altium-designer-mcp — Claude Code MCP server
Gives AI agents file operations to generate and manage Altium Designer libraries. Helpful when turning datasheet specs into valid .PcbLib and .SchLib assets.
Open on GitHubWhat altium-designer-mcp does
Drafting footprints manually in Altium Designer eats up engineering time. Direct file generation by language models fails because Altium uses an undocumented OLE compound structure. Any malformed byte causes Altium to reject the file silently. This server separates duties: the language model calculates geometries from datasheets, while the server handles low-level file storage.
The package includes 34 tools for inspecting, reading, and updating .PcbLib footprint and .SchLib schematic symbol files. Agents can position primitives, check existing entries with pattern matching, attach STEP geometry, and render ASCII footprint outlines.
Altium silently ignores damaged library files, so writing raw binary structures without dedicated file tools will break your workflow. The server runs via standard I/O streams across Windows, Linux, and macOS.
What it helps with
- Write
.PcbLiband.SchLiblibrary archives directly from an AI chat interface. - Compute IPC-7351B pad margins and silkscreen outlines from raw component dimensions.
- Link STEP mechanical models to newly generated PCB footprints.
- Query component databases using regular expressions to prevent duplicate parts.
- Produce ASCII-based footprint previews to inspect pad geometry in the terminal.
Example prompts for the agent
- "Create an IPC-7351B footprint for a 0603 resistor and append it to
components.PcbLib" - "Inspect
logic.SchLibto verify if the gate symbol exists and update its pin layout" - "Search
connectors.PcbLibfor header parts using a regex and render an ASCII preview"
How to install altium-designer-mcp
Install
The MCP registry has no launch command for it: see the repository README
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about altium-designer-mcp
How do you set up altium-designer-mcp in Claude Code?
Connect it as a stdio server inside your Claude Code configuration. The server runs across Windows, Linux, and macOS without extra native wrapper services.
What does altium-designer-mcp do?
It provides 34 tools for reading and writing .PcbLib and .SchLib files. The AI handles datasheet calculations while the server safely writes Altium binary containers.
Which operating systems support this MCP server?
The server works on Windows, Linux, and macOS through any client communicating over standard input and output streams.
