PCBLivingLibrary
Component librarian (ecadlib): finds missing symbols, footprints and 3D models from a BOM, draws the missing ones from datasheets, and holds unverified parts until a human signs them off.
What it does and how it connects
ecadlib is a librarian for a component library, from the first BOM to the day a part goes obsolete. Give it a BOM and it finds every symbol, footprint and 3D model that is missing, draws the ones nobody has from the datasheet, and makes them match the rest of the library. Every part is verified before it is released: anything that fails a check, or still needs a person, is held until someone signs it off.
It reads Altium BOMs and ActiveBOMs, an Altium project, KiCad BOMs and schematics, or a hand-made CSV or XLSX file. It fills gaps from the user's own libraries first, then the official KiCad libraries and its checked table of standard packages, then EasyEDA and LCSC as an unofficial source used last. Nexar, DigiKey and Mouser identify the part. When nobody has it, a datasheet reader reads the package drawing and a deterministic IPC-7351B generator draws the land, and symbols follow one pin rule with inputs left, outputs right, power top and ground bottom. Released parts go to an Altium 365 workspace, a database library, plain SchLib and PcbLib files, or KiCad symbol, footprint and database libraries. A weekly check then reports parts going end of life, upstream KiCad changes and drift in the Altium 365 workspace.
An MCP server (ecadlib mcp) lets Claude, Codex, Grok or another agent run the same steps in conversation, with the same holds and cost checks. The user brings their own API key and picks the model. The README reports its own benchmark: 87 of 110 real parts built fully right (79 percent), 0 built wrong, from Claude Opus 5.5 datasheet reads of 2026-10-25 plus two targeted re-reads, with the 23 misses held or left unread, never built.
Alternatives
Compare side by side- hardware-splicer
Takes a donor design to a KiCad carrier board with DRC and bench gates, rather than building and governing a component library.
- signex
A schematic editor in Rust with its own native formats, rather than a librarian that fills and releases library parts.
- kicad-happy
Agent skills that review KiCad schematics, PCBs and Gerbers, rather than drawing the missing library parts for them.
- kicad-mcp-pro
An MCP server that drives KiCad schematic, PCB, ERC and DRC and manufacturing export workflows, rather than a component librarian.
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 ERC is clean (0 violations, 66 of 66 hierarchy checks pass), but Altium compiles the same imported design with 33 to 43 errors and 154 to 156 warnings and leaves 19 endpoints on multi-pin nets unassigned. The equivalence gate between the two tools is still not run.Error Index
Sources
Not verified
- Pricing (free and open source per the README; the user brings their own model API key, and that key cost is the model provider's, not a product price)
- Real user voices (the repo has no public issues)
Last verified November 6, 2026. Listings are informational. The evidence score measures public, verifiable evidence and is not an endorsement or a compatibility claim.