided no information that is not already evident from the symbol names.
ALSO
----
CHANGELOG: add critical bug-fix entry for this regression under v2.2.2-alpha
The previous line-based parser (split("\n") + line-by-line regex)
failed when the MCP server itself generates .kicad_sch files as a
single line. The new implementation works directly on the raw content
string using parenthesis-depth matching to find symbol blocks,
making it independent of formatting/whitespace.
All mounting holes were assigned the same reference "MH", violating
PCB conventions and causing conflicts. Now queries existing footprints
to find the next available MH number.
kicad-cli DRC JSON output stores coordinates in items[].pos.x/y,
not at the violation top level. The code was reading violation.x/y
which don't exist, falling back to (0, 0) for every violation.
Now correctly reads the position from the first item in each
violation entry.
Two issues fixed:
1. TypeScript schema was missing the outline parameter entirely,
so MCP clients couldn't send pour boundary points.
2. Python code read "points" key but schema defined "outline" key.
Now accepts "outline" (with "points" as fallback for backwards
compatibility). When no outline is provided, automatically uses
the board edge bounding box as the pour boundary.
NETINFO_ITEM objects don't have a GetClassName() method, causing
an AttributeError crash when listing nets. The correct method is
GetNetClassName() which returns the net class name string.
str(module.GetFPID()) returns the Swig proxy representation like
"<pcbnew.LIB_ID; proxy of ...>" instead of the actual footprint name.
GetUniStringLibId() returns the proper "Library:Footprint" string.
Upstream commit 2b38796 downgraded template_with_symbols.kicad_sch and
template_with_symbols_expanded.kicad_sch from version 20250114 to 20240101.
KiCAD 9 requires version 20250114 - files with older versions cause parse
errors or are rejected. This was originally fixed in ce78fb4.
Convenience wrapper around route_trace that eliminates the need for
separate get_pad_position calls before routing.
- Accepts fromRef/fromPad/toRef/toPad instead of raw coordinates
- Automatically looks up pad positions from board footprints
- Auto-detects net from pad assignment (overridable via net param)
- Returns fromPad/toPad position info in response
- Saves ~2 tool calls (64+ calls for a full TMC2209 board) vs 3-step flow
Registered in: routing.py, kicad_interface.py (dispatch), routing.ts (MCP)
- fix: DynamicSymbolLoader reads project sym-lib-table before global dirs
add_schematic_component now finds symbols from project-local .kicad_sym files
project_path derived automatically from schematic file path
- fix: place_component reloads FootprintLibraryManager with project_path
new boardPath parameter passed to place_component tool (TypeScript + Python)
_handle_place_component wrapper recreates LibraryManager per project
- fix: copy_routing_pattern geometric fallback when pads have no nets
primary filter: net-based (when pads are assigned to nets)
fallback: bounding box of source footprint pads +5mm tolerance
filterMethod field in response indicates which mode was used
- feat: register copy_routing_pattern as MCP tool in routing.ts
sourceRefs, targetRefs, includeVias, traceWidth parameters
Live tested: ESP32 + 2x TMC2209 in Test3 project
13 traces U2 routed, copy_routing_pattern copied all 13 to U3
offset Y+30mm correct, 26 total traces verified
- Update schematic version from 20230121 (KiCAD 7) to 20240101 (KiCAD 9)
- Replace invalid all-zeros UUIDs in template files with valid UUIDs
- Add post-copy UUID regeneration to ensure each project gets unique UUID
- Add UTF-8 encoding and Unix line endings for cross-platform compatibility
Fixes the root cause where templates were copied with invalid UUIDs and
outdated version format, causing KiCAD 9.0.x to reject the schematic files.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Bug 1 - add_schematic_component: footprint parameter silently ignored
The footprint value from MCP params was never passed through to
DynamicSymbolLoader.add_component() / create_component_instance().
Every placed symbol had an empty Footprint field regardless of input.
Fix: added footprint: str='' to both functions, passed through all
call sites, added footprint to schematic.ts tool schema.
Bug 2 - delete_schematic_component: only deleted first duplicate
When a reference appeared multiple times (e.g. after a failed
add attempt), only the first instance was removed due to break
after first match. Fix: collect all matching blocks first, then
delete back-to-front to preserve indices. Response now includes
deleted_count.
New tool - edit_schematic_component
Update footprint, value or reference of a placed symbol in-place.
More efficient than delete+re-add: preserves position and UUID.
Accepts: schematicPath, reference, footprint?, value?, newReference?
All 3 fixes verified by live tests on a real JLCPCB/KiCAD 9 project:
- R_TEST1: footprint Resistor_SMD:R_0603_1608Metric written correctly
- J1 duplicate: deleted_count=2 with single call
- J2 edit: PinSocket footprint assigned in-place, no delete+add needed
- PCB update (F8) confirmed: only components with footprint imported
Verified by live test: created a fresh schematic via MCP, result shows
format version 20250114, 0 _TEMPLATE_ hits, 0 (lib_id -100) hits, 24
real components placed cleanly.
--- Format version bump (20230121 KiCAD 7 -> 20250114 KiCAD 9) ---
Files: python/templates/*.kicad_sch, python/commands/project.py,
python/commands/schematic.py
Root cause: the MCP server targets KiCAD 9 exclusively - pcbnew.pyd is
compiled for KiCAD 9.0 / Python 3.11.5, and server.ts explicitly selects
the KiCAD 9 bundled Python on Windows. Generating new schematics with a
2-year-old format tag caused a spurious 'This file was created with an
older KiCAD version' warning on every newly created schematic.
--- Remove corrupt _TEMPLATE_* placed-symbol blocks ---
File: python/templates/template_with_symbols_expanded.kicad_sch
Root cause: the expanded template was generated by the old sexpdata
serializer (same corruption PR #40 fixed for DynamicSymbolLoader add-path).
The serializer converted the string 'Device:R' to integer -100, producing
(lib_id -100) instead of (lib_id Device:R). KiCAD cannot resolve an
integer as a library reference and crashes with a null-pointer when the
user attempts to select these symbols. They appeared as grey _TEMPLATE_R?,
_TEMPLATE_C?, _TEMPLATE_U_REG? etc. ~5000mm off-sheet - invisible during
normal work but triggering a crash on accidental box-select.
Discovered via live testing on a real JLCPCB/KiCAD 9 project.
New tools - datasheet:
- get_datasheet_url: construct LCSC datasheet PDF URL + product page URL
without any API key (URL schema: https://www.lcsc.com/datasheet/<C#>.pdf)
- enrich_datasheets: scan .kicad_sch, write LCSC datasheet URL into every
symbol that has an LCSC property but an empty Datasheet field; supports
dry_run=true for preview; text-based implementation (no skip writes)
Implementation: python/commands/datasheet_manager.py
New tool - schematic:
- delete_schematic_component: remove a placed symbol from a .kicad_sch file
by reference designator (e.g. R1, U3)
Bug fix - delete_schematic_component (two separate root causes):
1. No MCP tool named delete_schematic_component was registered at all.
Any delete-symbol request fell through to the PCB-only delete_component
tool which searches pcbnew.BOARD and always returned 'Component not found'
for schematic symbols.
2. component_schematic.py::remove_component() still used skip for writes.
PR #40 rewrote DynamicSymbolLoader (add path) to avoid skip-induced
schematic corruption, but the delete path was not touched by that PR.
Fix: _handle_delete_schematic_component in kicad_interface.py uses direct
text manipulation with parenthesis-depth tracking (same technique as PR #40),
bypassing component_schematic.py entirely. Error message explicitly guides
users: 'use delete_component for PCB footprints'.
Files changed:
- python/commands/datasheet_manager.py (new)
- src/tools/datasheet.ts (new)
- python/kicad_interface.py: 3 new handlers + dispatch entries
- src/tools/schematic.ts: delete_schematic_component tool
- src/server.ts: registerDatasheetTools import + call
- src/tools/index.ts: export registerDatasheetTools
- CHANGELOG.md: document all above
- connection_schematic.py: generate_netlist() now accepts schematic_path param,
threaded through to get_net_connections() so PinLocator is actually invoked
(previously only 1 connection per component was returned due to fallback break)
- kicad_interface.py: pass schematic_path to generate_netlist()
- pin_locator.py: add _schematic_cache to avoid loading Schematic() once per pin
(was causing timeout: O(nets x components x pins) Schematic() calls)
- server.ts: remove fragile PYTHONPATH?.includes('KiCad') condition,
always prefer KiCAD bundled Python on Windows when executable exists
- CHANGELOG.md: document fixes under v2.2.0-alpha
Fixes Issue #26 - add_schematic_component corrupts .kicad_sch files
Complete rewrite of DynamicSymbolLoader to use text manipulation instead of sexpdata:
- Preserves KiCAD file formatting perfectly
- Correctly handles KiCAD 9 symbol naming conventions (library prefix for top-level, no prefix for sub-symbols)
- Resolves parent-child symbol dependencies with (extends)
- Adds symbol caching for performance
- Simplifies component addition workflow
Tested on KiCAD 9.0.7 with R, C, LED, ESP32, and transistor components.
Compatible with recent Windows fixes (UUID generation, IPC, JLCPCB).
Co-authored-by: FlowSync0 <249798311+FlowSync0@users.noreply.github.com>
