cursor-for-pcb
AI-native PCB design where you chat to a schematic and board, built on KiCad and SKiDL with an MCP server.
What it does and how it connects
cursor-for-pcb is an AI-native PCB design tool: describe a board in plain language and get a schematic, a PCB layout, a KiCad netlist, ERC and DRC verdicts, and Gerber fab files. A two-pane web app offers chat plus schematic and PCB tabs, and the whole engine is also exposed as an MCP server with 12 tools, so Claude Code or any MCP client can drive board design end to end.
The open-source core stands on KiCad plus two pure-Python libraries: SKiDL describes the circuit in Python and produces a real KiCad netlist plus ERC, and kiutils reads and writes .kicad_pcb and .kicad_sch files directly with no GUI needed. A built-in two-layer Lee and maze router emits real copper tracks and vias, and kicad-cli renders, runs DRC, and exports Gerber and drill files. Because everything is plain text built on stock KiCad libraries, an LLM manipulates the design as structured data and code, and every artifact opens cleanly in KiCad for a human to finish.
Alternatives
Compare side by side- hw-codesign
Agentic co-design from brief to KiCad, firmware, and 3D review with explicit fabrication blockers, rather than a chat-first PCB tool on SKiDL and kiutils.
- kicad-agent
A Pydantic AI agent that edits a real KiCad board with a live review UI and a goal loop, rather than a chat UI over a SKiDL and kiutils engine.
- copper-mcp
A local-first MCP platform where generated work stays an immutable candidate until applied, rather than a chat tool that emits the board directly.
- etch
A team of agents that picks real KiCad parts and routes a board in 3D, rather than a SKiDL-based chat engine with a built-in maze router.
- kicad-mcp-pro
An MCP server with profile-gated tools for KiCad workflows, rather than a chat-first design tool with its own web UI.
Recurring errors it addresses
Error Index entries this tool is built to reduce or work around.
- Interactive routing creates unwanted micro-segments and awkward paths that take time to clean up.Error Index
- Grid snap and move commands can disconnect items or reposition them in unwanted ways.Error Index
- GUI lag, occasional freezes, and sluggish editor switching interrupt concentration.Error Index
- Wayland/NVIDIA users report graphical glitches, flicker, or instability.Error Index
- A KiCad MCP bridge normalizes DRC, connectivity, and geometry into its own output format, and that normalized output can silently disagree with the native KiCad engine. The maintainer had to build seeded false-PASS and false-FAIL tests because the bridge layer cannot be trusted as engineering truth on its own.Error Index
Sources
Not verified
- Pricing: none stated on the repo.
- Real user voices: no real linked post read for this page; the repo has no open issues.
- No GitHub releases exist, so latest release fields are null.
- A named individual builder beyond the repository owner handle agribeacon
Last verified November 6, 2026. Listings are informational. The evidence score measures public, verifiable evidence and is not an endorsement or a compatibility claim.