KiKit v1.1 released — a ton of new features

[yaqwsx]

Hi! Today a new version of KiKit was released - v1.1.0. It is packed with a ton of new features and bug fixes. All users are encouraged to upgrade.

What is KiKit?: GitHub - yaqwsx/KiKit: Automation tools for KiCAD
Release notes: Release v1.1.0 release · yaqwsx/KiKit · GitHub
Related blog post with more details about the new features: KiKit v1.1 — What’s New? – mind.dump()

[Mantvis97]

Amazing work, Thanks

[djsbriscoe]

Hi,
I get the following error

************************************
* KiCad 6.99 Command Prompt
************************************
You may now invoke python or pip targeting kicad's install

C:\Users\david\Documents\KiCad\6.99>kikit --help
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files\KiCad\6.99\bin\Lib\runpy.py", line 197, in _run_module_as_main
    return _run_code(code, main_globals, None,
  File "C:\Program Files\KiCad\6.99\bin\Lib\runpy.py", line 87, in _run_code
    exec(code, run_globals)
  File "C:\Users\david\Documents\KiCad\6.99\3rdparty\Python39\Scripts\kikit.exe\__main__.py", line 4, in <module>
  File "C:\Users\david\Documents\KiCad\6.99\3rdparty\Python39\site-packages\kikit\ui.py", line 2, in <module>
    from kikit import (panelize_ui, export_ui, present_ui, stencil_ui,
  File "C:\Users\david\Documents\KiCad\6.99\3rdparty\Python39\site-packages\kikit\panelize_ui.py", line 7, in <module>
    from kikit.panelize_ui_sections import *
  File "C:\Users\david\Documents\KiCad\6.99\3rdparty\Python39\site-packages\kikit\panelize_ui_sections.py", line 4, in <module>
    from kikit import plugin
  File "C:\Users\david\Documents\KiCad\6.99\3rdparty\Python39\site-packages\kikit\plugin\__init__.py", line 12, in <module>
    from kikit.common import KIKIT_LIB
  File "C:\Users\david\Documents\KiCad\6.99\3rdparty\Python39\site-packages\kikit\common.py", line 7, in <module>
    from pcbnew import wxPoint, wxRect, EDA_RECT
ImportError: cannot import name 'EDA_RECT' from 'pcbnew' (C:\Program Files\KiCad\6.99\bin\Lib\site-packages\pcbnew.py)

C:\Users\david\Documents\KiCad\6.99>

When running kicad-nightly-r29245.0595efd0a7-x86_64.exe

I was able to upgrade kikit by issuing the pip install -U kikit command. However, I still get the “kikit installation not found” dialog box poping up.

I’m using python version 3.9.10 and the command prompts are using Admin privileges. I hope this info is useful.

[yaqwsx]

6.99 is not supported. The support will be added in late November or early December (as the API is highly unstable until then).

[djsbriscoe]

Thanks. As I download the nightly version regularly, I’ll let you know how the installation of kikit goes in December.

[fred4u]

I’ve installed Kikit in my 6.0.7, but only get the “Show hide references” plugin. Did both the Pip install and the GUI via PCM. What did I possibly miss?

[yaqwsx]

It is possible that you didn’t miss anything. There was a small packaging bug. Try installing v1.1.1 via pip and see if it helps. If not, please find the error message (under preferences → action plugins) and open issue for that.

[fred4u]

Had to uninstall and install again, but Kikit started to work. Thanks.
BTW: Are there any plans to make the GUI more friendly for the newcomers? Like with Kicad’s constraints definition, little drawings are used to visually explain specific parameters. Here the process could equally benefit from visual explanation.

[yaqwsx]

Improving the GUI is definitely wanted, but it is not priority number 1. The priorities at the moment are improvement of footprint correction patterns, proper support for custom DRC rules, merging DRC rules, speed improvement, a proper tutorial for scripting, and then maybe GUI improvement. The priorities are assigned based on my needs.

However, if you want to make nice CLI happen sooner, you can always consider hiring me to do the job and support KiKit development.

[fred4u]

When you mention DRC, do you mean Panel-level DRC? I assume board level DRC is irrelevant at the panelize stage.

[yaqwsx]

KiKit aims at producing panels that pass DRC. This is already the case for panels of a single design and most panels of multiple designs. What we want to introduce are options to merge DRC rules in a sane way of the source board in some complicated cases.