# KiCad/kicad-source-mirror

This is an active mirror of the KiCad development branch, which is hosted at GitLab (updated every time something is pushed). Pull requests on GitHub are not accepted or watched.

Repository: https://github.com/KiCad/kicad-source-mirror
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/kicad-source-mirror
Homepage: https://gitlab.com/kicad/code/kicad
Language: C++
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: kicad, wxwidgets, cad, engineering, eda, linux, macos, pcb, schematic, windows, electronics
Last push: 2026-08-26T22:21:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 93/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 82, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4658, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 42, "gap_med": 37.0, "n_releases_24m": 21}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2901, forks 695 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:28.925686+00:00)

## What it is
KiCad is a cross-platform open-source EDA (Electronic Design Automation) suite for designing printed circuit boards and schematics, including a schematic editor, PCB layout editor, Gerber viewer, and 3D viewer. This repository is an active mirror of the official GitLab development branch, so pull requests are not accepted here.

## Use cases
- design a printed circuit board
- draw electronic schematics
- view gerber files
- convert a schematic to a PCB layout
- view PCB designs in 3D
- create footprints and symbols for electronics
- open-source alternative to Altium or Eagle

## When to choose
- you need a free, open-source PCB and schematic design tool
- you want to contribute to KiCad development or build it from source
- you need cross-platform EDA software on Linux, macOS, or Windows

## When to avoid
- you want to submit pull requests - use the official GitLab repository instead
- you need commercial-grade simulation or high-speed signal integrity analysis
- you need a lightweight library to embed rather than a full application

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: gui, editor, graphics, developer-tools
- domain: hardware, cross-platform, desktop-applications, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cpp, cross-platform
- tags: eda, pcb-design, schematic-capture, electronics, cad, wxwidgets, gerber-viewer, 3d-viewer, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- KiCad/kicad-source-mirror (main) score 93

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:28.925686+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:35:08.857233+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/KiCad/kicad-source-mirror (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:28.925686+00:00, sha c2594a3b4cb4)
  - homepage: https://gitlab.com/kicad/code/kicad (fetched 2026-08-29T09:49:49.167518+00:00, sha 3197151f10cf)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.