konnect-kicad-docker
Docker packaging that bundles the Konnect KiCad MCP server with KiCad 10, installed as a Claude Code plugin.
Summary rewritten from the vendor site because the catalog version did not match it.
What it does and how it connects
konnect-kicad-docker bundles the Konnect KiCad MCP server together with the KiCad 10 command line interface and GUI in a single Docker image, so Claude Code can run a schematic generation to ERC to manufacturing file workflow inside the container. The README describes it as a verification environment for running that loop from Claude Code.
It installs as a Claude Code plugin named kicad-konnect, with the working directory mounted into the container as /work. Interactive PCB editing still needs the KiCad GUI process, which the README starts on the desktop with X11 forwarding and shares its IPC socket with Konnect so the PCB tools can connect.
The image also includes Freerouting, and the README notes a native Specctra bridge for DSN export and SES import when using autorouting. The Docker image is published as ghcr.io/bols-blue/konnect-kicad:10.
Alternatives
Compare side by side- kicad-mcp-pro
A profile-gated MCP server for KiCad with read-only review, build, and manufacturing profiles, rather than a Docker image that bundles a server with KiCad.
- KiCAD MCP Server (mixelpixx)
An MCP server for PCB design automation in KiCad, with JLCPCB parts and Freerouting integration, and a successor project (Konnect) where new development happens.
- kicad-mcp (blwfish)
A community MCP server for KiCad workflows from description to manufacturing files, rather than a Docker packaged Konnect setup.
- KiCadAI
Generates native KiCad projects deterministically from behavioral requirements with a pass or refuse proof gate, rather than driving KiCad through MCP.
- mcp-kicad-sch-api
Covers schematic work only through the kicad-sch-api library, with no PCB layout, routing, or export tools.
Recurring errors it addresses
Error Index entries this tool is built to reduce or work around.
- 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
- On six single edits to a public KiCad 10 design, three runs each, plain Claude Code with KiCad installed got 18 of 18 right; with the mcp-server-kicad plugin it got 3 of 18. The plugin had no tool for some edits, its rule against direct file edits made the model stop and ask, and its board-sync tool rewrote nearly every footprint. The maintainer put the project in maintenance mode on these results.Error Index
- An engineer running Claude Code against KiCad found the agent kept repeating a stale claim of 19 DRC violations that lived on in prose docs. MCP tool summaries cannot be treated as live numbers; only DRC message text and actual exports are authoritative.Error Index
- A KiCad MCP tool placed a THVD1450D transceiver, returned success, and its own component contract check passed 8 of 8 pin-pad numbers plus footprint and 3D. Native KiCad 10.0.7 ERC then reported the placed symbol doesn't match the copy in the library.Error Index
- A KiCad MCP routing tool hit an obstacle-bypass failure, warned, replied "Routed 2 wire segment(s)" and saved the route anyway, shorting CC1 and USB D- to ground on a USB-C plus STM32 schematic. The MCP's own connectivity graph missed it; only a re-export of KiCad's native netlist caught it.Error Index
Sources
Not verified
- License: the GitHub API returns no license for this repo, so no license is stated.
- No GitHub releases exist, so latest release fields are null.
- No independent user voice found: the only issue is the maintainer's own setup pull request.
- Pricing: none stated on the repo.
- The Konnect server itself is a separate project and was not researched as its own page; this entry covers only the Docker packaging.
Last verified November 6, 2026. Listings are informational. The evidence score measures public, verifiable evidence and is not an endorsement or a compatibility claim.