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• A visual git-diff for KiCAD

  typecad • 03/22/2025 at 05:43 • 0 comments

  KiCAD loves to put an * next to an open board file even if nothing important changed.
  

  Unlike other software tools, git isn't that useful to see file changes in KiCAD PCB files. That's why @typecad/typecad-gitdiff was written. Also to advance the march towards schematic-as-code with typeCAD.

  It will show the differences between two PCB files so you can be sure nothing important changed before you commit or send it to fab. 

  It can work with git and compares the last committed file versus the current file. 

  

  It will create a render and highlight modifications in yellow and for each layer, it will show additions in green and deletions in red.

  Install

  Enter the following in a terminal.

  npm i -g @typecad/typecad-gitdiff

   It will install the package globally so it can be run as a regular binary file (assuming you have Node installed)

  Usage

  Once it's installed, you can run it like this:

  typecad-gitdiff <original.kicad_pcb> <modified.kicad_pcb>

  Or you can use it with git and compare the last committed file:

  git difftool <modified.kicad_pcb> --extcmd 'typecad-gitdiff'

   Just replace <modified.kicad_pcb> with the actual file to compare. git will extract the committed file for you and pass it along to typecad-gitdiff.

  After that, it will run, and an HTML file will open with all the changes to view. 

• JLCPCB-Export

  typecad • 03/19/2025 at 15:25 • 0 comments

  Integrating software tools like git or various CI/CD methods is possible within typeCAD. 

  Running ERC on the code can be done with commands, DRC on the PCB is possible,  and with @typecad/jlcpcb-export all the required files to have JLCPCB assemble your board can be created. 

  The package could be integrated into a Github script, or it could be more locally used by creating a git hook. 

  The result is a convenient zip file with all the files formatted specifically for JLCPCB's assembly service. 

  You can read more about this on typeCAD's website. 

• ngspice

  typecad • 03/19/2025 at 12:45 • 0 comments

  One of the benefits of schematic-as-code is it avoids the tediousness of drag-and-drop GUIs. The various spice simulations often require the same drag-and-drop steps and maybe even recreating the schematic. typeCAD lets you use your code with only very minor changes.

  Your code might look like this, conveniently a voltage divider circuit:

  import { Schematic } from "@typecad/typecad"
  import { Resistor } from '@typecad/passives/0603';
  
  let typecad = new Schematic('voltage_divider');
  let r1 = new Resistor({ value: '10kohm' });
  let r2 = new Resistor({ value: '10kohm' });
  
  typecad.named('vdiv').net(r1.pin(2), r2.pin(1));
  
  typecad.create(r1, r2);

  Import the package

   npm install @typecad/ngspice

  And add a few ngspice-related code changes.

  import { Schematic, Power } from "@typecad/typecad"
  import { Resistor } from '@typecad/passives/0603';
  import { ngspiceSimulator } from '@typecad/ngspice';
  
  let typecad = new Schematic('voltage_divider');
  let r1 = new Resistor({ value: '10kohm', simulation: { include: true } }); 
  let r2 = new Resistor({ value: '10kohm', simulation: { include: true } }); 
  let vin = new Power({ power: r1.pin(1), gnd: r2.pin(2), voltage: 3.3 }); 
  let ngspice = new ngspiceSimulator(typecad, vin);
  
  typecad.named('vdiv').net(r1.pin(2), r2.pin(1));
  
  typecad.create(r1, r2);
  
  ngspice.op();

  That will output this giving you information about all the named nets and components:

  🌶️ Running ngspice
  ┌────────────────────┬───────────────┬────────────────────┐
  │ Variable           │ Type          │ Value              │
  ├────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────┤
  │ r1:power           │ power         │ 2.7225 mW          │
  ├────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────┤
  │ v(in)              │ voltage       │ 3.3000 V           │
  ├────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────┤
  │ i(r1)              │ current       │ 1.6500 mA          │
  ├────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────┤
  │ i(r2)              │ current       │ 1.6500 mA          │
  ├────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────┤
  │ r2:power           │ power         │ 2.7225 mW          │
  ├────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────┤
  │ i(v1)              │ current       │ -1.6500 mA         │
  ├────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────┤
  │ v(vdiv)            │ voltage       │ 1.6500 V           │
  └────────────────────┴───────────────┴────────────────────┘
  

  You can read about this in more detail on the typecad.net website. 

• Schematic-as-code

  typecad • 03/18/2025 at 00:13 • 0 comments

  The first thing people might wonder is why

  The answer is:

  • why not?
  • some people might prefer it
  • GUI's are error-prone
  • AI knows TypeScript well, it doesn't know the first thing about creating schematics
  • reusing KiCAD projects is not a feature they are working toward
  • using git on a KiCAD schematic isn't that useful

  It won't be for everyone and that's ok.

  Schematic-as-code

  What does schematic-as-code mean exactly? 

  It means writing code (TypeScript in this case) that when ran, outputs a KiCAD netlist. Import the netlist into the PCB Editor, and go from there. 

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