How to use Claude to check a KiCad converter PCB

JLCPCB tested Claude Code with KiCad MCP by designing an XL4015 constant-current, constant-voltage buck converter. The reference circuit was a starting point rather than a guarantee: the operator's datasheet review caught incorrect control-pin wiring and a regulator that could not accept the intended maximum input voltage.

Claude built the schematic through tool calls, but multi-unit component placement and label collisions introduced further problems. A pin-by-pin netlist review found a connection mistake that appeared only as an ERC warning. The operator and agent corrected the intended nets instead of accepting the absence of severe schematic errors.

The original small board outline also could not accommodate the component courtyards. The layout grew, placement checks addressed overlaps, and routing had to be corrected where a feedback trace crossed an input connection. A mismatch between router clearance and board-edge rules required another routing pass.

The final design reported no DRC errors, unconnected items or schematic parity errors. It was not a fabricated, load-tested power supply. This account's useful result is the checked design artifact and the sequence of corrections that produced it. Human datasheet, netlist and geometry checks remained necessary even when the tool-generated schematic looked orderly.

Prompt
Suggested prompt (written by Agents In Use, not the author's)

Source: Engineering blog · JLCPCB