---
name: kicad
description: >-
  The map of everything Adom can do with KiCad. Invoke when the user has KiCad
  open, when a .kicad_pro/.kicad_sch/.kicad_pcb/.kicad_sym/.kicad_mod is present,
  or when they ask "what are my options" for a KiCad project — and you need to
  route them to the right surface: drive KiCad live from the cloud, view a
  board/footprint without opening it, manage & sync their libraries, source
  manufacturer-grade parts, create symbols/footprints/3D, validate, or publish
  the board as a molecule. Each surface names its canonical tool; hand off to it.
user-invocable: true
---

# Adom for KiCad

You (or Hydrogen Desktop's setup thread) have found the user in KiCad. This is
the menu of every Adom surface that works with KiCad. **Figure out their intent,
then hand off to the canonical tool for that row** — this skill is a router, not
a doer.

Detection cues: KiCad is a running window (ask the desktop bridge), or the
workspace has `*.kicad_pro`, `*.kicad_sch`, `*.kicad_pcb`, `*.kicad_sym`,
`*.kicad_mod`, `sym-lib-table`, or `fp-lib-table`.

## The menu (intent → tool)

### 1. Drive KiCad live (their real install)
The **KiCad bridge** in Adom Desktop drives the user's own KiCad from the cloud:
open the schematic / board / symbol / footprint editors, place parts, run
DRC/ERC, install symbol & footprint libraries, export gerbers / STEP / PDF, open
the 3D viewer, and screenshot any window.
→ `adom/adom-desktop-kicad-bridge` (bundled in Adom Desktop). Invoke via the
**adom-desktop** skill (`kicad_*` verbs).

### 2. See a board or footprint without opening KiCad
- **2D board viewer** — pan/zoom a `.kicad_pcb`, toggle layers, flip to back, in a Hydrogen webview → `kyle/kicad-pcb-viewer`
- **3D footprint viewer** — extruded copper pads, labels, land-pattern overlay for a `.kicad_mod` → `adom/fp3d-viewer`
- **Any published part/board** already renders interactive symbol + footprint + 3D viewers on its wiki **component** page.

### 3. Manage & sync their KiCad libraries
- **KiCad Library Manager (klm)** — probe the machine, read their own sym-lib-table/fp-lib-table, edit Ref/Footprint/Datasheet/LCSC-PN/Description inline, live JLCPCB stock+price, add from the wiki, sync to disk with reversible backups → `adom/kicad-library-manager`
- **Adom Project Manager** — browse wiki boards/projects and add components straight into the KiCad library → `adom/adom-project-manager`
- **Import external ZIP libraries** (SnapEDA / SamacSys / UltraLibrarian) into KiCad → `kyle/adom-kicad-library-importer`

### 4. Get parts & libraries into KiCad (sourcing)
- **Chip Fetcher** — manufacturer-grade bundle for an MPN: `.kicad_sym` + `.kicad_mod` + STEP + datasheet, sourced manufacturer-first → SnapMagic → Mouser/DigiKey/Arrow/CSE-UL → LCSC → `adom/adom-chip-fetcher`
- **Chip Fetcher Lite** — fast/cheap, wiki-first staging (check the wiki, upload only what's missing) → `adom/chip-fetcher-lite`. See the routing rule: ASK lite-vs-heavy before fetching.
- **Component pages** — every published part ships a downloads grid: KiCad `.kicad_sym` + `.kicad_mod` + STEP + WRL.
- **Adom machine-parts library** — install Adom's own pins/contacts into KiCad → `barrett-land/adom-library-importer`
- **Basic parts** — curated passives/common SMD → `adom/adom-basic-parts`
- **Distributor data** (price / stock / datasheet / LCSC PN, no CAD) → `adom/adom-parts-search`

### 5. Create & export CAD for KiCad
- **Symbol** — KiCad `.kicad_sym` with an interactive viewer → `adom/adom-symbol`
- **Footprint** — `.kicad_mod` with a layer HUD → `adom/adom-footprint`
- **adom-lbr** — the EDA library translator: bring a part in from Altium/EAGLE/Fusion and emit native KiCad (and back) → `adom/adom-lbr`
- **Datasheet → CAD** — a datasheet PDF to symbol + footprint + provenance → `adom/adom-ds2sf`
- **STEP → GLB** — color-preserving 3D for the board's models → `adom/adom-step2glb`
- **Chip icons / outlines** from a STEP → `adom/adom-chip-thumbnailer`
- **Validate** a footprint against the 3D model (pin-1 chip+footprint side, EP heatsink vias, bake `.step`/`.glb`) → `adom/adom-chipsmith`
- **Donut / annular NPTH pads** for MEMS mics, pressure sensors, vented packages → `adom/kicad-donut-pad`

### 6. Publish the board as a molecule
`adom/kicad-export-molecule` (local STEP export via the bridge → OCCT molecule) →
`adom/molecule-publish` (convert + package + publish) → a wiki **component** page
→ `adom/adom-molecule-import` pulls it into Hydrogen. `adom/molecule-pipeline`
routes the whole thing if the direction is ambiguous.

### 7. Shared backend (context, not user-facing)
`adom/service-kicad` is the headless KiCad 10 service every tool shells to:
DRC/ERC, SVG/Gerber/STEP export, Altium→KiCad conversion, symbol/footprint/3D
lookup. You rarely call it directly.

## Sister skills
`adom/fusion` and `adom/altium` are the same map for those tools. All three are
members of the `adom/eda` family.