Claude for KiCad: Planning and Reviewing PCB Design Work

Claude can help with KiCad PCB design work by drafting Python scripts for the KiCad scripting console, reviewing schematic and layout documentation, and preparing design notes. There is no Anthropic-built KiCad integration; you draft in Claude and apply the result in KiCad yourself. Tools like fenbs record design assumptions, review findings, and task handoffs so each work session starts from the agreed engineering baseline.

PCB design has real consequences. A script that modifies net assignments, deletes footprints, or changes pad geometries incorrectly can produce a board that fails at manufacture or in the field. Test any script on a copy of the project before running it on the production file.

What Claude can help with in KiCad work

• Writing Python scripts for the KiCad scripting console to automate repetitive layout or footprint tasks.
• Drafting KiCad action plugin code for common workflow automation.
• Reviewing a netlist or schematic text export for common errors such as unconnected nets or duplicate reference designators.
• Drafting bill-of-materials processing scripts in Python.
• Explaining KiCad PCB file format structure for custom tooling.
• Writing design notes, assembly instructions, and test procedures.

Writing KiCad scripts with Claude

KiCad's scripting console uses Python and the pcbnew module for PCB layout automation and the eeschema Python API for schematic work. Describe the task in plain language, include the KiCad version you are using, and ask Claude for a working script. Ask for comments in the code that explain each step.

I am using KiCad 8. Write a Python script that runs in the KiCad PCB scripting console and lists all through-hole footprints on the board with their reference designator, value, and courtyard area. Output the results to the console.

Paste Claude's script into a throwaway copy of the board file first. Read through the logic before running it: check that it iterates over the correct collection, does not modify anything you did not intend, and handles edge cases like footprints with no value set.

Schematic and design review support

Export your schematic as a netlist or as SVG from KiCad, then paste the text version into Claude. Ask Claude to check for common issues: nets connected to only one pin, power pins without a decoupling capacitor nearby, or reference designators that do not follow your numbering convention. Compare its findings against your own DRC results before treating any flag as confirmed.

For component selection questions, describe the electrical requirements and ask Claude to explain the tradeoffs between approaches. Verify component specifications against the manufacturer's datasheet before committing to a part. Claude can generate plausible-sounding specifications that do not match the actual part.

Bill of materials and documentation

Export your BOM from KiCad and paste it into Claude. Ask Claude to check for incomplete entries, group components by value and package, or draft a procurement-ready format. For assembly instructions, paste the BOM and a description of the board and ask Claude to draft a step-by-step test procedure.

Handling design handoffs

When a PCB design passes between engineers or between design and layout phases, the risk of losing context is high. The assumptions behind a schematic — why a particular topology was chosen, what the thermal budget is, which footprint was chosen over an alternative — rarely make it into the file. Record those decisions while they are fresh.

Ask Claude to draft a design handoff document from the decisions and notes you supply. Give it the design requirements, the main choices made, and any outstanding items. The resulting document is a starting point; review it against the actual schematic before sending it on.

How to do this with fenbs

1. Create a free account and add a project for this board design.
2. Record design requirements and key constraints as context notes before starting layout.
3. Add decisions about component choices, layout rules, or specification deviations as Decisions and rules.
4. Track open review items and outstanding checks as tasks on the board.
5. Before each design session, review the board for open decisions and the context notes to confirm the current requirements.

Gerber and fabrication output review

Before sending a board to a fabrication house, the checklist of deliverables — Gerber layers, drill files, fab notes, IPC netlist — can be long. Paste your current output file list and the fab house's stated requirements into Claude and ask it to identify missing files or naming mismatches. This is a quick consistency check; the definitive check is the fabrication house's own Design Rule Check on your files.

For fab notes and stackup documentation, paste your current stackup table and a description of the design requirements (impedance-controlled traces, via-in-pad fill, surface finish). Ask Claude to draft fab notes that communicate those requirements clearly. Review the result with the fabrication house before submitting; fab notes are a contract for what you will receive.

What Claude cannot do in KiCad

Claude cannot open KiCad project files, simulate circuits, run electrical rule checks, or connect to the KiCad database directly. It works from text you paste. For any script that modifies a layout, test on a copy first. For component specifications, check the manufacturer's datasheet. fenbs does not connect to KiCad; it keeps the design decisions and task record that runs alongside your engineering workflow. See what is Claude AI for context on what Claude can access.