Subscription in the extension

The workbench is free for everything a KiCad user needs: the schematic, PCB, symbol, footprint and Gerber editors, live ERC/DRC, libraries, fabrication outputs, the BOM, documentation sheets and the edsnx command line. Pro adds the engines on top (differential pairs, length tuning and the shove router; SI/PI; MCAD co-design; solving requirements; the realistic 3D rendering; the attached agent and the AI chat box; time-domain playback of overlays). Team adds what a group shares (managed library repositories, design reviews, Live Share co-editing, multi-board systems). The full table is in the client portal.

The status-bar item shows the tier (Free, Pro trial · 42 min, Pro, Team); click it for the menu:

• Sign in with Soft Forge (softforge.edsnx.license.signIn): your browser opens the Soft Forge platform; sign in with your email, pick a plan if you have none, and click Allow. The code on the page must match the one in VS Code’s notification; on another device, go to the address the notification shows and type the code. VS Code keeps a grant and session keys bound to this computer in its secret storage (the OS keychain) and works offline until the session key ends (7 or 14 days, by plan); renewals and plan changes arrive by themselves.
• Manage subscription (softforge.edsnx.license.manage): the client portal, where you buy or change a plan, see your bills and sign a computer out.
• Enter License Key… (softforge.edsnx.license.enterKey): for computers that can’t sign in (air-gapped, CI), paste the EDSNX.… key from the client portal. It is checked with the platform at most once a day and keeps working for 14 days without it. The setting softforge.edsnx.licenseKey holds a key in settings.json instead of the keychain.
• Start Pro trial (softforge.edsnx.license.startTrial): one hour of Pro, no account, once per installation.
• Sign out (softforge.edsnx.license.signOut): frees this computer’s seat.

Electronics Designer: Subscription Status (softforge.edsnx.license.status) opens the same menu; with { "quiet": true } it only returns the state (for scripts). A locked feature does not run: its command or panel button shows “… needs SoftForge Electronics Designer Pro” with Sign in with Soft Forge, Start trial and Enter License Key, and its tools in the tool bar carry a lock badge. The shove router mode and the Realistic 3D preset fall back to walkaround and Standard. Hide the status-bar item with softforge.edsnx.license.statusBar: false.