kicad-mcp

Name: kicad-mcp
Availability: InStock
Author: Lama Al Rajih

Model Context Protocol server for KiCad on Mac, Windows, and Linux

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277

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Installation

Difficulty

Beginner

Estimated Time

5-10 minutes

Installation

Prerequisites

macOS, Windows, or Linux

Python 3.10 or higher

KiCad 9.0 or higher

Claude Desktop (or another MCP client)

Installation Steps

1. Set Up Your Python Environment

bash
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/lamaalrajih/kicad-mcp.git .

Create a virtual environment and activate it
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

Install the MCP SDK and other dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Configure Your Environment

Create a .env file to customize where the server looks for your KiCad projects:

bash
Copy the example environment file
cp .env.example .env

Edit the .env file
vim .env

Add your custom project directories in the .env file:


KICAD_SEARCH_PATHS=~/pcb,~/Electronics,~/Projects/KiCad

3. Run the Server

Once the environment is set up, you can run the server:

bash
python main.py

4. Configure an MCP Client

Create or edit the Claude Desktop configuration file:

bash
Create the directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude

Edit the configuration file
vim ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add the KiCad MCP server to the configuration:

json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "kicad": {
            "command": "/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/YOUR/PROJECT/kicad-mcp/venv/bin/python",
            "args": [
                "/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/YOUR/PROJECT/kicad-mcp/main.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Replace /ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/YOUR/PROJECT/kicad-mcp with the actual path to your project directory.