> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cd40536-spikonado.manicule.dev/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
> For every page in one file, fetch https://cd40536-spikonado.manicule.dev/docs/llms-full.txt (large).
> To search and read these docs as tools, connect the MCP server at https://cd40536-spikonado.manicule.dev/docs/api/mcp.
> Every agent surface: https://cd40536-spikonado.manicule.dev/docs/.well-known/llms-manifest.json

# Hardware (/docs/use/hardware)

<!-- agent-signals: reading_time_min: 4 · est_tokens: 1067 · updated: 2026-11-13 -->
Related: [Projects and threads](/docs/use/projects-and-threads.md), [Models and providers](/docs/use/models-and-providers.md), [What the agent can do](/docs/use/agent-tools.md), [Instructions and skills](/docs/use/instructions-and-skills.md), [Purchases](/docs/use/purchases.md), [GitHub](/docs/use/github.md)

> Install the KiCad connector so Sprocket can edit schematics and PCBs, view designs in 2D and 3D, pick parts, and draw wiring diagrams.

## KiCad connector

The KiCad connector gives the agent KiCad, the KiCad Python API, routing tools, and libraries. The agent uses it to create and edit schematics and boards, run ERC and DRC, and export Gerbers, renders, and BOMs.

<Steps>
<Step title="Open Settings → Connectors">Do this in Sprocket on the computer that will run the agent. Connectors install on that
computer.</Step>

<Step title="Install KiCad">Click **Install**. The connector needs about 10 GiB of free disk space.</Step>
</Steps>

The connector runs on macOS on Apple silicon and Intel, Windows on x64 and Arm, and Linux x64. It needs KiCad 10.99 or newer. If you already have one installed, the connector uses it. Otherwise it downloads its own KiCad nightly build. If you uninstall or downgrade a KiCad the connector uses, reinstall the connector.

When a connector update is ready, **Settings → Connectors** shows an **Update** button.

<Info>Connectors are experimental.</Info>

## View designs

<Note>This is only in dev and canary builds. It isn't in a stable release yet. See [release
channels](/docs/install#release-channels).</Note>

When the agent works on a KiCad project, it can add a project card to its reply. The card opens the project's schematics. If the project has a board, pick **PCB** to see the board or **3D** to see it in 3D. A `.kicad_pcb` file opened from the file browser shows the board with **2D** and **3D** views.

In the board view:

* Drag to pan. Scroll or pinch to zoom at the pointer.
* **Layers** lists the board's layers in KiCad's default colors. Click a layer to show or hide it. Paste layers and the Margin layer start hidden.
* **Fit board** zooms to the whole board. **Flip board** shows the back side, mirrored, with the back layers on top.
* Click an item to select it and see its reference, value, net, layer, and position. Selecting a pad also shows its footprint. Press Escape or click empty space to clear the selection.
* When the board file changes, the view reloads and keeps your zoom and layers. The selection clears.

Sprocket reads the board on your computer and draws it in the background, so large boards don't slow down the rest of the app.

## Wiring diagrams

For projects built from modules and dev boards, the agent can save a wiring diagram as a `.wiring.json` artifact. The agent lists the parts and the wires, and Sprocket draws the diagram:

* The build is split into steps of up to 6 wires. Pick a step to see its wires, with earlier wires faded, or pick **Show all**.
* Every part is a box with its used pins named on the left and right sides.
* Power and ground run along rails under each row of parts, like on a breadboard.
* Wires run at right angles, and no two wires share a stretch, so you can follow each one from end to end. Wires only cross straight over each other.
* Click a part to see only its wires. Click it again to go back to the steps.
* Tick off wires in the checklist as you connect them. Hover over a row to highlight its wire.
* The parts list shows each part with a photo and, when the agent found one, a link to buy it.

Sprocket checks the wiring as it draws it. It shows errors for an invalid file, unknown parts or pins, power shorted to ground, two voltages joined together, and a supply above what a pin's logic can take. It warns about steps over 6 wires and about signals between parts with different logic voltages. The agent gets the same results each time it writes the file, so it can fix them before it hands you the diagram.

If a wire can't find a free path, it shows as a dashed straight line with a warning. Use the checklist for that wire.

In a narrow side panel the diagram shrinks to fit. Open it fullscreen to read the pin names.

## Hardware skills

Sprocket's [built-in skills](/docs/use/instructions-and-skills#built-in-skills) cover these hardware tasks:

* `designing-pcbs` for schematics, boards, and exports.
* `selecting-hardware-parts` for picking parts and suppliers and writing a BOM.
* `designing-wiring-diagram` for projects built from modules and dev boards rather than a custom PCB.

To order the parts, see [Purchases](/docs/use/purchases).