pcb-new

pcb-new is a command for Claude Code from BeckhamLabsLLC/kicad-jlcpcb. It costs 40 tokens per session (1,645 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A command that turns a text description of an electronic circuit into a wired KiCad PCB board file, then prepares it for routing and ordering through EasyEDA and JLCPCB.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to start a new PCB project from a plain-language description, source components, generate a KiCad board, and continue with routing and ordering.
Why use it?
It removes much of the manual work involved in choosing parts, creating the board, and moving the project between design and manufacturing tools.

Command for Claude Code

Written for Claude Code: allowed-tools in frontmatter.

Part of the kicad-jlcpcb plugin — 1 skill, 2 commands, 1 agent, 1 MCP server shipped together

Good fit Use it to start a new PCB project from a plain-language description, source components, generate a KiCad board, and continue with routing and ordering.

Compare 6 commands from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add commands/beckhamlabsllc/kicad-jlcpcb/pcb-new
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/BeckhamLabsLLC/kicad-jlcpcb

Made for: Claude Code.

Or install kicad-jlcpcb, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 1 skill, 2 commands, 1 agent, 1 MCP server.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for pcb-new

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/beckhamlabsllc/kicad-jlcpcb/pcb-new/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/commands/beckhamlabsllc/kicad-jlcpcb/pcb-new)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/commands/beckhamlabsllc/kicad-jlcpcb/pcb-new"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/beckhamlabsllc/kicad-jlcpcb/pcb-new/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

agentmods 80×15 button for pcb-new

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/commands/beckhamlabsllc/kicad-jlcpcb/pcb-new"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/beckhamlabsllc/kicad-jlcpcb/pcb-new.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 40 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 1,645 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00040 $0.01645
Opus 5 $0.00020 $0.00822
Sonnet 5 $0.00008 $0.00329
Haiku 4.5 $0.00004 $0.00164

Measured 11d ago against content hash cc0c3c50d5d4, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-10, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

pcb-new scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 11d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

commands/pcb-new.md · 124 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 124 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

/pcb-new

Take a text description of a PCB and deliver a ready-to-import KiCad board file the user drags into EasyEDA for routing and ordering.

Instructions

1. Detect KiCad

Call detect_kicad. If meets_min is false, stop and pass the install_hint to the user. KiCad's pcbnew Python module is required by pcb_generate.

2. Check for a resumable session, then create or load the project

Ask the user where the project should live (default: current working directory) and what to name it.

If a <parent_dir>/<name>/ directory already exists:

  • Call load_project on it.
  • If the response has resume_available: true, show the user the session summary (stage, completed checkpoints, next step) and ask whether to resume or start a fresh project in a different directory.
  • If resuming, skip any step the session has already checkpointed (e.g. skip part sourcing if parts_sourced is already complete — just reuse the persisted bom and go to the BOM checkpoint).

Otherwise, call create_project with parent_dir and name. Each subsequent tool call automatically updates the session file, so mid-flow restarts are safe.

3. Decompose the description into a parts list

Read the user's description carefully. List the components the board will need: microcontroller, regulator, decoupling caps, connectors, indicator LEDs, etc. For each, write a one-line generic spec like "3.3V LDO, SOT-23-5, 500mA, basic-tier preferred".

4. Source parts

For each generic spec, call lcsc_search with basic_only=true first. If no basic-tier match, fall back to basic_only=false. For parts the user already has LCSC C-numbers for, skip to step 5.

Collect picks into a BOM array of {lcsc, qty} rows and call lcsc_resolve_bom to validate and tally the extended-part setup fee.

5. CHECKPOINT — present the BOM

Show the user:

  • Each resolved part (C-number, mfr part, package, tier, stock)
  • Every extended-tier part with its cost warning
  • The estimated_setup_fee_usd total
  • Anything in unresolved

Read the full file on GitHub · 124 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 11d ago First seen · 124 lines · 40 tokens per session scan A cc0c3c50d5d4

Subscribe to this mod's changes

pcb-new is a command published in the GitHub repository BeckhamLabsLLC/kicad-jlcpcb (24 stars, last pushed 4mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 40 tokens to every session and 1,645 once invoked, about $0.0002 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.