KiCad Studio Kit

VS Code extension repository for KiCad Studio workflows.
Extension-side MCP discovery, configuration, compatibility metadata, and user experience.

KiCad Studio Kit is the VS Code extension repository. The MCP server is developed and released separately. This repository owns only the extension-side MCP discovery, configuration, compatibility metadata, and user experience — see ADR 0009 and repository structure.

This repository contains:

  • the KiCad Studio VS Code extension (apps/vscode-extension) — the only released product here;
  • private shared test infrastructure (packages/test-harness, packages/kicad-fixtures);
  • the extension-side MCP integration contract and compatibility metadata.

The KiCad MCP Pro server (kicad-mcp-pro) — its Python source, npm launcher, container image, and MCP Registry listing — lives in KiCad MCP Pro.

Repository maturity and standards

This repository tracks Solo-maintainer Professional OSS / Mature OSS readiness through the repository maturity report, OpenSSF evidence, and OpenSSF gap analysis. Gold/foundation-grade maturity is intentionally not claimed for the current solo-maintainer model; branch protection and release evidence remain the practical Professional OSS focus.

Version Baseline

This repository's local release surface is:

  • VS Code extension: oaslananka.kicadstudiokit (1.9.5)

The Python package kicad-mcp-pro, container image, and MCP Registry listing are released from KiCad MCP Pro.

KiCad Compatibility

KiCad Studio Kit treats KiCad 10.0.x as the primary tested line, keeps KiCad 9.x as deprecated best-effort compatibility after upstream EOL, and keeps KiCad 8.x as deprecated file-level compatibility. The canonical matrix, tested patch versions, CI coverage level, and feature gates are maintained in docs/support-matrix.md and compatibility.yaml.

Local Validation

corepack enable
corepack pnpm run dev:doctor
corepack pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
corepack pnpm --dir apps/vscode-extension exec playwright install chromium
corepack pnpm run check:forbidden-refs
corepack pnpm run check:version
corepack pnpm --filter kicadstudiokit run check
corepack pnpm --filter kicadstudiokit run package

Product-scoped entrypoints are available from the root:

corepack pnpm run check:kicad-studio

corepack pnpm --dir packages/test-harness run check
corepack pnpm run check:protocol-schemas
corepack pnpm run check:compatibility-contract
corepack pnpm run check:dev-doctor

Python/MCP server checks run from the KiCad MCP Pro repository.

For a reproducible VS Code Dev Containers or GitHub Codespaces environment, use the checked-in devcontainer configuration. The container sets up Node, pnpm, Python, uv, Playwright, shellcheck, actionlint, GitHub CLI, and best-effort KiCad CLI support for root checks and MCP tests. For a least-privilege VPS without a container daemon, use the checked-in rootless validation-host profile.

Install

Install the extension from the Visual Studio Marketplace or Open VSX, or build it locally:

corepack enable
corepack pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
corepack pnpm run package:kicad-studio

Usage

Open a workspace containing a KiCad project and use the KiCad Studio activity bar views and commands. See docs/getting-started.md for the guided workflow and docs/extension/commands.md for the command catalog.

Architecture

Examples

Publishing

Publishing is handled by GitHub Actions workflows under .github/workflows. External setup for environments, marketplace secrets, and trusted publishers is documented in docs/publishing.md. The structured preview (beta) program and tester feedback loop for the stable 1.x line are documented in docs/beta-program.md.

Maintenance

Dependency update policy, dashboard triage, and security-update handling are documented in docs/dependency-lifecycle.md. Compatibility support states and release gates are documented in docs/support-matrix.md. Canonical repository and portfolio workflow status are recorded in CANONICAL.md, .repo-health.yaml, and docs/reusable-workflows.md. Telemetry and error reporting are opt-in, disabled by default, and documented in docs/telemetry.md.

Contributing

Read CONTRIBUTING.md and run corepack pnpm run check before opening a pull request.

License

KiCad Studio Kit is available under the MIT License.