pcb-lens
Gives AI agents the ability to review PCB layouts and flag issues.
What it does and how it connects
pcb-lens is an MCP server that gives AI agents tools to query and review PCB layouts through natural conversation. It reads board layouts in IPC-2581 format (revisions A, B, and C) exported from any compliant EDA tool, Cadence TCFX constraint XML exported from Allegro, and native Allegro .brd files, with the Allegro path requiring a Cadence SPB installation on Windows.
It installs as a standalone binary with no Node.js dependency, through a native installer for macOS, Linux, and Windows, or through npm as @intelligentelectron/pcb-lens, and it connects to Claude Desktop through an .mcpb extension, or to Claude Code and Codex through their MCP configuration. The server can emit OpenTelemetry traces, metrics, and logs for every tool call.
The positioning is review, not design: the agent queries and reviews an existing layout rather than creating or editing one.
What engineers report
The get_pcb_net tool description states that it returns routing per layer (trace widths, trace lengths, segment counts). In practice, no net query returns any of those fields.
2026-06-17Read the original
Alternatives
Compare side by side- Copperbrain
A local MCP server for KiCad 10 schematic and PCB analysis with controlled changes and ERC/DRC validation, rather than a review-only server reading IPC-2581 and Allegro files.
- kicad-happy
A set of agent skills that review KiCad schematics, PCBs, and Gerbers, rather than an MCP server that queries IPC-2581 and Allegro layouts.
- schematic-review
A skill for systematic schematic review with a numbered rule catalog, rather than a layout review server.
- kicad-mcp-pro
An MCP server for KiCad with profile-gated build and manufacturing modes, rather than a review-only server for IPC-2581 and Allegro boards.
- kicad-mcp
An MCP server that inspects, designs, and manufactures KiCad PCBs through FastMCP, rather than reviewing layouts in IPC-2581 or Allegro format.
Sources
Not verified
- Pricing: none stated on the repo.
- Related Error Index entries: the live error map has no Allegro or IPC-2581 entries.
- A named individual builder beyond the repository owner handle IntelligentElectron
Last verified November 6, 2026. Listings are informational. The evidence score measures public, verifiable evidence and is not an endorsement or a compatibility claim.