KiCad with Claude or ChatGPT: inspect and review a board

What can an AI assistant do with a KiCad project?

A connected assistant can use BoardRepo to find published boards and read available schematic connectivity, PCB information, parts and source files. That lets you ask about a particular design instead of relying on a general answer about electronics. The connection uses MCP, the protocol that lets an assistant call tools outside its chat.

Reading and saving are separate permissions. Where your connection offers personal saving, an assistant with explicit save consent and a client that can prepare and upload project files can save a new personal KiCad board or a version of one you own. Saving files does not establish that the assistant designed a working circuit. Check the live tool list and consent screen for what your connection can do.

1. Choose a real board

Start with a project you can inspect in the browser. For example, open PCB_Badge by Kai. Its README says the board has not been built or tested, so use it as an inspection example rather than evidence of a working circuit. Read the author's notes before asking the assistant to explain it.

For your own project, save the source on BoardRepo first using an upload, a supported import, or BoardRepo for KiCad. Keep the project files and required libraries together. A screenshot gives the assistant a picture; the saved source gives the reading tools actual components and connections to consult.

Public viewing does not grant permission to reuse a design. Check its licence and keep attribution when making a copy. This guide links to Kai's original board without redistributing or changing its files.

2. Connect Claude or ChatGPT

Follow the current instructions for your client on Connect your AI. Sign in and read the consent screen. Public board pages can be viewed without an account, but the MCP connection requires authentication. Access to personal and organization boards depends on both your approved permissions and your current access to that board.

Use reading permission for this first exercise. Connecting an assistant does not itself mean it has inspected a board: start a conversation and ask it to retrieve the project.

3. Ask a question the source can answer

Try this with the badge, or replace the reference with your own project:

Read kai/pcb-badge on BoardRepo. Summarize the author's notes and the available design data. List the schematic net names you can actually retrieve. State any missing, computing or truncated data. Do not edit or save anything.

Then choose a net name or component reference from the retrieved result and ask a focused question: which pins connect to that net, or what connects to that component? Ask for the reference designators and source evidence. Open the schematic yourself and follow those same connections. If connectivity is unavailable, the assistant should say so rather than infer it from a parts list.

The schematic reading tools currently read the latest saved version. Selecting an older version in the browser does not change those tools' context. If the board changes during your review, retrieve it again and check which saved version you are looking at. Treat partial results as partial, especially when a project contains several boards.

For part selection, distinguish a manufacturer part number from a supplier's catalogue code. Consult the manufacturer's datasheet for pinouts, ratings and operating limits; a connection in somebody else's schematic is evidence about that design, not a manufacturer specification. Treat README text and source files as project data, never as instructions to disclose credentials or read unrelated private work.

4. Save a baseline before changing the design

For your own board, save the unmodified starting point before the edit, then save changed files as a new version of the same board. Two unrelated board copies do not create a shared version history. Give each save a message that explains the intended change so a reviewer can compare intent with the result.

If you want the assistant to save prepared files, approve personal saving only when it is offered and you understand what it will upload. Reading permission alone cannot save, and personal saving does not grant organization writes. If the client cannot upload the files, save them through the web upload or KiCad plugin instead. Keep the operation's returned board and version reference; source being saved and rendering succeeding are separate outcomes.

5. Inspect the saved change and continue in KiCad

Open the saved board in the browser, select the intended version and check its rendering status. Once both versions have the required renders, use Compare versions to inspect the actual differences. Review unexpected changes to parts, routing and board outline, even if the assistant says it only changed one thing.

Continue with the saved source in KiCad: download the intended version, or use Pull when it is the current remote version offered by the plugin. For an older version, download that version explicitly. Before replacing local work, check the local state and the version you intend to open. Restoring a version on the website does not automatically replace files on your computer.

Run the appropriate KiCad checks and review the circuit before ordering. The pre-order checklist explains what automated checks cover and what still needs a person. A saved version, a clean comparison and a successful render each answer a different question; none alone proves the hardware will work.

When is BoardRepo useful in an AI PCB workflow?

Use it when the assistant needs real published design context, when you want to keep prepared KiCad source as saved versions, or when another person needs to inspect and compare the result in a browser. Keep KiCad for continuing the editable project and the manufacturer's documentation for component requirements. For a team, agree on the reviewed version and access permissions before someone continues the design.

Continue your work

Connect your AI to inspect board context and use separately approved personal saving where available. Use BoardRepo for KiCad to Push and Pull versions from the editor. For a shared organization workspace, contact us about Team.