Soft Forge Electronics Designer
Install

Electronics Designer documentation

Everything SoftForge Electronics Designer does, from opening a schematic to sending Gerbers to the fab, and how to drive it from the terminal or an agent.

SoftForge Electronics Designer brings schematic and PCB design into VS Code. It opens and saves the KiCad project file formats (.kicad_sch, .kicad_pcb, .kicad_sym, .kicad_mod, .kicad_pro), so a board edited here opens in the original tool unchanged except for the objects you touched, and git diffs stay small. It brings:

  • Schematic: symbols, wires, buses, labels and hierarchical sheets, Add component, annotation, the BOM and the Symbol Fields Table.
  • Board: interactive routing with push-and-shove, differential pairs and length tuning, autorouting, zones, Board Setup, variants, reuse, multi-board systems and rigid-flex.
  • 3D and MCAD: the 3D view built from the stack-up, enclosures, clearance checks and the IDX round trip.
  • Libraries: symbol and footprint editors, managed libraries and importers.
  • Fabrication: a native Gerber engine and viewer, DFM profiles, output jobs, gated releases, panels and documentation sheets.
  • Analysis: live ERC and DRC, requirements and the solve loop, signal and power integrity, and simulation with ngspice.
  • Automation and agents: the edsnx command line, an MCP server, JSON-RPC and TypeScript scripts, and agents that edit the open design with you.
  • Collaboration: visual diffs against git, comments, Live Share, a web viewer and design reviews.
  • Account: the Free, Pro and Team plans, the trial, signing in and license keys.

Free, Pro and Team#

The editors, the live checks, the libraries, the fabrication outputs, the Gerber viewer and the edsnx command line are free. Pro adds the analysis, MCAD and agent tools, and Team the shared libraries, reviews and Live Share; billing arrives with release 1.8.0, and until then everything is available without an account. See Subscription.

Trademarks#

KiCad is a trademark of the KiCad project. SoftForge Electronics Designer reads and writes KiCad’s file formats; it is not affiliated with or endorsed by the KiCad project.

Getting startedInstall the extension, open a project and find your way around the editors, the tools and the hotkeys. SchematicDraw and annotate schematics, place components, build a BOM, and keep the schematic and the board in step. BoardRoute, pour zones, set up the stack-up and rules, and work with variants, reuse blocks, multi-board systems and rigid-flex. 3D and MCADThe 3D view of the board with its component models, and the round trip with mechanical CAD. LibrariesSymbol and footprint libraries: browsing, managed repositories, importers, the symbol and footprint editors, and parts. FabricationGerbers, drill files and the other outputs, the Gerber viewer, DFM profiles, releases, panels and documentation sheets. AnalysisLive ERC and DRC, requirements and the solve loop, signal and power integrity, simulation and overlays. Automation and agentsThe edsnx command line, its MCP and JSON-RPC servers, scripts, and agents that edit the open design with you. Files and formatsThe native design files, the KiCad compatibility cache, and the importers and exporters. CollaborationVisual diffs against git, comments, Live Share, the web viewer and design reviews. AccountPlans, the trial, signing in with Soft Forge and license keys. ReferenceSettings, commands, key bindings, the designer commands, tools, file formats, protocols and examples.

Documentation for Electronics Designer 2.3.60.