Ryan Malloy
4220fe0cd6
Ports the data model of the board Item hierarchy (Item base, Pin, ObstacleArea/ConductionArea, Via, Trace) and BasicBoard (layers, nets, clearance, bounding box, items with query helpers), then build_board: the load-bearing integration that constructs a BasicBoard from a parsed DsnBoard. build_board maps layers -> LayerStructure, resolution -> transform, default clearance rule -> ClearanceMatrix, nets -> Nets plus a (component,pin)->net map, padstacks x placement -> Pin items, and keepouts -> ObstacleArea items. Rectangle pads become exact IntBoxes, convex polygon pads exact Simplexes, circle pads their bounding box (documented approximation); every pad is centred on its pin location so it contains that location by construction. Trace/Via are router-produced and lightweight here (an imported unrouted board has none). Validated on a real KiCad export (kicad_routable.dsn): layer/net/pin counts match the parsed DSN, every pin's pad shape contains its origin, every pin reports a valid net, and pin locations lie in the board bounding box. An oracle-gated test cross-checks that every net the reference FreeRouting JAR routes exists on the constructed board.
freeroute
A native Python PCB autorouter — a Java-free port of the FreeRouting engine.
Why
kicad-mcp currently autoroutes by shelling out to freerouting.jar, which
drags in a JVM dependency. freeroute reimplements the routing engine in
pure Python so the toolchain needs no Java at all.
The contract
The entire integration surface is two Specctra files:
board.dsn ──▶ freeroute ──▶ board.ses
(unrouted) (routed session: traces + vias)
kicad-cli already exports .dsn and imports .ses, so freeroute is a
drop-in replacement for the JAR step — nothing else in the pipeline changes.
Status
Pre-alpha. Under active development. See docs/PORTING_PLAN.md
for the architecture and porting roadmap.
Usage (target)
freeroute board.dsn -o board.ses
Development
uv sync
uv run pytest
uv run ruff check src/ tests/
License
GPL-3.0-or-later, matching the FreeRouting source it is ported from.