Trace Plugin for Altium

Use Trace Plugin beside Altium Designer to ask about a project and make supported schematic or board edits.

Before connecting

• Use Altium Designer on Windows. A macOS companion build does not make Altium available on macOS.
• Obtain the companion through the Trace Plugin setup guide, and sign in to a Trace account with the required access.
• Open a saved .PrjPcb project and keep a separate backup before your first edit.
• Finish or dismiss host dialogs before connecting.

Connect and read the design

1. Open Trace Plugin and choose Sign in with your browser. Finish sign-in, then return.
2. Under Design tools, choose Altium Designer and use Connect if needed.
3. If Altium is not running, choose Launch Altium Designer, or start it yourself. If the installation cannot be found, Choose X2.exe… lets you select Altium's executable.
4. Select the intended project under Open projects. Use Refresh or Open a project… if needed.
5. Check the chat header's project, document picker and connection message. Choose a supported model and Ask, then request a read-only signal-path summary.

A small Trace Plugin window opens inside Altium while connected. Leave it open: the companion needs it to communicate with the host. You do not need Altium Developer Center enrollment for this connection.

The header's Back to projects button leaves the chat running. Choosing another project while busy requires Stop and switch or Cancel. The document picker waits during a turn; check it before sending your next request.

Make one reviewed change

1. Save any intended work in Altium and confirm the target sheet or board.
2. Choose Agent and request one explicit change, such as changing a named resistor's value. Avoid combining the first edit with routing or fabrication.
3. Read the tool result and inspect the actual Altium document. Check values, references and affected pin connections.
4. Save the intended result in Altium. Run the relevant host ERC or DRC and review the affected circuit or board.

Supported schematic edits can use separate host undo steps for component changes and drawing changes; board edits can use a host undo step. A whole chat turn is not necessarily one undo operation. “Undo to message” in chat does not undo either document.

Existing drawings are normally amended where an edit touches them. Request a full redraw only when you intend to replace the drawing layout. Compatible builds can author hierarchical sheet symbols, entries and child ports, including creating a child sheet. Review parent entry names, child port direction and Altium's compiled pin/net membership; drawing appearance alone does not prove connectivity. Page overflow is reported rather than automatically selecting a larger page.

Libraries and generated components

Ask Trace to look in the selected project's own libraries and supported installed libraries before acquiring a new part. Compatible builds also discover Altium 365 parts cached on this computer and place supported workspace parts by their workspace identity. A cache miss does not prove the workspace lacks the part.

Library discovery is not universal: auditing integrated/database libraries does not guarantee that every part can be placed from them. A workspace footprint that Altium has never downloaded can require Altium's own Design → Update PCB Document before the companion can use its cached copy.

Catalog or accepted generated parts are installed into the project's TraceParts libraries. Eligible generated parts can install automatically when Home → Components → Auto-approve components that pass every check is on; other parts remain on their review cards. Turn the setting off for manual decisions, and review automatic installs and their limited Undo in the companion guide.

Altium conversion has important limits:

• Multi-unit KiCad symbols are combined side by side into one Altium part, not independent units.
• Custom-shaped pads can be approximated by several pads with the same number. Check copper shape, connectivity, mask and paste against the manufacturer drawing.
• Supported STEP models can be attached as footprint 3D bodies with their offsets and rotations. A load failure reports that manual attachment is needed; do not assume a saved asset means a body was attached. Altium's conversion uses STEP, not VRML.
• Compatible conversion preserves supported rounded-rectangle pad corner settings. Inspect the native pad geometry and model alignment; these newer generated-part paths still need installed-host acceptance.

Inspect the installation notes and verify pin numbering, units, dimensions, holes, footprint association and 3D alignment before using a part. A generated visualization is not a mechanical-fit check.

Review an existing library collection

Open Home → Components → Library Remediation → Open. Audit a folder of Altium libraries or an authorized database/web copy, inspect symbol/footprint pictures and ruleset findings, then optionally request a hosted AI review.

Selected fixes go to a separate output folder; the original library and live database are not overwritten. Read the change log and remaining advice, then open, check and save/reopen the output in Altium before adopting it. Follow library review and fixes for exact scope, charging and source permissions.

Simulate a schematic experiment

With the project connected and a schematic selected, inspect a grounded bench before running it. Compatible builds include Trace's simulation engine and a separate Simulation window; Simulation runs in the companion menu opens saved evidence without starting a solver.

Altium export reads current documents and compiled pin/net membership. It does not have a separate disk-only source, even when a request is labeled disk. Save intended work for reproducibility. Repeated-sheet multi-channel designs are refused; ordinary multi-unit parts are different.

Ask permits temporary experiments, while persistent benches and model installation/rebinding require Agent. A completed run without evaluated assertions is not a design pass. See plugin simulation before relying on results.

Board work and exports

Confirm schematic-to-board pin/pad links, outline, existing routing and design rules before asking for board changes. Advanced layout is a whole-board operation and requires an explicit request; its paid companion path has not been verified by a live run for this guide.

The companion does not provide Altium layer-stack editing, teardrop automation or automatic length tuning. Use Altium's Layer Stack Manager and interactive tools where required. Length reports exclude vias and pad escapes, do not create persistent matched groups and do not evaluate propagation delay.

The companion can prepare supported Gerber, drill and position outputs. Its fabrication ZIP excludes position and other assembly files. Inspect Gerbers/drills in a viewer and deliver assembly files separately; no manufacturing order is created by exporting.

If the host does not respond

• No projects listed: open a PCB project in Altium, then choose Refresh.
• Connection closed: check that Altium and its Trace Plugin window are still open, then use Reconnect.
• Host busy or dialog open: inspect Altium directly. Finish the dialog or wait for its work to complete before continuing.
• Write, save or document-opening error: verify what actually changed in Altium before trying again. Some current save, document-navigation and footprint-relink paths have source or unit-test coverage but have not been verified live.

If an edit or save is uncertain, preserve the current project and backup before recovery. Stop does not roll back earlier changes. Contact hello@buildwithtrace.com with the companion version, Altium version and error text, removing private design details.

See Trace Plugin for chat queues, Personal Artifacts and companion/desktop feature boundaries.