| name | pcb-design |
| description | Safe KiCad PCB design assistance workflow using KiCad MCP board inspection, placement, routing, stackup, and quality-gate tools. |
PCB Design Skill
Use this skill when an AI agent is asked to inspect, plan, improve, or safely assist with a KiCad PCB layout through KiCad MCP Pro.
This skill is specific to oaslananka/kicad-mcp-pro and should be kept synchronized with docs/tools-reference.generated.md.
When to use
Use this skill for:
- PCB layout review
- Board outline, stackup, and design-rule planning
- Component placement assistance
- Routing-quality review
- Schematic-to-PCB synchronization review
- First-pass power, signal, EMC, and manufacturability sanity checks
Do not use this skill to claim that a board is production-ready. Production readiness requires ERC, DRC, DFM, release package review, and human engineering approval.
Required context
Collect or establish:
- Active project path with
kicad_set_project or current state from kicad_get_project_info
- Board file and schematic file presence
- Design intent from
project_get_design_intent or project_set_design_intent
- Board constraints: layer count, stackup, clearances, current, voltage, impedance, and manufacturer limits
- User permission before any write/destructive board operation
Primary MCP tools
Project and intent
kicad_get_project_infokicad_set_projectproject_get_design_intentproject_set_design_intentproject_design_workflowproject_get_next_action
Read-only PCB inspection
pcb_get_board_summarypcb_get_layerspcb_get_stackuppcb_get_design_rulespcb_get_footprintspcb_get_netspcb_get_net_statisticspcb_get_trackspcb_get_viaspcb_get_zonespcb_get_ratsnestpcb_net_inspector
PCB modification tools
Use only after explaining the planned change and confirming that the workflow is allowed to modify files.
pcb_set_board_outlinepcb_set_stackuppcb_set_design_rulespcb_sync_from_schematicpcb_auto_place_by_schematicpcb_auto_place_force_directedpcb_move_footprintpcb_place_componentpcb_place_decoupling_capspcb_add_trackpcb_add_tracks_bulkpcb_add_viapcb_add_zonepcb_refill_zonespcb_save
Quality gates and specialist checks
pcb_quality_gatepcb_placement_quality_gatepcb_transfer_quality_gatepcb_stackup_consistency_gatepcb_route_corner_style_gatepcb_visual_qarun_drccheck_design_for_manufacturemanufacturing_quality_gateproject_quality_gateproject_revalidate_after_edit
Workflow
- Inspect project state with
kicad_get_project_info.
- If needed, set the active project with
kicad_set_project.
- Load or define design intent with
project_get_design_intent or project_set_design_intent.
- Inspect board structure with
pcb_get_board_summary, pcb_get_layers, pcb_get_stackup, and pcb_get_design_rules.
- Inspect physical implementation with
pcb_get_footprints, pcb_get_nets, pcb_get_tracks, pcb_get_vias, and pcb_get_zones.
- For placement tasks, use
pcb_critique_placement, pcb_score_placement, and pcb_placement_quality_gate before proposing edits.
- For routing tasks, inspect ratsnest, tracks, vias, net classes, stackup, and constraints before proposing route changes.
- Apply write operations only when the requested workflow explicitly allows file changes.
- Re-run targeted gates after every meaningful edit:
run_drc, pcb_quality_gate, pcb_transfer_quality_gate, and project_revalidate_after_edit.
- Produce a report that separates verified tool output, assumptions, changes made, and remaining risks.
Quality checks
A useful PCB design response must include:
- Active project and board file summary
- Constraints and assumptions used
- Read-only observations before any mutation
- List of write operations, if any
- DRC and quality-gate result summary
- Remaining warnings, unknowns, and required human checks
Failure modes
Stop and report clearly when:
- No KiCad project is active
- The board file is missing or not parseable
- Required KiCad CLI/IPC capability is unavailable
- The user requested write operations but no safe project context exists
- DRC or quality-gate output is missing after a layout-changing operation
- The board depends on manufacturer constraints that were not provided
Output format
Return:
- Project context
- Tools used
- Findings by severity
- Changes made or proposed
- Validation results
- Manufacturing readiness status:
not assessed, blocked, needs review, or candidate after human review
- Next actions
Safety rule
Never state that a PCB is ready for fabrication solely because edits were applied. Fabrication output requires the fabrication-output workflow and qualified human review.
