Troubleshooting kicad-cli

Checks, netlists, plots and 3D models run KiCad’s kicad-cli. If they fail:

1. “kicad-cli not found”: set softforge.edsnx.cliPath to the full path.
   • Windows: C:\Program Files\KiCad\9.0\bin\kicad-cli.exe (or 8.0, 10.0)
   • macOS: /Applications/KiCad/KiCad.app/Contents/MacOS/kicad-cli
   • Linux: /usr/bin/kicad-cli (distribution packages and the KiCad PPA); Flatpak: a wrapper script running flatpak run --command=kicad-cli org.kicad.KiCad "$@".
2. Check the version in a terminal: kicad-cli version must print 8.0 or newer. KiCad 7 and older have no (or an incomplete) kicad-cli.
3. Libraries missing (Update PCB from Schematic reports unknown footprints, the 3D view shows bare pads): open KiCad once so it writes the global library tables, or point softforge.edsnx.libraryPaths at the footprint/symbol folders. KICADn_3DMODEL_DIR must resolve for 3D models.
4. DRC reports zone fills out of date: press B to refill before running DRC, or run kicad-cli pcb drc --refill-zones in a terminal to compare with KiCad’s own fill.
5. A file written here does not open in an older KiCad: the extension keeps the file’s format version, but parts placed from newer libraries carry newer syntax; open it with the KiCad version that owns the libraries.
6. The Output panel (channel Electronics Designer; Electronics Designer Tools for custom tools) shows what the extension ran and the errors it got back.