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KiKit CLI interface

KiKit offers a simple CLI interface to perform common tasks easily. You can obtain help of the interface by calling kikit --help.

The interface is structured into nested commands. On the top level, there are the following commands available:

  • export: Export KiCAD boards
  • panelize: Create simple predefined panel patterns
  • present: Create presentations - e.g. web page with auto-generated files

Export commands

  • kikit export gerber <boardFile> [<outputDir>] - export gerber files of boardFile to outputDir. If no dir is specified, a new one <boardFile>-gerbers is created.
  • kikit export dxf <boardFile> [<outputDir>] - export board outline and paste layers to DXF. The main use case for this command is making 3D printed solder paste stencils.

Panelize commands

  • kikit panelize extractboard -s <sourceArea> <input> <output> - extract a board from input board file at a rectangle specified by sourceArea (a tuple X, Y, width, height in millimeters separated by spaces) and place it in a single board file named output. Typical use case is to separate boards which were designed in a single file (to share schematics or to easily make them fit to each other) so you can export gerber files individually.
  • kikit panelize grid [options] <input> <output> - create a panel of a given board with rows x cols boards separated by tabs (just like in the README example). The following options are accepted:
    • -s, --space FLOAT Space between boards. Note that if you prefer, you can specify the verctical and horizontal spacing independently by the --hspace and --vspace options.
    • -g, --gridsize <INTEGER INTEGER> Panel size <rows> <cols>
    • -p, --panelsize <FLOAT FLOAT> <width> <height> in millimeters
    • -a, --alternation <NAME> allows you to specify board orientation alternation. There are possible options:
      • none - do not rotate the boards
      • rows - rotate boards in even rows by 180°
      • cols - rotate boards in even columns by 180°
      • rowsCols - rotate boards on the black fields of a chessboard by by 180°
    • --tabwidth FLOAT Size of the bottom/up tabs, leave unset for full width
    • --tabheight FLOAT Size of the left/right tabs, leave unset for full height
    • --htabs INT Number of horizontal tabs per board
    • --vtabs INT Number of vertical tabs per board
    • --vcuts BOOLEAN Use V-cuts to separate the boards
    • --mousebites <FLOAT FLOAT FLOAT> Use mouse bites to separate the boards. Specify drill size, spacing and offset in millimeters. If you are unsure about the offset value, use 0.25 mm
    • --radius FLOAT Add a radius to inner corners to simulate radius of the mill
    • --sourcearea <FLOAT FLOAT FLOAT FLOAT> x y w h in millimeters. A rectangle specified by a top left corner and its width and height. If not specified, automatically detected.
    • --rotation <FLOAT> Rotate the source board in degrees.
    • --tolerance <FLOAT> Distance in millimeters by which the source area is expanded when copying board items. See more details in panelization doc.
    • --renamenet <string>, --renameref <string> Rename pattern for nets and references. String can contain {n} for the current board sequence number and {orig} original name of net/reference. If not specified, nets are renamed to Board_{n}-{orig}, references are unchanged.
    • --copperfill Fill the unused areas of the panel (frame, rails, tabs) with copper. Reduces amount of etching and makes flex PCBs stiffer.
  • kikit panelize tightgrid [options] <input> <output> - create a panel just like grid, but the panel is full and there is a milled slot around the perimeter of the boards. Takes the same arguments as grid with few exceptions:
    • -w, --slotwidth <FLOAT> specify the slot size
    • -p, --panelsize <FLOAT FLOAT> <width> <height> in millimeters, required.

Present commands

  • kikit present boardpage --name <pagename> -d <descriptionFile> -b <name comment boadfile> -r <resource> --template <template> --repository <url> <outputdir> - generate single webpage providing board preview and a possibility to download board files (gerbers and sources). See an example of such page.
    • The description is a path to a markdown file with the main page content.
    • You can specify multiple resources via -r or --resource. Resources are files which will be copied to the output directory. Useful for images referred from description
    • You can specify multiple boards via -b or --board
    • Template is an optional argument which is either a path to a custom template or a name of built-in templates (currently, there is only one: default). See template documentation for more information about templates.

Modify commands

  • kikit modify references --show/--hide --pattern <pattern> <board> hide or show all references on the board matching a regular pattern.