KiCad serialises rescued or locally-customised library entries with an
extra (lib_name "...") child before (lib_id "..."):
(symbol
(lib_name "RESISTOR_0603_4")
(lib_id "MF_Passives:RESISTOR_0603")
(at 132.08 44.45 90)
...)
The block-matching regex in _handle_get_schematic_component,
_handle_edit_schematic_component, and _handle_delete_schematic_component
required (lib_id IMMEDIATELY after (symbol, so any placed component
using this form was silently invisible to lookup. The user-visible
symptom is "Component '<ref>' not found in schematic" even though the
component is plainly present (and reachable through list / IPC paths).
This bug also affected set/remove_schematic_component_property and the
existing footprint/value/reference rewriting paths in edit, since they
all share the same lookup code.
The parent-position lookup used a similarly-strict regex
((symbol (lib_id "...") (at ...))), which silently fell back to (0,0)
on (lib_name)-first symbols and caused new properties added through
the custom-properties path to anchor at the schematic origin instead
of the parent symbol.
Fix: relax the symbol-block opening pattern to (symbol\s+\( — matching
any opening paren after (symbol — and read the symbol's origin from
the first (at ...) inside the block. Library-definition entries inside
(lib_symbols ...) are still excluded by the existing range check
(they use the (symbol "name" ...) form with a quoted string, not a
paren).
Adds 7 regression tests in TestLibNameBeforeLibIdOrdering using a
real-world (lib_name)-first resistor block, covering get / edit /
set-property / remove-property / delete and verifying that newly
added properties anchor to the symbol origin instead of (0, 0).
Promotes BOM / sourcing fields (MPN, Manufacturer, DigiKey_PN, LCSC,
JLCPCB_PN, Voltage, Tolerance, Dielectric, ...) to first-class citizens
on placed schematic symbols.
New MCP tools:
- set_schematic_component_property: add or update one custom property
on a component (convenience wrapper around edit_schematic_component).
- remove_schematic_component_property: delete one custom property.
The four built-in fields (Reference, Value, Footprint, Datasheet) are
protected and rejected.
edit_schematic_component enhancements:
- New `properties` parameter: map of property name to either a string
value or a full spec object { value, x?, y?, angle?, hide?, fontSize? }.
Adds the property when missing, otherwise updates the existing field
(and optionally its label position / visibility). Lets a single tool
call attach an entire BOM payload to a component.
- New `removeProperties` parameter: list of custom property names to
delete in the same call.
- Property values are now backslash-escaped so descriptions containing
a double-quote or a backslash no longer corrupt the .kicad_sch file.
- New properties default to (hide yes) so they appear in BOM exports
without cluttering the schematic canvas.
get_schematic_component description clarified to highlight that it
already returns every field on the symbol, including custom ones.
New MCP prompt component_sourcing_properties guides agents through the
conventional property names recognised by downstream BOM tooling and
the recommended call sequence.
Implementation (python/kicad_interface.py):
- _PROTECTED_PROPERTY_FIELDS frozenset
- _escape_sexpr_string / _find_matching_paren static helpers
- _set_property_in_block / _set_hide_on_property /
_remove_property_from_block surgical text-level edits that preserve
formatting and the property's UUID
- _handle_edit_schematic_component rewritten to orchestrate
add/update/remove and return a per-property summary
- New handlers _handle_set_schematic_component_property and
_handle_remove_schematic_component_property registered in the
command dispatch table
Tests (tests/test_schematic_component_properties.py):
32 tests covering escape helper, paren matcher, add/update/remove
(single + batched), full spec dicts, default position, default
(hide yes), special-character escaping, UUID preservation, protected
built-in field rejection, no-op removal, both new convenience tools,
and input validation. All 590 tests in the project still pass.
Docs: README, SCHEMATIC_TOOLS_REFERENCE, TOOL_INVENTORY, CHANGELOG.
Add Prettier as a dev dependency with .prettierrc.json config and
.prettierignore. Hook added via mirrors-prettier in pre-commit config.
All TypeScript, JSON, Markdown, and YAML files auto-formatted.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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
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
Comprehensive documentation of Phase 2 achievements including power symbol support, wire graph analysis for net connectivity, critical bug fixes (template mapping, special character handling), and 100% passing integration tests. Removes emoji per style guidelines.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Documentation Updates:
- README: Updated Schematic Design section from 6 to 9 tools
- Added "Wiring & Connections" subsection highlighting new capabilities
- Documented automatic pin discovery with rotation support
- Listed smart routing options (direct, orthogonal)
- Added net label management features
- CHANGELOG: Added Phase 1 wiring system entry with complete feature list
New Features Documented:
- add_schematic_connection with auto pin discovery
- add_schematic_net_label with orientation control
- WireManager and PinLocator implementation
- S-expression precision and format compliance
Part of Issue #26 schematic wiring implementation
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
