We use Claude and Codex while developing HydroGuard. They help us read design files, write small tools and draw the schematic in KiCad. We still decide what the board should do, check the parts and test the hardware.
The useful part is how those tools connect. A component we find in the assembly catalogue can become a symbol in our project, keep its part number through the design, and end up in the bill of materials for the board we order.
Why the parts catalogue matters so much
For us, JLCPCB’s biggest advantage is its component catalogue and the assembly service behind it. Cheap boards are useful. Being able to design around specific parts that the same company can place on those boards saves a lot more work.
An LCSC part number gives us an exact part to refer to. We can carry that number from a search result into the KiCad library and the assembly BOM, instead of trying to match a generic “10 kΩ resistor” again at checkout. Stock still needs checking before an order, and an imported footprint still needs checking against the datasheet.
That is what we mean when we call the catalogue a moat. In our view, the hard thing to reproduce is the connection between part data, sourcing and assembly. With AI tools able to search that data, it becomes useful much earlier, while we are still drawing.
From a part number to KiCad
We have PCBparts.dev connected through MCP, which lets an assistant search JLCPCB part records and look up details without us copying every result into a chat. It is a separate service, not an official JLCPCB integration.
Our own add-component.sh wrapper then uses easyeda2kicad to import the symbol, footprint and available 3D models from EasyEDA. It puts them in the project’s local libraries and adds the LCSC number to the symbol’s search keywords. We can find the same part by its C-number inside KiCad.
The library paths are relative to the project. Someone else can open the repository without recreating our personal KiCad library setup. The wrapper handles that bookkeeping; it does not establish that the pinout or package is correct.
We published the reusable part as KiCad AI Workflow on GitHub: component import, SVG/PNG exports, crops and visual-review records. In that repository, imports run through scripts/workflow.py. Our project-specific drawing and recording scripts are separate.
The tools we use
- KiCad holds the actual schematic and PCB files. Those remain ordinary, editable KiCad files.
- Claude and Codex work with us on the specification, design files, scripts and rendered reviews.
- American Embedded’s KiStack supplies agent instructions for KiCad work, including schematic drawing, libraries and exports. It is guidance for the assistant, not an automatic PCB router.
- PCBparts.dev provides the part-search tools connected through MCP.
- easyeda2kicad and our import wrapper bring parts into project-local libraries.
- Our drawing and verification scripts save intermediate steps, compare connections and run KiCad’s electrical rule check.
- kicad-cli and rsvg-convert export the schematic as SVG and render it as a large PNG for visual inspection, including review with Claude or Codex.
- KiCanvas, Playwright and FFmpeg turn the saved steps into the animation above. KiCanvas also makes the finished schematic explorable on this website.
Drawing is only part of the work
KiCad schematics are text files. Our scripts can place a symbol, draw a wire and save the result without moving the mouse in the editor. That makes small, repeatable changes possible. It also makes it easy to produce a file that looks plausible while connecting the wrong pin.
For the second prototype’s redraw, we compare the exported netlist with the reference design. That checks which pins are connected, alongside component identities, footprints and assembly fields. We run the electrical rule check separately.
Then we look at the drawing. SVG exports become high-resolution PNGs so we can inspect pin labels, text placement, wire crossings and whole circuits. An image review and a netlist comparison answer different questions. Neither replaces checking the datasheets or testing the assembled board.
What you are watching
The animation replays selected snapshots saved as the schematic was built. It is a new landscape render of those files, not a crop of our Instagram video. We apply the final net colours to the earlier steps so connections are easier to follow.
We also changed our KiCanvas build to display explicit wire and label colours from KiCad. That work is in a draft pull request upstream. The viewer below uses our local build of that change.
Open the drawing
You can zoom in and switch sheets here. The schematic has been redrawn; reconciling it with the PCB and finishing the routing is still ahead of us.