| name | schematic-review |
| description | KiCad MCP schematic inspection and review workflow using ERC, connectivity, symbol, net, power, readability, and quality-gate tools. |
Schematic Review Skill
Use this skill when an AI agent is asked to inspect, review, or safely improve a KiCad schematic 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:
- Pre-layout schematic review
- ERC review
- Net connectivity review
- Power flag and no-connect review
- Symbol, footprint, and component-property inspection
- Readability and visual QA
- Conservative schematic edits when explicitly requested
Do not use this skill to claim electrical correctness without ERC, design-rule review, datasheet review, and human engineering approval.
Required context
Collect:
- Active project path and schematic file
- Design intent and functional requirements
- Expected power rails, interfaces, and critical nets
- Component sourcing assumptions
- Whether the task is read-only review or allowed to modify the schematic
Primary MCP tools
Project and intent
kicad_get_project_infoproject_get_design_intentproject_set_design_intentproject_get_design_specproject_import_design_specproject_design_report
Read-only schematic inspection
sch_get_symbolssch_get_net_namessch_get_labelssch_get_wiressch_get_connectivity_graphsch_get_circuit_irsch_trace_netsch_check_power_flagssch_get_population_statuslib_get_symbol_infolib_get_footprint_infolib_verify_component_contract
ERC, quality, and visual checks
run_ercschematic_quality_gateschematic_connectivity_gateschematic_design_rule_checksch_visual_qasch_render_pngproject_quality_gate
Controlled schematic edit tools
Use only when explicitly requested and when the workflow is allowed to modify files.
sch_add_symbolsch_add_componentsch_add_wiresch_add_labelsch_add_global_labelsch_add_power_symbolsch_add_no_connectsch_add_missing_junctionssch_modify_propertysch_update_propertiessch_move_symbolsch_delete_symbolsch_plan_from_specsch_preview_plansch_apply_plansch_verify_plansch_rollback_plansch_reload
Workflow
- Confirm active project and schematic state with
kicad_get_project_info.
- Retrieve design intent with
project_get_design_intent; if absent and the user supplied requirements, store them with project_set_design_intent only when appropriate.
- Inspect symbols, nets, labels, wires, and connectivity graph.
- Run ERC with
run_erc.
- Run
schematic_quality_gate, schematic_connectivity_gate, and schematic_design_rule_check.
- Check power-rail intent using
sch_check_power_flags and net tracing for critical rails/interfaces.
- Check component metadata and footprint bindings with library tools when part correctness is in scope.
- For readability review, use
sch_visual_qa and optionally sch_render_png.
- If edits are requested, prefer plan/preview/apply/verify/rollback tools over direct mutation when possible.
- Re-run ERC and schematic quality gates after any schematic-changing operation.
Quality checks
A schematic review response must include:
- Project and schematic context
- ERC summary
- Connectivity findings
- Power-flag/no-connect findings
- Symbol/footprint/property findings
- Readability findings
- Required fixes and open questions
- Human-review notes
Failure modes
Stop and report clearly when:
- No KiCad project is active
- Schematic files are missing or unsupported
- ERC cannot run
- The design intent is too ambiguous to judge correctness
- Component datasheets or footprint requirements are unavailable
- The user requests edits without permission to modify files
Output format
Return:
- Schematic context
- Tools used
- Findings by severity
- ERC and quality-gate status
- Proposed or applied fixes
- Remaining assumptions
- Next validation steps
Safety rule
A clean ERC result is necessary but not sufficient for design approval. Always report datasheet, footprint, power-budget, signal-integrity, and human-review gaps separately.
