hw-codesign

Give an AI agent a hardware brief. Get KiCad, firmware, a 3D assembly, and an explicit fabrication-blocker report.

Agentic hardware co-design from brief to KiCad, firmware, 3D review, and explicit fabrication blockers. For 13 supported board families, hw-codesign turns a prompt into a reviewable candidate while keeping missing sourcing, toolchain, manufacturing, and physical evidence visible instead of silently treating it as success.

Explore the interactive 3D review
Rotate and zoom the generated RP2040 USB candidate, then inspect its evidence and unresolved blockers.

Explore the interactive 3D review · Install from PyPI · Watch the 20-second demo · Read the validation contract

The render is a candidate-level CAD preview, not a photo of fabricated or qualified hardware.

Quickstart

Python 3.11 or newer is required. This public install path was smoke-tested in a clean Python 3.11 environment against version 0.1.4.

python3.11 -m pip install "hw-codesign[mcp]==0.1.4"
mkdir my-hardware-workspace && cd my-hardware-workspace
hw --root . create-project my_usb_board --template rp2040_usb_device
hw --root . validate-spec my_usb_board

That creates and validates a typed RP2040 project. Continue to generate the full demo candidate, or run hw --help to inspect the CLI.

The published package has also been independently exercised in a disposable Debian 13 x86-64 container with Python 3.11.15. See the clean-platform reproduction report for the exact environment, commands, and passing output.

What the public demo proves—and what remains blocked

The demo is a dated full-toolchain repository run against the RP2040 USB-device family. It produced a candidate, not a fabrication-qualified board: 44 of 48 recorded gates passed, 1 failed, and 3 were blocked. Freerouting reports zero raw unrouted connections and KiCad reports zero post-fill unconnected items; native ERC and DRC each report zero violations. The native Zephyr build is blocked because the selected ARM toolchain lacks newlib runtime files.

The remaining evidence is material: sourcing fails, current supplier availability is blocked, the native Zephyr build is blocked on ARM newlib, and physical qualification is blocked. The board has not been fabricated, and the U2.57 via-in-pad fill/cap/tent process is unqualified. Bundle 7d6731501a24716965593f7fcdc168a3d739d1b0a1b7a57f7a0b29fee51c1b84 records those boundaries.

The 20-second product loop

Brief	Candidate	Blocker report
Natural-language constraints are lowered into typed project fields with provenance.	The run emits electronics source, KiCad artifacts, firmware, BOM, review bundle, and hashes.	Every gate is pass, fail, or blocked; physical evidence gaps stay release-blocking.

hw-codesign is available as a CLI (hw), an MCP server (hw-mcp), and a repository-owned agent plugin. Its design surface is template- and contract-driven. It is not an arbitrary-prompt PCB oracle.

Install

Python 3.11 or newer is required.

python3.11 -m pip install "hw-codesign[mcp]==0.1.4"
hw --help

The v0.1.4 release also publishes a wheel, source distribution, standalone archives for Linux, macOS, and Windows, a self-contained review, and checksums. The public container is ghcr.io/mrcha033/hw-codesign:0.1.4.

Development install

git clone https://github.com/mrcha033/hw-codesign.git
cd hw-codesign
python3.11 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install '.[mcp]'
export PATH="$PWD/.venv/bin:$PATH"
hw --help

The self-contained review is live at https://mrcha033.github.io/hw-codesign/ and can be inspected without a receiver or cloud account.

Generate the demo candidate

Create the same candidate class used in the demo:

mkdir my-hardware-workspace
cd my-hardware-workspace

hw --root . create-project my_usb_board --template rp2040_usb_device
hw --root . update-requirements my_usb_board \
  "Design a 2-layer RP2040 USB HID and CDC board powered from USB-C. Use Zephyr."
hw --root . design-candidate my_usb_board --brief \
  "Design a 2-layer RP2040 USB HID and CDC board powered from USB-C. Use Zephyr."
hw --root . export-standalone-review my_usb_board

The generated HTML review is self-contained. No receiver or cloud account is required to inspect it.

MCP clients

Claude Desktop configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hw-codesign": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/hw-codesign/.venv/bin/hw-mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "HW_PLATFORM_ROOT": "/absolute/path/to/a/writable/hardware-workspace"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code:

claude mcp add hw-codesign \
  -e HW_PLATFORM_ROOT="$PWD" \
  -- /absolute/path/to/hw-codesign/.venv/bin/hw-mcp

For Codex or Claude plugin use, clone this repository and install the hw-codesign marketplace entry:

codex plugin marketplace add /absolute/path/to/hw-codesign
codex plugin add hw-codesign@hw-codesign

What the statuses mean

Status	Meaning
pass	The named gate ran and its declared checks passed.
fail	The gate ran and found a concrete defect or unmet contract.
blocked	Evidence or a required tool/input is missing. This is never treated as pass.
candidate	Reviewable generated artifacts exist, but release promotion is not authorized.
released	The configured release gate passed and the release bundle was exported. This does not imply physical qualification unless physical evidence is present and approved.

Every public tool response carries release_eligible, candidate_only, and release_blocking_failures. Only the release-gate and release-export paths can set release_eligible: true.

Supported board families

All 13 shipped templates conform to the current typed spec schema. Their design and physical maturity are not identical; inspect each candidate's gate report.

Group	Templates
USB devices	rp2040_usb_device, usb_hid_controller, avr_32u4_hid, nrf52840_dongle
Sensors and gateways	ble_sensor_node, sensor_data_logger, lora_sensor_node, esp32_wifi_gateway, samd21_sensor_hub, stm32g0_power_monitor
Robotics and power	robotics_controller_full, mini_servo_robot, bldc_esc

Use hw diagnose-environment to inspect the installed native backends, or see Adapting the design system before adding a materially different topology.

Agent workflow

The MCP names use the same lifecycle as the CLI:

hw_get_capabilities
  → hw_create_project
  → hw_update_requirements
  → hw_design_candidate
  → hw_check_cross_domain_consistency
  → hw_generate_physical_qualification_plan
  → hw_record_physical_evidence
  → hw_check_release_gate
  → hw_export_release_bundle

Agents can also author circuit blocks, placement constraints, and firmware modules, explore alternatives, compare candidates, and run adversarial grounding benchmarks. See the MCP tool reference for the complete contract.

Build with us

• Reproduce the PyPI quickstart on a clean platform — the current newcomer task.
• Share a generated candidate — include the prompt, template, environment, and blocker report.
• Help close sourcing or physical-evidence gaps — software-clean is not the end of the hardware lifecycle.

If a new board family or backend is your goal, start with Adapting the design system and preserve the pass/fail/blocked claim boundary in every new tool path.

Repository map

Path	Purpose
src/hw_codesign/	CLI, MCP service, generators, validators, and review UI
src/hw_codesign/templates/	Supported family specifications
parts/	Curated components, role sets, supplier records, and datasheet evidence
projects/golden_rp2040_usb_hid/	Date-stamped golden candidate and current evidence gaps
docs/demo/	20-second demo and self-contained read-only review
schemas/	Typed project and result contracts
tests/	Cross-platform regression and evidence-boundary tests

Development

python3.11 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install '.[dev,mcp]'
npm ci --ignore-scripts
pytest -q
ruff check .

Native gates require their corresponding tools. Diagnose the current machine before interpreting a blocked result:

hw diagnose-environment --target fabrication_release --backend kicad
hw check my_usb_board

See CONTRIBUTING.md for contribution scope, tests, and claim boundaries. Security reports should follow SECURITY.md.

Known limits

• Generated artifacts remain candidates until every configured release gate passes. A Gerber ZIP is not proof that a board is safe or manufacturable.
• Digital checks cannot certify thermal performance, EMI/EMC, vibration, ingress, abuse safety, connector life, assembly quality, or electrical bring-up. Those require traceable physical evidence.
• The RP2040 golden candidate has not yet been fabricated. Its current blocker report is published deliberately, and no bench measurements are claimed.
• Supplier catalog entries identify parts and provenance, but current stock and alternates require fresh supplier evidence.
• The receiver binds only to loopback. Remote use requires an authenticated SSH tunnel or reverse proxy; it is not a multi-tenant hosted service.

License

The project is licensed under Apache-2.0. The vendored KiCad footprint under src/hw_codesign/footprints/ retains its CC-BY-SA 4.0 license with the KiCad libraries exception; see NOTICE for the boundary.