cell-explore

name	cell-explore
description	Explore Virtuoso cellviews - list libraries, cells, instances, nets, layers, and hierarchy. Use when browsing a design, understanding circuit topology, or inspecting layout/schematic contents.
argument-hint	["library or cell path","e.g. \"myLib\" or \"myLib/myCell\""]
allowed-tools	Bash(virtuoso *)

Explore Virtuoso Cellviews

Query design hierarchy, instances, nets, and properties via SKILL.

Library browsing

# List all libraries
virtuoso skill exec 'foreach(mapcar lib ddGetLibList() lib~>name)' --format json

# List cells in a library
virtuoso skill exec 'let((lib) lib=ddGetObj("LIB") foreach(mapcar c lib~>cells c~>name))' --format json

# List views for a cell (use v~>name, NOT v~>viewName)
virtuoso skill exec 'let((cell) cell=ddGetObj("LIB" "CELL") foreach(mapcar v cell~>views v~>name))' --format json

Cellview inspection

# Open and inspect (read-only)
virtuoso skill exec 'let((cv) cv=dbOpenCellViewByType("LIB" "CELL" "VIEW" nil "r") when(cv sprintf(nil "inst=%d nets=%d shapes=%d" length(cv~>instances) length(cv~>nets) length(cv~>shapes))))' --format json

# Instance details (first N)
virtuoso skill exec 'let((cv result n) cv=dbOpenCellViewByType("LIB" "CELL" "schematic" nil "r") result=nil n=0 foreach(inst cv~>instances when(n<20 result=cons(sprintf(nil "%s: %s/%s" inst~>name inst~>cellName inst~>viewName) result) n=n+1)) result)' --format json

# Net connectivity
virtuoso skill exec 'let((cv result n) cv=dbOpenCellViewByType("LIB" "CELL" "schematic" nil "r") result=nil n=0 foreach(net cv~>nets when(n<20 result=cons(sprintf(nil "%s [%d terms]" net~>name length(net~>instTerms)) result) n=n+1)) result)' --format json

# Layer/purpose pairs in layout
virtuoso skill exec 'let((cv lpps) cv=geGetEditCellView() lpps=nil foreach(shape cv~>shapes let((lpp) lpp=sprintf(nil "%s:%s" car(shape~>lpp) cadr(shape~>lpp)) unless(member(lpp lpps) lpps=cons(lpp lpps)))) lpps)' --format json

# Shape types
virtuoso skill exec 'let((cv types) cv=geGetEditCellView() types=nil foreach(shape cv~>shapes let((tp) tp=shape~>objType unless(member(tp types) types=cons(tp types)))) types)' --format json

Cell management

# Open cellview
virtuoso cell open --lib LIB --cell CELL --view layout --format json

# Current cellview info
virtuoso cell info --format json

# Save
virtuoso cell save --format json

Key gotcha

• Always open cellviews in "r" (read-only) mode — using "w" creates an empty .oa file on disk, destroying the schematic. The fifth argument to dbOpenCellViewByType must be "r" for any exploration/inspection call.
• View property is v~>name, not v~>viewName — the latter returns nil in IC23.1
• nthCdr and subList don't exist — use foreach with counter for pagination
• buildString may not work with nil values — guard with when(views ...)