buildwithtrace

AI-powered PCB design CLI. Design, review, convert, and manufacture circuit boards from your terminal.

Changelog: CLI & SDK Release Notes (this npm package is a thin installer wrapper around the buildwithtrace Python CLI — release notes live there).

Installation

# Via npm (recommended)
npx buildwithtrace

# Or install globally
npm install -g buildwithtrace

# Or via pip
pip install buildwithtrace

# Or via Homebrew
brew install buildwithtrace/tap/buildwithtrace

Requirements

• Node.js 18+ (for the npm wrapper)
• Python 3.10+ (automatically detected and used to create a virtual environment)

Usage

# Sign in
buildwithtrace auth login

# Ask the AI about your design (read-only)
buildwithtrace ask "What decoupling caps do I need for this STM32?"

# Generate a symbol or footprint
buildwithtrace generate symbol "STM32F401"

# Run electrical / design rule checks (local engine)
buildwithtrace erc ./my-project.kicad_sch
buildwithtrace drc ./my-project.kicad_pcb

# Convert an Altium schematic to KiCad
buildwithtrace convert schematic ./design.SchDoc

# Check the design against a manufacturer's capabilities
buildwithtrace dfm check ./my-project/ -m pcbway

The command is buildwithtrace. We don't ship a trace binary (it collides with the macOS system /usr/bin/trace); add alias trace=buildwithtrace yourself if you want a shorter name.

Commands

| Command | Description | | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | ask | Ask the AI about a design (read-only) | | chat | Interactive AI design session | | agent/plan| Execute edits / multi-step plan mode | | generate | Generate symbols and footprints | | erc/drc | Local electrical / design rule checks | | gerbers/export | Manufacturing + PDF/SVG/STEP export | | convert | Altium ↔ KiCad ↔ Trace JSON conversion | | dfm/order | DFM checks and manufacturing orders | | review | AI-powered design review | | auth | Authenticate with your Trace account |

How It Works

The npm package is a lightweight wrapper that:

1. Detects Python 3.10+ on your system
2. Creates an isolated virtual environment
3. Downloads and installs the buildwithtrace Python wheel
4. Proxies all commands to the Python CLI

If Python isn't available, it falls back to a system-installed buildwithtrace binary.

Documentation

Full documentation: docs.buildwithtrace.com

License

See LICENSE for details.