Schematic Review Skill

Use this skill when an AI agent is asked to inspect, review, or safely improve a KiCad schematic through KiCad MCP Pro.

This skill is specific to oaslananka/kicad-mcp-pro and should be kept synchronized with docs/tools-reference.generated.md.

When to use

Use this skill for:

• Pre-layout schematic review
• ERC review
• Net connectivity review
• Power flag and no-connect review
• Symbol, footprint, and component-property inspection
• Readability and visual QA
• Conservative schematic edits when explicitly requested

Do not use this skill to claim electrical correctness without ERC, design-rule review, datasheet review, and human engineering approval.

Required context

Collect:

• Active project path and schematic file
• Design intent and functional requirements
• Expected power rails, interfaces, and critical nets
• Component sourcing assumptions
• Whether the task is read-only review or allowed to modify the schematic

Primary MCP tools

Project and intent

• kicad_get_project_info
• project_get_design_intent
• project_set_design_intent
• project_get_design_spec
• project_import_design_spec
• project_design_report

Read-only schematic inspection

• sch_get_symbols
• sch_get_net_names
• sch_get_labels
• sch_get_wires
• sch_get_connectivity_graph
• sch_get_circuit_ir
• sch_trace_net
• sch_check_power_flags
• sch_get_population_status
• lib_get_symbol_info
• lib_get_footprint_info
• lib_verify_component_contract

ERC, quality, and visual checks

• run_erc
• schematic_quality_gate
• schematic_connectivity_gate
• schematic_design_rule_check
• sch_visual_qa
• sch_render_png
• project_quality_gate

Controlled schematic edit tools

Use only when explicitly requested and when the workflow is allowed to modify files.

• sch_add_symbol
• sch_add_component
• sch_add_wire
• sch_add_label
• sch_add_global_label
• sch_add_power_symbol
• sch_add_no_connect
• sch_add_missing_junctions
• sch_modify_property
• sch_update_properties
• sch_move_symbol
• sch_delete_symbol
• sch_plan_from_spec
• sch_preview_plan
• sch_apply_plan
• sch_verify_plan
• sch_rollback_plan
• sch_reload

Workflow

1. Confirm active project and schematic state with kicad_get_project_info.
2. Retrieve design intent with project_get_design_intent; if absent and the user supplied requirements, store them with project_set_design_intent only when appropriate.
3. Inspect symbols, nets, labels, wires, and connectivity graph.
4. Run ERC with run_erc.
5. Run schematic_quality_gate, schematic_connectivity_gate, and schematic_design_rule_check.
6. Check power-rail intent using sch_check_power_flags and net tracing for critical rails/interfaces.
7. Check component metadata and footprint bindings with library tools when part correctness is in scope.
8. For readability review, use sch_visual_qa and optionally sch_render_png.
9. If edits are requested, prefer plan/preview/apply/verify/rollback tools over direct mutation when possible.
10. Re-run ERC and schematic quality gates after any schematic-changing operation.

Quality checks

A schematic review response must include:

• Project and schematic context
• ERC summary
• Connectivity findings
• Power-flag/no-connect findings
• Symbol/footprint/property findings
• Readability findings
• Required fixes and open questions
• Human-review notes

Failure modes

Stop and report clearly when:

• No KiCad project is active
• Schematic files are missing or unsupported
• ERC cannot run
• The design intent is too ambiguous to judge correctness
• Component datasheets or footprint requirements are unavailable
• The user requests edits without permission to modify files

Output format

Return:

• Schematic context
• Tools used
• Findings by severity
• ERC and quality-gate status
• Proposed or applied fixes
• Remaining assumptions
• Next validation steps

Safety rule

A clean ERC result is necessary but not sufficient for design approval. Always report datasheet, footprint, power-budget, signal-integrity, and human-review gaps separately.