⚡ kicad-happy

AI-powered design review for KiCad. Analyzes schematics, PCB layouts, and Gerbers. Catches real bugs before you order boards.

Works with Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot CLI, and Gemini CLI, as a GitHub Action for automated PR reviews, or as standalone Python scripts you can run anywhere.

These skills turn your AI coding agent into a full-fledged electronics design assistant that understands your KiCad projects at a deep level: parses schematics and PCB layouts into structured data, cross-references component values against datasheets, detects common design errors, and walks you through the full prototype-to-production workflow.

🔬 What it looks like in practice

Point your agent at a KiCad project and it does the rest — parses every schematic and PCB file, traces every net, computes every voltage, and tells you what's wrong before you spend money on boards.

"Analyze my KiCad project at hardware/rev2/"

Here's a condensed example from an open-source robot controller board. The agent found all of this automatically:

It builds your power tree — tracing every regulator from input to load, computing output voltages from feedback dividers:

VBUS (USB-C / battery input, fused)
├── AP63357 buck (500kHz switching) → 5V
│   └── Feedback: R8/R9 ratio=0.155 → Vout=3.87V
│       Power dissipation: ~0.15W (85% efficiency assumed)
└── RT9080-3.3 LDO → 3.3V
    └── Decoupling: 16 caps, 10.8µF total

It identifies every subcircuit — not just passives, but the functional blocks and how they connect:

Subcircuit	Details
Motor drive	9x P-MOSFET switches (DMG2305UX), transistor-driven H-bridges
Filters	RC signal conditioning at 16Hz, 169Hz, and 1.03kHz (input filtering and debounce)
Lighting	WS2812B addressable LED chain on GPIO, 60mA estimated draw
Sensors	Onboard sensor interface, crystal oscillator with load cap validation
Protection	ESD clamp on USB D+/D-, dual input fuses (0.75A signal, 2.5A motor)

It audits every connector for ESD protection — and flags the ones that are exposed:

ESD coverage: 19 connectors audited

  USB-C:     ESD clamp on D+/D-  ✓ (partial — 13 signal pins per ground ⚠️)
  Fuse F1:   2.5A motor input  ✓
  Fuse F2:   0.75A signal input  ✓
  ⚠️ 6-pin header:    no protection (exposed signals)
  ⚠️ Motor outputs:   no protection (exposed to back-EMF)
  ⚠️ Servo connectors: no protection (exposed signals)
  ⚠️ Sensor port:     no protection
  ... 19 of 19 connectors have coverage gaps

It validates your passive networks — computing actual circuit behavior from component values:

Detection	Components	Computed Value	What It Means
RC filter	R21/C31	fc = 15.9 Hz	Low-pass for slow analog signal
RC filter	R1/C13	fc = 169 Hz	Debounce / noise rejection
RC filter	R2/C14	fc = 1.03 kHz	Signal conditioning
Feedback	R8/R9	ratio = 0.155	Buck converter output voltage set
Divider	R42/R43	ratio = 0.500	Voltage sensing (half)
Crystal	Y1	CL = 14.0 pF	Load cap status: ok (target: 18 pF, -22%)

It suggests applicable certifications — based on what it detects in the design:

Suggested certifications:
  FCC Part 15 Subpart B (US) — unintentional radiator compliance
  CISPR 32 / CE EMC Directive (EU) — EMC compliance for EU market

It checks production readiness — BOM lock status, connector ground distribution, decoupling adequacy:

BOM lock: 0% — no MPNs assigned (prototype stage)
Decoupling: 5 rails, 34 caps total (132µF motor, 110µF logic, 10.8µF 3.3V)
Connector ground: USB-C has 13:1 signal-to-ground ratio (recommended ≤3:1)

For complete examples with all sections, see: - Example 1: Robot controller — schematic + PCB + EMC + SPICE, 184 components - Example 2: GNSS disciplined oscillator — full workflow including datasheet sync, 296 components, 10 power rails, Ethernet + USB + SMA

For the end-to-end walkthrough from S-expression parsing through signal detection and datasheet cross-referencing, see How It Works.

🚀 Install

[!TIP] For detailed installation, upgrade, and troubleshooting guidance across all platforms, have your AI agent read install-guidance.md. It covers platform-specific quirks, known bugs, workarounds, and OS-specific issues.

Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add aklofas/kicad-happy
/plugin install kicad-happy@kicad-happy

[!NOTE] /plugin update may not detect new versions due to a known Claude Code issue. To get the latest version, clear the cache and reinstall: rm -rf ~/.claude/plugins/cache/kicad-happy ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/kicad-happy /plugin marketplace add aklofas/kicad-happy /plugin install kicad-happy@kicad-happy

OpenAI Codex:

Use Codex's built-in skill installer first:

"Use $skill-installer to install the kicad-happy skills from https://github.com/aklofas/kicad-happy"

If you prefer a manual install, install the skills into ~/.codex/skills/.

Google Gemini CLI:

gemini skills install <url> does not recurse into this monorepo's skills/ directory. Clone and link all 12 at once:

git clone https://github.com/aklofas/kicad-happy.git
gemini skills link ./kicad-happy/skills

Or install all 12 skills directly from the URL using --path (requires Gemini CLI ≥ Jan 13 2026):

for skill in kicad spice emc datasheets bom digikey mouser lcsc element14 jlcpcb pcbway kidoc; do
  gemini skills install https://github.com/aklofas/kicad-happy.git --path skills/$skill
done

See install-guidance.md for workspace-scope installs and upgrade notes.

Manual install & other platforms

Claude Code (macOS / Linux):

git clone https://github.com/aklofas/kicad-happy.git
cd kicad-happy
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
for skill in kicad spice emc datasheets bom digikey mouser lcsc element14 jlcpcb pcbway kidoc; do
  ln -sf "$(pwd)/skills/$skill" ~/.claude/skills/$skill
done

OpenAI Codex — global install (macOS / Linux):

git clone https://github.com/aklofas/kicad-happy.git
cd kicad-happy
mkdir -p ~/.codex/skills
for skill in kicad spice emc datasheets bom digikey mouser lcsc element14 jlcpcb pcbway kidoc; do
  ln -sf "$(pwd)/skills/$skill" ~/.codex/skills/$skill
done

Windows PowerShell (Codex):

git clone https://github.com/aklofas/kicad-happy.git
cd kicad-happy
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$HOME\.codex\skills" | Out-Null
"kicad","spice","emc","datasheets","bom","digikey","mouser","lcsc","element14","jlcpcb","pcbway","kidoc" | ForEach-Object {
  New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "$HOME\.codex\skills\$_" -Target "$(Get-Location)\skills\$_" -Force | Out-Null
}

Note: Windows symlinks may require Developer Mode or elevated privileges.

The analysis scripts are pure Python 3.10+ with zero required dependencies. No pip install, no Docker, no KiCad installation needed.

⚙️ GitHub Action

Also available as a GitHub Action for automated PR reviews. Every push and PR that touches KiCad files gets a commit status check and a structured review comment — power tree, SPICE results, EMC risk, thermal analysis, and more. Optionally chain with Claude for AI-powered natural-language reviews.

See the GitHub Action setup guide for workflow examples, diff-based PR reviews, and AI-powered review configuration.

📦 Skills

Skill	What it does
kicad	⚡ Parse and analyze KiCad schematics, PCB layouts, Gerbers, and PDF reference designs. Automated subcircuit detection, design review, DFM.
spice	🔬 SPICE simulation — generates testbenches for detected subcircuits, validates filter frequencies, opamp gains, divider ratios. Monte Carlo tolerance analysis. ngspice, LTspice, Xyce.
emc	📡 EMC pre-compliance — 44 rule checks for radiated emission risks, PDN impedance, diff pair skew, ESD paths. FCC/CISPR/automotive/military.
datasheets	📄 Extract structured specs from datasheet PDFs — pinouts, electrical characteristics, peripherals, topology. Per-MPN caching with quality scoring. Consumed by kicad/emc/spice/thermal/kidoc.
kidoc	📄 (beta) Engineering documentation — HDD, CE technical file, ICD, design review, manufacturing, and more. Auto-generated figures, PDF/DOCX/ODT/HTML output.
bom	📋 Full BOM lifecycle — analyze, source, price, export tracking CSVs, generate per-supplier order files.
digikey	🔎 Search DigiKey for components and download datasheets via API.
mouser	🔎 Search Mouser for components and download datasheets.
lcsc	🔎 Search LCSC for components (production sourcing, JLCPCB parts library).
element14	🔎 Search Newark/Farnell/element14 (one API, three storefronts).
jlcpcb	🏭 JLCPCB fabrication and assembly — design rules, BOM/CPL format, ordering workflow.
pcbway	🏭 PCBWay fabrication and assembly — turnkey with MPN-based sourcing.

🖐️ Ask about specific circuits

You don't have to ask for a full design review — just point the agent at whatever you're working on:

"Check the two capacitive touch buttons on my PCB for routing or placement issues"

"Is my boost converter loop area going to cause EMI problems?"

"Trace the enable chain for my power sequencing — is the order correct?"

"Are the differential pairs on my USB routed correctly?"

The agent runs the analysis scripts, then autonomously digs deeper — tracing nets, analyzing zone fills, calculating clearances, reading datasheets.

What the analysis covers

Domain	What it checks
Power	Regulator Vout from feedback dividers (~65 Vref families), power sequencing, enable chains, inrush, sleep current
Analog	Opamp gain/bandwidth (per-part behavioral models), voltage dividers, RC/LC filters, crystal load caps
Protection	TVS/ESD mapping, reverse polarity FETs, fuse sizing, clamping voltage
Digital	I2C pull-up validation with rise time calculation, SPI CS counts, UART voltage domains, CAN termination
Domain	RF chains, Ethernet, HDMI, memory, BMS, motor drivers, sensors, display/touch, audio, LED drivers, debug interfaces, and more (40 detectors total)
Derating	Capacitor voltage (ceramic 50%/electrolytic 80%), IC abs max, resistor power. Commercial/military/automotive profiles. Over-designed component detection.