KiCad Pinout Generator

Compatibility: KiCad 6.0, KiCad 7.0.

Plugin presentation

This KiCad plugin generates pinouts of components from a PCB file to various formats:

• Text formats for documentation:
  • Markdown table
  • HTML table
  • CSV
  • List (tab separated)
  • WireViz
• Code format for software development:
  • C/C++ enums
  • C/C++ #define
  • Python/MicroPython dict.
  • Xilinx XDC constraint (FPGA)
  • Microsemi PDC constraint (FPGA)

Example applications:

• Automatically create the pin assignment from a microcontroller to C code,
• Generate interface documents for connectors.

Example of a export as HTML (left) and C/C++ enum (right)

Install instructions

Method A: Plugin and Content Manager (recommended)

The easiest way to install this plugin is to open KiCad's Plugin and Content Manager, look for "Pinout Generator" and press "Install"!

Method B: Manual install (for development versions)

To install the plugin from GitHub:

1. Clone/download this repository and extract it to your KiCad plugin folder. You can find it by opening the PCB editor, and using "Tools" > "Externals Plugins" > "Open Plugin Directory".
2. Refresh the plugins by restarting the PCB editor or using "Tools" > "Externals Plugins" > "Refresh Plugins".

Usage instructions

To use the plugin:

1. Select one component (or more),
2. Run the plugin by using the toolbar button or the Plugins menu,
3. Choose the desired format with the drop-down menu and copy-paste the result!

This plugins only gives useful output if the pins have net names. Use labels in the schematic editor to give the nets a human-readable name.

Note: in the generated code, both unconnected and power nets are ignored (commented in the output).

For C/C++ and Python format, there is a checkbox to use the pin name instead of pin number as the variable value. When checked, a filter can also be entered:

• If the filter is left empty, the full pin name is used.
• If something is entered, the plugin looks for this in the pin name, and extract the number after this string. For instance, if a pin name is "GPIO64/SPI", entering "GPIO" as filter will result in "64" in the output.

License

This plugin is published under MIT license.

View my other KiCad plugin: https://github.com/CGrassin/kicad-auto-silkscreen