Ryan Malloy 0270137b9f Scaffold freeroute: Python port of the FreeRouting engine

Pure-Python PCB autorouter replacing the freerouting.jar step in kicad-mcp.
Contract is Specctra DSN in, SES out — a drop-in for the JAR so the toolchain
needs no JVM. Includes pyproject (uv/ruff/pytest, src-layout) and a porting
plan seeded for study of the upstream FreeRouting Java source.

2026-07-11 14:51:42 -06:00

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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.

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