Changelog

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Trace 1.3.0-beta — April 2026

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KiCad 10 Foundation

Trace 1.3 is built on the stable KiCad 10.0.0 release, bringing all upstream improvements.

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DRC Rule Editor

A new visual DRC Rule Editor for creating and managing PCB design rules. Build rules through constraint panels instead of writing custom expressions. Includes Scintilla autocomplete, dynamic unit labels, matched-length skew constraints, and courtyard bitmap references.

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Design Variants

Full design variant support for managing alternate board configurations. Variant text variables in drawing sheets, variant-aware footprint properties, CLI --variant flag for all PCB exports (Gerber, STEP, SVG, PDF, DXF, IPC-2581, ODB++), plot dialog variant dropdown, and Altium project variant import.

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New EDA Importers

• gEDA / Lepton EDA — Import schematic files with 39 built-in symbol mappings and an 11-step symbol resolution chain
• Cadence Allegro v18+ — Binary format import with footprints, vias, padstacks, zone fills, teardrops, differential pairs, and constraint sets
• Mentor PADS — ASCII format import for PCB layouts and schematics
• Altium — Expanded file extension support and variant import

See the Importing from Other EDA Tools guide.

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Multi-Agent Orchestrator

The AI now runs a multi-agent orchestrator that parallelizes server-side research tasks (web search, parts search, symbol search, footprint search) before handing results to the main agent. This significantly reduces latency for complex requests.

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Extended Thinking

The AI’s reasoning process is now visible in real-time with a 10,000-token thinking budget per step. Collapsible thinking blocks show how the AI analyzes your design, considers tradeoffs, and plans its approach.

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IPC-2581 Improvements

• BomRef and AvlRef elements for approved vendor lists
• Board profile cutouts for internal routing
• Multi-outline geometry merging
• Pin 1 orientation inference from pin position
• Synthesized stable reference designators
• Schematic revision metadata in BOM output

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New DRC Check

• Track endpoints not centered on via — Detects misaligned track-to-via connections from the interactive router

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New ERC Check

• Local labels with no local pin connections — Flags labels on a sheet that don’t connect to any pin on that sheet

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Rendering & Performance

• 3D Viewer stencil buffer for correct export FBO rendering
• Improved zone fill parallelism and indexing
• Parallelized NearestObstacle computation for routing
• Rate-limited OpenGL redraws reducing GPU utilization
• OpenGL context recovery after sleep/wake

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PCB Editor

• Backdrill sizes in Track & Via Properties dialog
• Zone merge with different priorities
• Negative outset values for insetting zone boundaries
• Negative silkscreen clearance values
• Search pane copy context menu
• Rule areas in Edit → Attributes menu
• GLAD replaces GLEW for OpenGL (runtime GLX/EGL selection on Linux)
• EGL canvas support on wxWidgets 3.3.2+ (Wayland)

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Beta Program

• In-app feedback system — Submit bug reports, feature requests, and feedback with file attachments (images, video, audio, PDF) directly from the beta dashboard
• Beta points — Earn points for feedback submissions, tracked on the leaderboard
• Linux beta builds — First official Linux support as AppImage (x86_64)

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One-Click Manufacturing

Submit your design to PCB fabs and assembly houses directly from inside Trace — no distributor hopping, no manual form-filling, no leaving the editor:

• PCBWay integration — Fabrication and assembly (Turnkey, Kitted, Combo) up to 14 layers via the PCBWay Partner API
• Pikkolo Assembly integration — US-based small-batch assembly (Denver, CO) with lead-free and leaded options
• AI-assisted autofill — The AI analyzes your .trace_pcb file and pre-fills layer count, dimensions, trace/space, drill sizes, surface finish, silkscreen, via process, and copper weight
• Manufacturer DRC presets — pcbway_2layer_1oz, pcbway_4layer_1oz, pcbway_6plus_layer_1oz, pikkolo_standard and more. Loads into .kicad_dru and re-runs DRC so fab-specific violations are caught before submission
• Quote and freight — Live pricing, PCBWay freight calculation for 7 carriers (DHL, FedEx, EMS, SF Express, and more)
• Payment — Partner Account (monthly settlement) or PCBWay Online Payment. Idempotent confirmation prevents duplicate orders on retry
• Live tracking — Fabrication stage progress (material prep → e-test → QC → shipping) pulled from the partner API on demand
• Order management — List, view, cancel, resume payment, and re-download submitted files for all your orders

Available on Pro, Pro Team, Ultra, Ultra Team, and On-Demand plans. See the One-Click Manufacturing guide and the Manufacturer API reference. New AI tools:

• get_manufacturer_capabilities — Query a manufacturer’s layer count, min trace/space, hole sizes, surface finishes, and assembly options
• set_preferred_manufacturer — Persist a manufacturer choice to the project, tuning DRC and sourcing
• set_manufacturer_drc — Swap the project’s .kicad_dru for a manufacturer preset
• upload_to_manufacturer — Submit Gerber/BOM/PnP files for quoting or ordering

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Trace 1.2.1 — March 2026

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AI Capabilities

• Symbol creation — AI can create new schematic symbols from descriptions with correct pins, groupings, and electrical types
• Footprint generation — AI can create PCB footprints from component package descriptions
• Undo/redo for AI edits — Full atomic undo/redo stack for AI-generated changes via the AI_COMMIT pipeline
• “Add to Chat” context popup — Right-click schematic or PCB elements to add them as AI context
• Sheet switching — AI navigates between hierarchical sheets with get_hierarchy and switch_sheet tools
• PCB layer switching — AI controls layers with switch_layer, get_layers, apply_layer_preset, and set_layer_visibility tools
• Placeholder symbol generation — When a library symbol is missing locally, the AI generates a placeholder with correct pins
• fetch_component_pins — AI queries local KiCad libraries for component pin data
• Silent AI edits — File modifications no longer trigger UI prompts or dialogs
• BOM Preview & Approval — Interactive BOM table with sortable columns, supplier links, pricing, and accept/modify/cancel workflow

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Plan Mode Enhancements

• Research Summary Card — Collapsible card streaming server-side research findings in real-time
• Structured Questions — Multi-choice requirement gathering via PlanQuestionsBar
• Progressive question streaming — Questions stream in 80-character chunks
• Plan/implementation phase persistence — Plan and execution state persists across tab reopens
• Todo tracking from plans — AI creates todo checklists from approved plan steps

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Server-Side Changes

• Server-side vector search — Symbol and footprint search moved from local to server-side vector database
• DigiKey API integration — Component search queries DigiKey for availability and pricing
• Mouser API integration — Component search queries Mouser for availability and pricing
• Datasheet parsing — PDF datasheet extraction for pinouts and recommended circuits
• Web search — Research phase web search for datasheets and reference designs

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Platform

• Configurable backend URL — Settings panel in all editors for changing the backend API URL
• Crash reporting — Consent-based crash log upload dialog on startup after a crash
• API v2 endpoints — All backend URLs migrated from /api/v1 to /api/v2

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Analytics

• Amplitude integration — 27 tracked events across app lifecycle, auth, AI, versioning, projects, files, and editors
• Pro-level analytics — Autoroute outcomes, chat engagement depth, tool results, undo tracking
• Anonymous session linking — Proper anonymous-to-identified attribution on login

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Bug Fixes

• Fixed streaming UI stuck on quota exceeded (HTTP 402) and plan restricted (HTTP 403) errors
• Fixed tab input state bleed (Tab A streaming no longer disables input for Tab B)
• Fixed text segment fragmentation during streaming at STATUS event boundaries
• Fixed research phase text streamed as plain text then retroactively collapsed
• Fixed switchToTab replaying SetStreaming(true) which wiped the activity timeline
• Fixed version saves going to wrong conversation when user switches tabs during stream completion

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Trace 1.2 — March 2026

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New Features

• KiCad 10 support — Trace is now built on KiCad 10 (v10.0.0 RC1), bringing all upstream improvements including better schematic and PCB tooling and improved rendering
• Plan mode — Multi-step AI design planning with a research phase, structured plan document, and an approve/adjust/reject workflow before execution begins
• Rewritten chat UI — New React-based webview with an interleaved activity feed showing tool calls, thinking steps, and text responses inline in real-time
• Multi-tab parallel streaming — Run multiple AI conversations simultaneously in different chat tabs, each with independent context and streaming state
• Todo tracking — The AI creates and manages a structured todo checklist for multi-step tasks, updating progress as it works
• Template selector — Pick from pre-built prompt templates to get started faster
• File uploads & context — Attach datasheets, reference designs, spec documents, images, and other files directly in the chat for the AI to use as context
• Larger context window — Holds more design context at once for longer, more coherent design sessions
• Constraints & stackup modeling — Model your layer stackup, spacing rules, and placement constraints. Expanding toward pick-and-place constraints, enclosure fit, and EMI-aware placement
• Linux support — Full Linux platform support with AppImage distribution, libsecret keychain, and localhost auth callback

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AI Improvements

• GNN + simulated annealing placement — Graph neural network combined with simulated annealing for optimizing component placement on imported boards
• Import and optimize — Import existing KiCad designs and let the AI iterate on placement, routing, and design review
• ASIC workflow prototyping — Early exploration of standard cell placement, pin assignment, timing-driven floorplanning, differential pair routing, power grid IR drop analysis, and clock tree balancing

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Bug Fixes

• Fixed mid-stream stopping where the AI would cut off responses
• Fixed ghost schematics appearing after rapid edits
• Fixed multi-sheet schematic support for complex designs
• Fixed per-tab event routing so actions in one tab don’t bleed into another
• Fixed text segment fragmentation during streaming (words splitting mid-stream)
• Fixed analytics duplicate event tracking

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Windows Installer

• In-place upgrades replace side-by-side installations — new versions upgrade cleanly instead of installing as separate applications
• Old versioned installations (1.0.0, 1.1.0, 1.2.0) are automatically detected and removed during upgrade

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Trace 1.1 — February 2026

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New Features

• Schematic versioning — Every AI edit is versioned. Roll back to any previous state with one click
• Improved autorouter — Better trace quality with impedance-aware routing and differential pair support
• Component availability checks — Real-time stock and pricing from JLCPCB, LCSC, DigiKey, Mouser, Texas Instruments, and Amazon

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Improvements

• Faster streaming responses
• Better schematic generation accuracy
• Improved error messages and recovery

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Trace 1.0 — January 8, 2026

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Launch

• AI-native PCB design — Describe circuits in natural language, get component suggestions, schematic generation, and PCB layout assistance
• Built on KiCad — Full compatibility with KiCad project files, no vendor lock-in
• Professional EDA tools — Complete schematic editor and PCB layout tools
• Component library — Thousands of components with footprints and 3D models
• Manufacturing export — Gerber files, drill files, BOMs, and assembly outputs
• DRC/ERC — Design rule and electrical rule checking with AI-assisted fixes
• Desktop-first — Native macOS, Windows, and Linux application, designs stay on your machine
• Free plan — Unlimited Ask mode for AI Q&A about your designs