Connect an AI assistant to your PCB designs

Published September 22, 2026 · Updated October 20, 2026

An assistant can work with project files if its client and tools support them. The practical problem is keeping its answers tied to the right saved design: which version did it read, which files changed, and what can another engineer continue?

BoardRepo keeps that project context in a hardware workspace. Its Model Context Protocol (MCP) server at https://boardrepo.com/mcp supplies available parsed schematic, copper, BOM and check results, under the access you approve. The browser page and source downloads give a person a way to inspect the saved work and continue in KiCad.

What an assistant can read

Once connected, an assistant can:

• search public boards by free text, or narrow by component, tag, license, author or capability, for example component:rp2040 has:pcb
• open a board's overview and list its files
• read the schematic as components, pins and nets rather than coordinates, focused on one reference designator or one net
• read the PCB copper: layers, vias, pads, and each net's routed length
• pull the BOM with reference designators, values, footprints and manufacturer part numbers
• read available stored DRC and ERC results, or request supported checks when the connection, board and current limits permit it; fab profiles include JLCPCB, PCBWay and OSH Park
• read a source file, or search across a board's text files for a net name or part number

Specific questions work best. "Which public boards use an ESP32-S3 with USB-C power?", "What is on the 3V3 net of this board?", "Which parts on this board have no manufacturer part number?" and "Does this layout pass JLCPCB's 2-layer limits?" each map onto one or two of those reads.

Which boards it can see

The consent screen offers the permissions currently available to your connection. Personal reading access can include your private boards. Separately approved organization access follows your current board permissions: source access, checks and reviews need the corresponding capability. Membership alone does not grant every board. Reading does not allow source edits, visibility changes or deletion. Where personal saving is offered and you approve it, a capable assistant client can create personal boards and add versions to personal boards you own.

We are extending MCP saving to organization boards with explicit organization-save consent and the same publishing permissions as the web workspace and KiCad plugin. That workflow is planned; use the web workspace or plugin for team saves today. Existing connections keep the permissions you approved.

Read the live connection's instructions and tool list rather than assuming every assistant has the same capabilities. Reading tools use the latest published version by default. Where a tool offers a version selector, ask it to read the intended saved version and check the version returned with its answer. Selecting a version in the browser does not select it for the assistant; the linked guide explains historical data availability.

You can revoke a connection at any time in Settings.

From a conversation to a project

Save a baseline before asking for an edit. If the assistant can prepare and upload the files and has the separately approved save permission, save the changed source as a version of the same personal board. Otherwise upload the prepared files yourself. Confirm the version was published and inspect its available views; successful source storage does not guarantee successful rendering.

Compare the exact baseline and changed version when comparison is available, then download the intended version or Pull the current remote version offered by BoardRepo for KiCad. Open it in KiCad, inspect the source and run the relevant checks. Push genuinely changed files when you are ready to save the next version. The KiCad with Claude or ChatGPT guide explains the workflow and its limits; this is not a claim that an assistant can automatically place or route a finished PCB.

Connecting

There is no API key to create. Open Connect AI and pick your assistant:

• Claude: BoardRepo is listed in Claude's connector directory. Connect your account, then enable BoardRepo in the conversation and send a task. Follow Connect AI for current availability and setup.
• Cursor and VS Code: one click adds the server, then you approve the sign-in.
• Claude Code, OpenAI Codex and Gemini CLI: one command each.
• ChatGPT: on a supported account, add BoardRepo as a custom MCP app using developer mode on the web. Plan and workspace policies determine available actions; follow the current requirements linked from Connect AI.
• Any other client that supports Streamable HTTP and OAuth dynamic client registration can connect with the URL alone.

In every case the assistant opens a BoardRepo sign-in in your browser and you approve access there. Never type your BoardRepo password into an assistant.

Connecting does not start a task. In Claude, enable BoardRepo for the conversation under + → Connectors, then try: “Use BoardRepo to open rbaron/b-parasite. Explain its available schematic and BOM, cite the board, and say what you could not inspect.” For your own design, upload or import it first and approve own-board access. Check the connector's Tool access setting if the tools do not appear; follow Connect AI for current setup.

What to keep in mind

An answer is the assistant's reading of the data, not a sign-off. Connectivity comes from the design files, so it is only as right as the schematic, and a very large design may be truncated; the response says so when it is. The first time an assistant asks for a board's nets or copper, BoardRepo may still be computing them, and the assistant is told to try again shortly rather than guess.

Checks cover geometry and connectivity within each file, not whether the circuit does what you meant. Check a board before you order it covers what they miss.

For the developer view of the same server, including its discovery documents and the Markdown version of every public board page, see the developer and agent docs.