embedded-society/altium-designer-mcp

altium-designer-mcp

An AI-operated Altium Designer libraries editor.

An MCP server that provides file I/O and primitive placement tools, enabling AI assistants (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, VSCode Copilot) to create and manage Altium Designer component libraries.

---

The Core Idea

The AI handles the intelligence. The tool handles file I/O.

| Responsibility | Owner | |---------------|-------| | IPC-7351B calculations | AI | | Package layout decisions | AI | | Style choices | AI | | Datasheet interpretation | AI | | Reading/writing Altium files | This tool | | Primitive placement | This tool | | STEP model attachment | This tool |

This means the AI can create any footprint — not just pre-programmed package types. See docs/VISION.md for the full architectural rationale.

---

Quick Start with Claude Code

Claude Code Setup Guide — Complete step-by-step instructions for using this MCP server with Claude Code CLI on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

---

How It Works

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  AI-ASSISTED COMPONENT CREATION                                             │
│                                                                             │
│  Engineer                    AI                         MCP Server          │
│    │                         │                              │               │
│    │  "Create 0603 resistor" │                              │               │
│    ├────────────────────────►│                              │               │
│    │                         │                              │               │
│    │                         │  AI reasons about:           │               │
│    │                         │  • IPC-7351B pad sizes       │               │
│    │                         │  • Courtyard margins         │               │
│    │                         │  • Silkscr