KonnectX
AI-assisted PCB design for KiCad 10: a native KiCad plugin, one Rust binary exposing over 200 tools across 21 on-demand toolsets (schematic, layout, routing, ERC/DRC, design-review audits, JLCPCB part search, manufacturing export), with bundled skills that teach Claude KiCad conventions. Beta.
What it does and how it connects
KonnectX, also called Konnect, is a native KiCad plugin for AI-assisted PCB design for KiCad 10. A single Rust binary exposes 228 tools across 21 on-demand toolsets (schematic capture, PCB layout and routing, ERC/DRC, design-review audits, JLCPCB part search, reference circuits, and a full manufacturing export pipeline), with bundled skills and agents that teach Claude KiCad conventions out of the box. Status is beta.
It is the successor to KiCAD-MCP-Server, and was built to fix that project's long call path (TypeScript, schema validation, a spawned Python subprocess, JSON over stdin/stdout, a command router, and SWIG-generated C++ proxies), its large dependency surface, and its reliance on KiCad's SWIG Python bindings, which KiCad is deprecating. Konnect talks to KiCad 10 through the official IPC API (protobuf over NNG), with real-time board edits that integrate with KiCad's own undo and redo. The binary is 20 to 25 MB, about a 9 MB download, with nothing else to install or version-match.
The README also introduces Nimrod, a separate web-research MCP server from the same team, with 1 credit per search, free extraction, and a free 50-credit trial. Nimrod pricing is for Nimrod, not KonnectX.
Alternatives
Compare side by side- Konnect
The earlier KiCAD-MCP-Server project this plugin succeeds, in a Python and TypeScript stack over SWIG bindings, rather than the single Rust binary over the IPC API.
- KiCAD MCP Server (mixelpixx)
The KiCAD MCP Server project that KonnectX succeeds, rather than the Rust rewrite.
- kicad-mcp-pro
An MCP server by oaslananka with gated write profiles and manufacturing export, rather than a native KiCad 10 plugin binary.
- kicad-mcp (blwfish)
An MCP server that lets an agent drive a full KiCad workflow from description to fab files, rather than a native KiCad 10 plugin binary.
- kicad-claude-mcp
An MCP server that edits KiCad files directly with 105 tools and Freerouting autorouting, rather than a native KiCad 10 plugin binary.
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
- KiCAD-MCP-Server's export_gerber returns success: true and lists all 24 layers as exported, but writes no .gbr files: PlotLayer draws into a plot file that was never opened with OpenPlotfile, returns False unchecked, and only the drill files (from a separate kicad-cli call) land in the folder. An agent reading the response would report the fab package ready when the folder is empty.Error Index
Sources
Not verified
- Pricing: none stated for KonnectX itself; the free 50-credit trial in the README is for the separate Nimrod server.
- No independent user voice found: the repo has one public issue, the owner's own pull request.
- No GitHub releases exist, so latest release fields are null.
- Tool count: the README body says 228 tools, the repo description says 217, and the catalog says over 200; the catalog figure is consistent with both, and no exact count is asserted here beyond the README body figure.
- Thin source: 0 stars, 0 issues from users, no releases, and a single-issue repo; the entry rests on the README and the repo record.
Last verified November 6, 2026. Listings are informational. The evidence score measures public, verifiable evidence and is not an endorsement or a compatibility claim.