KiCad 10.0.4 Feature Parity
This page is the human-readable view of compatibility.yaml kicad10FeatureParity. It tracks KiCad 10.0.4 parity separately from the current KiCad 11 readiness plan so release gates stay focused on the stable KiCad line.
Status vocabulary:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
supported | Product support exists and is backed by a test, fixture, command probe, or smoke path. |
not-applicable | KiCad-native GUI behavior is intentionally outside the extension or MCP product surface. |
partial | Some product support exists, but a tracked gap remains. |
blocked | Product support is intentionally prevented by an upstream or policy boundary. |
future | The upstream feature exists or is expected, but product adoption is scheduled separately. |
Importers
| Feature id | State | Product boundary | Evidence or issue |
|---|---|---|---|
altium | supported | Extension import command and MCP manufacturing probe after kicad-cli pcb import --help advertises the format. | apps/vscode-extension/test/unit/importCommands.test.ts |
allegro | blocked | Extension command is registered for future compatibility but hidden unless CLI support appears. | #179, kicad-10-0-3-regressions |
cadstar | supported | Extension command is probe-gated by CLI help. | apps/vscode-extension/test/unit/importCommands.test.ts |
eagle | supported | Extension command is probe-gated by CLI help. | apps/vscode-extension/test/unit/importCommands.test.ts |
fabmaster | supported | Extension command is probe-gated by CLI help. | apps/vscode-extension/test/unit/importCommands.test.ts |
geda_lepton | supported | Extension and MCP support require the installed CLI to advertise geda. | KiCad MCP Pro — tests/integration/test_manufacturing_tools.py |
pads | supported | Extension, MCP, fixture, and canary coverage exercise the PADS import boundary. | KiCad MCP Pro — tests/unit/test_kicad_canary.py |
pcad | supported | Extension command is probe-gated by CLI help. | apps/vscode-extension/test/unit/importCommands.test.ts |
solidworks | supported | Extension command is probe-gated by CLI help. | apps/vscode-extension/test/unit/importCommands.test.ts |
Exports
| Feature id | State | Product boundary | Evidence or issue |
|---|---|---|---|
gerber | supported | MCP manufacturing and extension export workflows depend on the KiCad CLI Gerber export. | KiCad MCP Pro — scripts/kicad_canary.py |
| drill | supported | MCP manufacturing and extension export workflows depend on the KiCad CLI drill export. | KiCad MCP Pro — scripts/kicad_canary.py |
| pdf | supported | Schematic and PCB PDF exports are part of the primary KiCad canary plan. | KiCad MCP Pro — tests/unit/test_kicad_canary.py |
| ipc2581 | supported | Extension command and MCP export_ipc2581 tool both expose the export. | KiCad MCP Pro — tests/integration/test_pcb_export_validation_surface.py |
| odbpp | supported | Extension command and MCP export_odb tool expose ODB++ behind capability checks. | KiCad MCP Pro — tests/integration/test_export_tools.py |
| step | supported | MCP export_step and export_3d_step tools cover the KiCad CLI STEP export. | KiCad MCP Pro — tests/integration/test_export_tools.py |
| stepz | supported | MCP export_stepz exposes KiCad's stpz CLI export for headless STEPZ/GZIP-compressed STEP output. | KiCad MCP Pro — tests/integration/test_export_tools.py |
| xao | supported | MCP export_xao exposes the KiCad CLI XAO export for headless interchange workflows. | KiCad MCP Pro — tests/integration/test_export_tools.py |
GUI Editor
| Feature id | State | Product boundary | Evidence or issue |
|---|---|---|---|
design_blocks | supported | Product support is headless through parser coverage and MCP pcb_block_* tools. | apps/vscode-extension/test/unit/sExpressionParser.test.ts |
graphical_drc_rule_editor | not-applicable | The native GUI editor remains a KiCad-owned surface; product support is textual .kicad_dru guidance and diagnostics. | apps/vscode-extension/test/unit/drcRulesProvider.test.ts |
variants | supported | Extension variants view and MCP variant_* tools cover list, activation, diff, and export integration. | apps/vscode-extension/test/unit/variantProvider.test.ts |
barcode_support | supported | MCP pcb_add_barcode supports headless barcode insertion; visual editing stays in KiCad. | KiCad MCP Pro — tests/unit/test_kicad10_parity_tools.py |
| time_domain_tuning | supported | MCP tuning helpers model and validate routing intent; the native interactive routing UX remains KiCad-owned. | KiCad MCP Pro — tests/integration/test_routing_tools.py |
IPC
| Feature id | State | Product boundary | Evidence or issue |
|---|---|---|---|
kicad_python_ipc | supported | KiCad IPC is the supported live-editor direction for current and future KiCad lines. | KiCad MCP Pro — tests/gui/test_kicad_gui_live_context.py |
swig_pcbnew_direct_dependency | blocked | Production direct pcbnew imports are forbidden because SWIG bindings are deprecated. | #197 |
Product Surfaces
| Feature id | State | Product boundary | Evidence or issue |
|---|---|---|---|
status_surface | supported | The extension status bar and command menu expose detected KiCad line and feature gates. | apps/vscode-extension/test/unit/kicadCliSupport.test.ts |
importer_command_gating | supported | Import commands are unavailable until the matching CLI capability probe passes. | apps/vscode-extension/test/unit/importCommands.test.ts |
server_info_capability_contract | supported | MCP server-info compatibility and capability payloads are schema and docs gated. | KiCad MCP Pro — tests/unit/test_server_info_contract.py |
empty_project_read_tools | partial | File-backed empty-project behavior is tracked outside this matrix. | #228 |
ipc_state_consistency | partial | IPC lifecycle consistency is tracked in the MCP compatibility milestone. | #223 |
Release
| Feature id | State | Product boundary | Evidence or issue |
|---|---|---|---|
vsix_provenance | supported | VSIX release evidence includes checksums, SBOM, and artifact attestations. | .github/workflows/publish-extension.yml |
wheel_provenance | supported | Python release evidence includes checksums, SBOM, trusted publishing, and attestations. | kicad-mcp-pro/.github/workflows/publish-python.yml |
npm_tarball_provenance | supported | npm launcher release evidence includes checksums, SBOM, and provenance. | KiCad MCP Pro release workflows |
KiCad 11 Readiness
KiCad 11 readiness is represented separately from KiCad 10.0.4 parity:
| Feature id | State | Product boundary | Evidence or issue |
|---|---|---|---|
protocol_upgrade | future | MCP protocol and KiCad 11 support planning remain separate from the stable KiCad 10 gate. | #197 |
nightly_canary | supported | Manual nightly canary commands track prerelease behavior without changing the stable support line. | KiCad MCP Pro KiCad canary suite |
swig_removal_guard | supported | The direct-pcbnew guard keeps production code away from APIs planned for removal. | KiCad MCP Pro — scripts/check_no_pcbnew.py |
Validation
Linux and macOS:
corepack pnpm run check:compatibility-contract
corepack pnpm run check:protocol-schemas
corepack pnpm run test:fixtures2
3
Windows 11 PowerShell:
corepack pnpm run check:compatibility-contract
corepack pnpm run check:protocol-schemas
corepack pnpm run test:fixtures2
3
The compatibility gate verifies that every supported item has product evidence, every partial or blocked item links a GitHub issue, and every feature id in the matrix appears on this page.
Source Verification
Checked on 2026-07-21:
- KiCad 10.0.4 release notes
- KiCad 10.0.4 GitHub release tag
- KiCad 10.0.4 stable client evidence
- KiCad 10.0 CLI reference
- KiCad 10.0 PCB Editor reference
- KiCad PCB Python bindings deprecation notice
- KiCad nightly and release candidate guidance
KiCad 10.0.5 RC1 Preview
KiCad 10.0.5 RC1 is tracked as preview-only evidence and does not change the 10.0.4 stable support claim. On 2026-07-21, the official Linux AppImages for 10.0.4 and 10.0.5 RC1 were compared against the clean-led-kicad10 fixture. The top-level CLI, PCB export, PCB import, and schematic export help surfaces were identical. Both versions completed DRC, ERC, BOM, netlist, Gerber, drill, schematic/PCB PDF, STEP, and board-statistics generation with matching semantic results.
The RC reports 10.0.5 through kicad-cli --version and KiCad 10.0.5-rc1 in generated metadata. The checked-in evidence summary is docs/evidence/kicad-10-0-5-rc1/2026-07-21/summary.md. A final 10.0.5 release must pass the owning KiCad MCP Pro canary before the stable baseline is promoted.
Historical Fixture Provenance
The kicad-10-0-3-regressions fixture remains intentionally named for the patch release that introduced those regression snapshots. It is carried forward under the 10.0.4 baseline rather than renamed, preserving stable fixture IDs and historical attribution.