Change how a schematic reads without treating a cleaner drawing as proof that the circuit is correct.
Before You Start
Open the intended sheet and save your intended editor work. In native Trace, preserve the .trace_sch and its paired .xo drawing before a redraw, and verify a usable Local History snapshot or independent backup. In Trace Plugin, verify a saved host-file backup instead: follow KiCad undo and backups or Altium save and recovery. Redraw controls depend on a compatible build and host.
An ordinary circuit edit aims to amend an existing human drawing around the changed components and connections. A full redraw deliberately replaces the sheet's placement and wiring presentation; request it explicitly.
Request the Drawing You Want
- Select the correct schematic sheet and identify it in your request.
- Say whether to preserve the existing drawing or replace its layout.
- Choose a presentation:
- More wires: emphasize visible paths between components.
- Balanced: use both wires and labels.
- More labels: reduce long wire runs using named connections.
- In Agent, send a specific request, such as “Redraw the FILTER sheet with more wires. Preserve its components and pin-to-net connections.”
- Follow the tool result, inspect the displayed sheet, and save the intended result.
- Reopen the saved drawing when practical, then check component identity, references, pin nets, and hierarchical interfaces.
For a smaller change, say “Add this component while preserving the existing drawing” instead of requesting a full redraw.
Rearrange Only Part of a Native Sheet
Compatible native schematic sessions can scope a relayout to named component references or blocks. Identify what may move and whether existing wires should stay.
Rearrange only R3, R4, and C2 on the FILTER sheet.
Keep the other parts in place and preserve the existing wires.
Do not change component identities, values, or pin-to-net connections.
Keeping other parts in place is different from keeping all wires. Without a keep-wires request, a scoped layout can redraw connections across the sheet and reposition hierarchical sheet symbols. Read the reported scope and held/moved parts, then inspect the whole sheet around the changed area.
Parts you placed by hand can remain held, including within a requested scope, unless you explicitly authorize moving them. If a requested part was held or the sheet requires permission to replace a human drawing, clarify the intended move rather than repeatedly requesting a full redraw.
For an app-drawn native sheet, you can instead request new wiring while keeping all component positions. Imported or text-positioned drawings can require an explicit redraw rather than this wiring-only mode. These native scope controls are not a promise of identical companion-host behavior.
Review the Result
Check that labels are readable, wires land on the intended pins, junctions are unambiguous, and cross-sheet connections retain the correct names and directions. More labels can hide a path visually; trace the actual net rather than judging by appearance.
Inspect frames and annotations around held parts, no-connect markers, and net-class assignments. A short wire stub near a pin is not evidence of a connection: use the net readout and ERC to resolve it. A drawing warning describes a presentation limitation, not a substitute connectivity verdict.
Run ERC for configured connectivity and pin-type findings. ERC does not establish functional behavior or certify that a redraw preserved every design requirement. See Schematics.
Native and Companion Differences
Native Trace saves drawing data alongside the schematic in .xo; recovery of that saved drawing requires both files. Use the verified Local History recovery path, or your independent backup, to inspect and restore an earlier drawing.
Trace Plugin relies on its host's drawing, save, reload, backup, and undo behavior; it does not use the native .xo/Local History recovery pair. Follow the KiCad or Altium host procedure. Altium sheets containing hierarchical sheet symbols are amended rather than fully redrawn by this flow, and an oversized drawing can report page overflow rather than automatically enlarge the page.
Where automatic schematic refresh is unavailable, save intended host edits before starting. After a disk edit, reload through the supported host path; never save a stale open buffer over the new drawing. A host reload can also clear its editor undo history.
If the Drawing Is Incomplete or Wrong
Check the active sheet and the reported hierarchy, page-size, library, or reload limitation. Inspect saved files and the live editor before retrying. Do not delete .xo or re-import the project to force a redraw.
Recover the prior saved drawing through the supported history/backup path, then request a smaller change or a supported presentation. If electrical connections changed unexpectedly, resolve them and rerun ERC before continuing.