KiCad 10 to 11 Migration

This guide keeps KiCad Studio and KiCad MCP Pro ready for the KiCad 11 line without changing the current supported baseline. KiCad 10.0.x remains the primary release-blocking target until a KiCad 11 stable or release-candidate canary has passed and the support matrix is updated in compatibility.yaml.

Compatibility Boundary

Surface	KiCad 10.0.x	KiCad 11 readiness
Primary support	Required release gate	Not primary yet
Direct pcbnew / SWIG imports	Forbidden in production	Forbidden in production
Project discovery	MCP and file-backed paths	Must remain IPC or CLI backed
Schematic and PCB reads	MCP tests plus CLI canary	Same tool contracts, no SWIG fallback
DRC and ERC	kicad-cli contract	Same command contract against nightly or RC
Manufacturing exports	kicad-cli contract	Same command contract against nightly or RC

The executable contract lives in compatibility.yaml under kicadIpcReadiness. It records the direct pcbnew import policy, the minimal allowlist, the manual nightly/RC canary commands, and the IPC feature-parity matrix that maps user-facing MCP tools to tests and canary probes.

Direct pcbnew Policy

Production code must not import or call the legacy SWIG Python pcbnew module. The only repository allowlist entries are:

• packages/mcp-server/scripts/check_no_pcbnew.py, because it names the forbidden API while enforcing the guard.
• packages/mcp-server/tests/**, because tests may construct examples that prove the guard fails.

Run the guard locally:

uv run --project packages/mcp-server --all-extras python packages/mcp-server/scripts/check_no_pcbnew.py

uv run --project packages/mcp-server --all-extras python packages/mcp-server/scripts/check_no_pcbnew.py

Manual KiCad 11 Smoke Path

KiCad nightly builds use the development branch version before a release candidate and switch to the next major version during the RC window. As of 2026-05-26, KiCad 10.0.x is the stable line, so the next-major readiness smoke has two manual paths:

KICAD_CANARY_KICAD_CLI=/absolute/path/to/kicad-cli \
  corepack pnpm run test:kicad-cli-contract:nightly

$Env:KICAD_CANARY_KICAD_CLI = "C:\Program Files\KiCad Nightly\bin\kicad-cli.exe"
corepack pnpm run test:kicad-cli-contract:nightly

Use the RC command once the installed prerelease reports 11.0.x:

KICAD_CANARY_KICAD_CLI=/absolute/path/to/kicad-cli \
  corepack pnpm run test:kicad-cli-contract:future

$Env:KICAD_CANARY_KICAD_CLI = "C:\Program Files\KiCad\11.0\bin\kicad-cli.exe"
corepack pnpm run test:kicad-cli-contract:future

The canary writes logs, reports, manufacturing outputs, summary.json, and failing-fixtures.txt under artifacts/kicad-cli-contract/.

IPC Feature-Parity Matrix

Area	Representative tools	Required probes and tests
Project discovery	kicad_get_project_info, kicad_set_project	Version, paths-with-spaces, Unicode paths, project-library tests
PCB read	pcb_get_board_summary, pcb_get_tracks, pcb_get_footprints, pcb_get_nets	Board statistics probes, PCB integration tests, GUI smoke
Schematic read	sch_get_symbols, sch_get_sheet_info, sch_get_net_names	ERC, schematic PDF, BOM, netlist, schematic integration tests
DRC	run_drc, validate_design, check_design_for_manufacture	Clean, dirty, and KiCad 10.0.3 status/elapsed report probes
ERC	run_erc, validate_design, schematic_quality_gate	Clean, dirty, and KiCad 10.0.3 sheet-shape probes
Export	export_gerber, export_drill, export_manufacturing_package, export_bom, export_netlist	PDF, property-popup suppression, SVG, DXF, Gerber, drill, STEP probes
Diagnostics	kicad_get_version, kicad_get_server_info, kicad_help	Version and read-only-output probes, server-info and CLI diagnostics tests

The repository gate checks that every listed tool exists in the generated MCP tool reference and that every evidence path exists:

corepack pnpm run check:compatibility

corepack pnpm run check:compatibility

Promotion Checklist

• Update compatibility.yaml only after the KiCad 11 RC or stable canary passes.
• Keep KiCad 10.0.x primary support unchanged until the support matrix and product changelogs intentionally move the primary line.
• Update ../support-matrix.md and ../testing-strategy.md with the new line state.
• Attach the canary artifact summary to the tracking issue or PR.
• Keep production code on IPC, kicad-cli, or file-backed adapters.

Source Verification

Checked on 2026-05-26:

• KiCad PCB Python bindings for the SWIG pcbnew deprecation and KiCad 11 removal plan.
• KiCad command-line interface for the api-server, DRC, ERC, and export command surfaces.
• KiCad nightly builds and release candidates for nightly/RC version behavior and data-safety guidance.