zap-mcp
KiCad PCB autorouter for AI agents with an MCP server, HTTP API, and CLI plus a JSON manufacturability report.
What it does and how it connects
zap-pcb-mcp is the stdio MCP server for Zap!, a hosted auto-router by Mutual Solutions. The user gives it a placed .kicad_pcb with its .kicad_pro, and it returns the same board with tracks, vias, and copper pours added, plus a JSON manufacturability report covering DRC, shorts, JLCPCB capability, and copper heat. The board is routed on the Zap! service, not on the user's machine, and Node 18 or newer is required. An HTTP API and a CLI expose the same service.
Access needs an API key from the vendor site, read from the environment only and never from tool arguments or written to tool output or logs. Without a key, the try_route_board tool routes one small board with no sign-up: at most 300 pads, 2 or 4 copper layers, and 2 trial jobs per network address per UTC day, stable router only. The README states the product is in early access and every routed board must be reviewed by an engineer with KiCad's DRC run before fabrication.
Alternatives
Compare side by side- kicad-agent-toolkit
A local command-line toolkit with Freerouting rounds and per-net acceptance, rather than a hosted autorouter reached through MCP.
- copper-mcp
A local-first MCP platform where routing candidates stay immutable until applied, rather than a hosted autorouter.
- DeepPCB
A cloud routing service for an already placed board, while Zap! is reached through an MCP server, HTTP API, and CLI with a manufacturability report.
- TraceMaker
Routes and places an existing KiCad .kicad_pcb file, while Zap! routes a placed board on a hosted service and returns a manufacturability report.
- kicad-mcp-pro
An MCP server with profile-gated tools for KiCad workflows, rather than a hosted autorouter with a manufacturability report.
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
- 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.
- The GitHub API reports the license as NOASSERTION, but the LICENSE file text is the MIT License, which governs here.
- A named individual builder beyond the repository owner handle mutual-solutions
Last verified November 6, 2026. Listings are informational. The evidence score measures public, verifiable evidence and is not an endorsement or a compatibility claim.