Birbla

Discussion summary

A developer shared a browser-based version of KiCad, which allows the entire PCB design workflow. Users praised its features, including the 3D viewer, and suggested improvements like download size display and part number support.

What the discussion says

  • The project enables PCB design in a browser, similar to KiCad desktop.
  • Users find the tool impressive and useful for PCB workflows.
  • Suggestions include showing download size and integrating component databases.
“This is genuinely impressive”
— vishalkundar
“Even the 3D viewer is working.”
— peteforde

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  • Hacker News
  • This is genuinely impressive
    by vishalkundar
  • Thank you!
    by ViktorEE
  • Is this at all related to kicanvas.org
    by brokensegue
  • Nope, not at all. This is the original KiCad sources with some modifications to make it run in a browser. As far as I know kicanvas renders PCBs, we can do the whole workflow ( create a schematic => pcb => DRC checks, exports etc ).
    by ViktorEE
  • Kudos! This is impressive work. Even the 3D viewer is working.
    by peteforde
  • Thanks!!!
    by ViktorEE
  • Small suggestion, it would be nice to see the total size of the download during the first load (sry I am on a slow metered connection).
    by thenthenthen
  • Yea, I'll add it in the next deploy. Thanks! Right now it's about ~30 MB for the big app ( 2 editors + footprint + symbol ).
    by ViktorEE
  • Happy to answer any questions & feel free to reach out ( email in my profile )!
    by ViktorEE
  • I like all the utility you have already built in.

    My selfish suggestion would be to add support to populate the part numbers for all the components from LCSC's database. JLCPCB wants these numbers in order to assemble a PCB.

    (Currently I use a JLCPCB plug-in to do this in KiCAD.)

    by JKCalhoun
  • This is really cool. I think a lot of people will initially dismiss your demo as ‘slop’ unless the landing page drops some of the Claude-isms (text and design) because it’s clear this is a project with passion in it, but the demo page and landing page both look like something Claude might’ve made with a single prompt.
    by varun_ch
  • You're wrong! It was two prompts! Jokes aside, you're right. I wanted to have something up quickly. Before the real launch ( and not just this demo ) I'll write one by hand, I'm against AI written copy / blogposts, just could not find the headspace to focus.

    Again, thanks for the feedback, I'll take it!

    by ViktorEE
  • So you can easily get it to work in the browser, but the dozens of core developers can't get it to work properly on Wayland[1]? Something smells fishy...

    [1] https://www.kicad.org/blog/2025/06/KiCad-and-Wayland-Support...

    by dark-star
  • I mean... It took quite a lot of time... Like months until I got the first dialog.
    by ViktorEE
  • You can run KiCad just fine on Wayland because XWayland was built for applications like these. The big issues that KiCad can't fix are encountered when running it on Wayland without compatibility tooling.

    With the oldschool way KiCad was designed, I don't think they'll ever be natively compatible with Wayland, but thankfully they don't have to.

    by jeroenhd
  • I can totally see pcb manufacturers like JLC integrating this into their websites, with a set of customized design rules and an order button.
    by karlkloss
  • Yea, it makes sense. JLC already own EasyEDA, it's an interesting matchup for sure.
    by ViktorEE
  • To open a demo board click "Open" in the Projects/Demo board section then "Open in PCB Editor" at demo.kicad_pcb in Files.

    Next time I'll make a smoother demo...

    by ViktorEE
  • I have tried to open demo on mobile and it fails (iOS 18.6.2). Safari browser returns “there was a repeated problem with the page…”
    by sixtyj
  • I love that Firefox is the best.

    I don't use kicad. But, this project, as a web-first version of kicad, seems like it offers the best opportunities to create a shared learning community. Is that part of the long term goal?

    I would love to experiment with kicad, but I learn best through watching others and asking questions. Can I do that with this? Is there a way I could "watch" other sessions as the build progresses? Or, chat about what I see there with other people interested in learning and teaching?

    Very nice work!

    by xrd
  • I love that too, the sad part is that ~30% of our visitors ( from Plausible ) are on Safari which is... Not good :) No threads for ya there. At least it works.

    Yes! That's the plan for "marketing". And yes, we'll have to usual "follow" features ( without the popups etc which doesn't really suit your usecase ), chat ( maybe voice chat? ).

    Thanks!!

    by ViktorEE