One-click manufacturing is available on Pro, Pro Team, Ultra, Ultra Team, and On-Demand plans. Free plan users can still generate Gerbers via Exporting Designs but cannot submit orders through Trace.
Supported Manufacturers
| Manufacturer | Services | Board Size Limit | Layers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCBWay | Fabrication + Assembly (Turnkey, Kitted, Combo) | 500 × 1100 mm | 1–14 | HDI, blind/buried vias, impedance control, castellated holes |
| Pikkolo Assembly | Assembly (Denver, CO) | 250 × 250 mm | 2, 4 | US-based, lead-free and leaded options, consignment or sourced parts |
get_manufacturer_capabilities to ask the AI what a given manufacturer supports before committing.
The Send Flow
Pick a preferred manufacturer
Ask the AI “set PCBWay as my manufacturer” or “I want to use Pikkolo for assembly.” This persists the choice to your project and tunes DRC rules, component sourcing, and the order form accordingly.
Load a manufacturer DRC preset
Ask the AI to “load PCBWay 4-layer 1oz DRC rules” (or the preset that matches your stackup). Trace replaces your project’s
.kicad_dru with the manufacturer’s preset and re-runs DRC so you catch fab-specific violations before submitting.Available presets:- PCBWay —
pcbway_2layer_1oz,pcbway_2layer_2oz,pcbway_4layer_1oz,pcbway_6plus_layer_1oz - Pikkolo —
pikkolo_standard
Generate manufacturing files
Use File → Export → Gerbers or ask Trace to “generate Gerbers and drill files.” For assembly orders, also generate the BOM and pick-and-place files. Everything is packaged into a single ZIP.
Submit for quote
Ask Trace to “send this board to PCBWay for a quote” or click Send to Manufacturer in the export dialog. Trace uploads your Gerber ZIP (plus BOM/PnP if assembly), calls the partner API, and creates an order record with status
pending_review.Review quote and freight
When the manufacturer returns pricing, the order transitions to
quote_received. For PCBWay, Trace calculates freight for your shipping address and presents total cost, production lead time, and tracking options.Confirm and pay
Confirm the order. Trace supports two PCBWay payment paths:
- Partner Account — Settled monthly against your PCBWay partner credit
- PCBWay Online Payment — Redirects you to PCBWay’s hosted payment page
in_production and Trace polls the partner API for status updates.Track fabrication
Every order has a live progress view showing manufacturing stages (material prep, inner layer imaging, plating, outer layer, solder mask, silkscreen, surface finish, e-test, QC, shipping). For PCBWay orders, Trace pulls the live status and fabrication progress whenever you open the order.
AI-Assisted Order Autofill
You rarely need to fill out an order form by hand. Trace can analyze your.trace_pcb file and recommend every parameter — layer count, board dimensions, min trace/space, minimum hole size, thickness, surface finish, copper weight, via process, silkscreen sides, and (for PCBWay) whether goldfingers or castellation apply.
Ask:
“Autofill a PCBWay order for this board.”The backend analyzes your board, matches your stackup against PCBWay’s capability matrix, and returns a pre-filled order form ready for review. You confirm what you want to change, and Trace submits.
Order Lifecycle
Every order flows through this state machine:pending_review, quote_received, awaiting_freight, freight_received, or awaiting_payment. Once an order enters in_production, cancellation must be arranged directly with the manufacturer.
Viewing Your Orders
Ask Trace “show my open orders” or visit the buildwithtrace.com dashboard → Manufacturing. You’ll see:- All orders across projects
- Current status and last update timestamp
- Links to re-download the Gerber, BOM, and PnP files submitted with the order
- Tracking numbers and carrier info once the order ships
DRC Presets and Fab-Specific Rules
Each manufacturer ships with a DRC preset that encodes their published tolerances. When you load a preset, Trace:- Replaces the project’s DRC rules with the manufacturer’s
- Re-runs DRC and surfaces any new violations in the chat
- Offers to fix common violations automatically (increase trace width, expand annular rings, move silkscreen off pads)
Pikkolo-Specific Notes
Pikkolo is a US-based small-batch assembly house with stricter process limits than PCBWay. Notable restrictions:- No plated slots
- No blind/buried vias
- No microvias under 6 mil finished hole
- No controlled impedance stackups
- All drills must be ≥ 10 mil finished diameter
- Inner copper must clear the board edge by ≥ 15 mil
- Drill-to-copper clearance ≥ 10 mil
- Fabricate with Pikkolo — Pikkolo handles fabrication and assembly end-to-end
- Ship from fab — Pikkolo receives bare boards from your chosen fab
- Ship yourself — You provide the bare boards
Idempotency
Confirming an order accepts an optionalX-Idempotency-Key header on the API. If your network drops mid-confirm, Trace retries with the same key and the backend returns the cached response rather than creating a duplicate order. This is handled automatically by the desktop app.
Limitations
- One manufacturer per project at a time. You can switch, but it resets the preferred-manufacturer setting.
- Freight calculation is PCBWay-only. Pikkolo freight is quoted as part of the assembly quote.
- Partner account payment requires a PCBWay partner agreement. Most users should choose PCBWay Online Payment.
- Order files expire after 90 days in Trace storage. Download them if you need them for audits.
Related
- Exporting Designs — Generate the Gerber/BOM/PnP files that get uploaded
- DRC Rule Editor — Understand the rules that manufacturer presets replace
- DFM & the Automated Line — How Trace’s outputs map to the machines that build your board
- Intelligent Tools — Manufacturing — The AI tools behind the scenes
- Manufacturer API — Endpoint reference if you’re integrating programmatically