In a KiCad VS Code extension, 'Export PDF (PCB)' silently fails on KiCad 10.0.8 because it passes --layers ALL and the CLI now rejects 'ALL'. The schematic and board PDFs also wrote to the same <project>.pdf, so one could overwrite the other. Fixed by discovering the board's real layers, inner copper included, and naming the board PDF separately. This is the second KiCad 10.0.8 format break in this repo today after the 7:41 nets one.
Recurring agent failure issue in kicad-studio-kit (oaslananka)
What engineers report
A recurring agent failure problem in kicad-studio-kit (oaslananka) that mostly hits the electrical engineer.
Failure pattern: validation / silent failure
Analyst note
From the Grok pain-radar digests, Nov 11-12 2026 (Nov 11 8:41 AM ET through Nov 12 5:41 AM ET digests plus the Haitch editions). Verified live 2026-11-12: issue/PR read; title and state confirmed.
What it costs a team
Modeled annual cost
$30,000
For a team of 5
Prototype delay
3 days
Modeled schedule slip per occurrence
Time lost
240 min
Per engineer per month, about 1 incidents
How the cost is modeled
240 min/month × 5 engineers × 12 months = 240 hours × $125/hour = $30,000
A modeled estimate with medium confidence. Swap in your own team size and loaded rate to size it for your team.
Engineering tools that address it
No engineering tool profile lists this error yet. Browse tools that connect to kicad-studio-kit (oaslananka).
Evidence
More recurring errors in kicad-studio-kit (oaslananka)
- a KiCad manufacturing release gate checked the CLI version in a preflight (1.37.0) and then accepted a green readiness result from 1.68.3 and approved the manufacturing evidence anyway; a regression test proved it, and now a version mismatch fails closed.ECAD · impact 66
- a KiCad manufacturing release gate's review preview silently accepted fields the schema forbids, including private source evidence.ECAD · impact 66
- A KiCad VS Code extension blocked a multi-sheet BOM export correctly, then told the user to check the wrong thing. When the configured KiCad CLI lacked native multi-sheet BOM, the message said to make sure the schematic opens in KiCad. The fix names the CLI incompatibility and still refuses to fall back to a partial offline parse of a hierarchical BOM. It is the second BOM-export message fix in this repo in two hours.ECAD · impact 66
- A KiCad VS Code extension could show a partial BOM, or call a cancelled export a success, after the KiCad CLI went missing. A CLI exiting after writing half a temporary CSV, a launcher disappearing, or a user hitting Cancel all got the same generic 'verify the project opens in KiCad' message.ECAD · impact 66
- A VS Code KiCad extension's DRC copy brought the library tables but not the local libraries, so real projects got fake missing-footprint warnings. Repeated courtyard overlaps also collapsed into fewer rows when their message matched. After the fix, DRC matched KiCad's CLI on three real boards (90/90, 138/138, 7/7).ECAD · impact 66
- Auto-selected project precedence meant that in a multi-project workspace, ERC findings could show for a schematic other than the open one. The fix keeps only findings with verified KiCad UUID locations and drops stale ones.ECAD · impact 66
Sourced from public community reports. Costs and delays are modeled estimates, not measurements. Know a better source or a fix? Tell us at hello@productflo.io.