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Install WayriCAD in KiCad 10

WayriCAD is a suite of independent KiCad plugins. Install only the tools you need through KiCad's Plugin and Content Manager (PCM). KiCad 10 is the validated target. A KiCad 11-only installation is not supported by this release; see compatibility and known limits.

Illustrated installation workflow

Independent plugin packages

Analytics Studio includes the former BOM Studio workflows. Its package ID stays the same, so existing installations upgrade normally.

QuickTherm is its own package and does not require Quick PI. If you used the older bundled thermal action, update Quick PI and install QuickTherm separately.

Project Fusion and Variant Manager use the native action loader. They do not require enabling the IPC API. Restart PCB Editor after installation. Both preview saved files; close the affected project's editors before offline apply. See the Variant Manager guide and Fusion guide.

Before you start

  • Review the recommended system specifications, especially for PI, thermal and exact 3D mechanical studies on older laptops.
  • Install and open KiCad 10.
  • Use a normal KiCad project with a saved .kicad_pro and .kicad_pcb file.
  • On the first launch, KiCad may need network access to create each plugin's private Python environment. It does not install packages into KiCad itself. Offline and corporate-network setup is covered in runtime setup.

Recommended: install from the WayriCAD PCM repository

  1. In KiCad Manager, open Plugin and Content Manager.

  2. On the Repository tab, choose Manage…, then add this complete URL:

    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wayri/WayriCAD/develop/pcm/repo.json

  3. Return to the Repository tab and choose WayriCAD Plugin Repository from the repository list at the top. Clear the package filter if one is set.

  4. Open the Plugins category, select the tool you want, and choose Install. Repeat for any other WayriCAD tools you need.

  5. Open the Pending tab and choose Apply Pending Changes. An Install click only queues the operation; the package is not installed until pending changes are applied.

  6. In KiCad Manager, open Preferences → Plugins. Turn on Enable KiCad API and let KiCad detect or select its Python interpreter. The interpreter must exist on this computer. On Windows, choose the bundled pythonw.exe from the intended all-user or per-user KiCad installation; if it is absent, its functional adjacent python.exe can be selected. See the host interpreter diagnostic and repair when every package fails at -m venv.

  7. Restart the PCB Editor, open the project through KiCad Manager, and save its board. Launch WayriCAD from Tools → External Plugins or the top toolbar. The KiCad 10 packages include menu launchers alongside their IPC actions. Maximize the editor if the toolbar is crowded. Show or hide individual buttons under Preferences → PCB Editor → Plugins.

KiCad's PCM manual describes repository management, pending changes, updates, and package categories. Its Plugins preferences explain the API and Python interpreter controls.

Install one downloaded package instead

This is useful when you want a specific release archive or do not want to add the repository.

  1. Download one WayriCAD-<tool>-<version>-PCM.zip from WayriCAD Releases.
  2. In Plugin and Content Manager, choose Install from File… and select that ZIP file. Do not unpack it first.
  3. Apply any pending changes, enable Enable KiCad API under Preferences → Plugins, then restart the PCB Editor as in steps 6–7 above.

Each PCM ZIP is a complete, independent package. Install a separate ZIP for each tool you want.

Install a development candidate from a source checkout

To test current source locally on KiCad 10, build and validate independent packages, preview the destination, then install with backups. The public PCM feed is promoted only after release assets are published and verified:

python build_pcm.py --output-dir .validation/candidate-pcm-3.6.14
python tools/validate_packages.py --archive-dir .validation/candidate-pcm-3.6.14
python tools/install_suite.py --version 10.0 --archive-dir .validation/candidate-pcm-3.6.14
python tools/install_suite.py --version 10.0 --archive-dir .validation/candidate-pcm-3.6.14 --apply

Restart PCB Editor after installation. These local candidate ZIPs can also be installed individually with PCM's Install from File… command. Do not upload them under an already published release tag.

First launch and project context

Launch WayriCAD from the PCB Editor for the saved project you want to work on. The action receives that originating editor's board and project context; it will not silently choose another open board. Save recent edits before launching file-based workflows because those tools read the saved files.

Some WayriCAD commands prepare a private dependency environment the first time they run. Wait for that preparation to finish. If it fails, correct the stated Python, operating-system dependency, mirror, proxy, or wheel problem first, then use Recreate Plugin Environment from KiCad's warning/error UI and run the action again. See troubleshooting.

KiCad also creates each IPC plugin environment before launching the plugin. From a Windows source checkout, python tools/check_kicad_python.py diagnoses that host interpreter without changing configuration or installing anything. It can preview a portable interpreter setting and save it with a backup only when explicitly invoked with --apply while KiCad is closed.

Updating without duplicate actions

Use PCM's Installed tab and its Update action, then apply the pending change. Remove obsolete WayriCAD package entries if they still appear, so the PCB Editor does not show duplicate commands. Current consolidations are:

  • Embed3D replaces Localizer and Portable Assets.
  • Quick PI includes PDN Decoupling.
  • Quick SI includes Return-Path Auditor and Test Point Descriptor.
  • Visual Diff and the standalone Design Variant Workbench are retired.

Removing a PCM package does not remove your project data. Keep project backups and any existing BOM workspace files before changing installed tools.

Platform notes

Platform What is supported now
Windows KiCad 10 is the validated target. Two concurrently open PCB Editors can share an IPC endpoint on tested KiCad 10.0.5 Windows installations; the documented helper gives each editor a separate temporary namespace.
macOS Packages declare macOS support, but native desktop operation has not been fully verified. A first launch can need the normal private Python-environment setup.
Linux Packages declare Linux support, but native desktop operation has not been fully verified. Install the distribution's KiCad Python bindings, wxPython, and Python venv support first; WayriCAD does not build wxPython from PyPI.

The packages are marked testing. No claim here establishes KiCad 11 support or full live IPC acceptance for every tool.

If the repository is empty

  1. Confirm that the saved address ends exactly in pcm/repo.json. Do not use a GitHub /blob/ page or pkgs.json.
  2. In PCM, select WayriCAD Plugin Repository from the repository selector, clear the filter, and use Refresh.
  3. Check the installed KiCad version. The feed is for KiCad 10; PCM normally hides incompatible versions unless Show all versions is enabled.
  4. If KiCad reports a network, proxy, certificate, or package-feed error, use the address and error text to diagnose connectivity. For a source checkout, python tools/diagnose_pcm.py checks the feed without installing anything.

For a package that appears installed but has no command, complete the API and first-launch steps above, then see troubleshooting.

Optional source and CLI installation

The source installer manages GUI packages directly. Installing the CLI alone does not install or register GUI plugins.

  • From a source checkout, run python tools/install_suite.py to preview the destination and python tools/install_suite.py --apply to copy the built PCM packages. It backs up replaced and retired direct installations. Build the packages first when the checkout does not already contain the matching release ZIPs.

  • For terminal commands, download the release's wayricad-3.6.5-py3-none-any.whl and use Python 3.10 or newer. From the folder containing that file, run:

    python -m pip install ./wayricad-3.6.5-py3-none-any.whl
python -m quick_pi_plugin.cli --help

    The wheel provides commands such as wayricad-pi and wayricad-si. Module commands work when Python's scripts folder is not on PATH. Developers can instead run python -m pip install -e . from the source checkout. See the CLI guide.

KiCad documents IPC plugin actions and their toolbar registration and environment setup.

KiCad SPICE engine

Magnetic equivalent AC/DC and motor mechanical transient simulations use the ngspice shared library supplied with KiCad (or its distribution-provided simulation library on Linux). No separate simulator executable is needed. The simulation result records the engine version and library path. For a nonstandard KiCad installation, set WAYRICAD_KICAD_NGSPICE to the exact ngspice shared-library file used by that installation, then restart the plugin. An unavailable or incompatible library produces an actionable error; the plugin does not silently substitute another engine. Native execution has been verified on Windows KiCad 10; macOS/Linux discovery still needs native acceptance testing.