pcb-project-intake

Read runtime access before choosing between explicit-path MCP, a live bridge session, and native/headless CLI. Their availability is separate.

PCB project intake

RAG: engineering memory by default — shared workflow. Build project context from recorded requirements, architecture and prior lessons; relate the exact file/model inventory to design intent and the next engineering decisions.

Produce a read-only project baseline. Do not turn absent fields into assumed requirements. Use public tools/list for exact callable names and get_capabilities for document/configured feature availability.

Workflow

1. Call diptrace_status, then get_capabilities.
2. Resolve each document as XML or a native binary before get_document_info. Explicit-path XML inspection does not require a live editor. For a binary, find its corresponding XML export or use the supported native workflow on a copy; base roundtrip alone does not export XML. Record kind, literal format version, document units, byte size, and SHA-256. Treat PCB, schematic, component library, and pattern library as different source types.
3. Read only advertised models: get_board_model, get_schematic_model, get_design_rules, and get_connectivity_graph. Use count-only or paginated board reads when the response is large.
4. Separate caller requirements from document facts. Record an unresolved requirement as blocked_by_input only when it changes topology, ratings, pin mapping, mechanical datum, units, or release criteria.
5. Return the inventory through ../shared/result.schema.json.

Quantitative boundaries

• All MCP geometry is millimetres even when root Units is inch or mil; preserve the literal root value as document evidence.
• get_board_model accepts page limits from 1 through 500 and has a count-only mode; use the advertised byte budget instead of requesting the whole board.
• One write transaction is limited to 100 staged operations and 500 conservatively counted affected objects/elements; the count may exceed unique physical objects. This skill never opens one.
• A SHA-256 is exactly 64 lowercase hexadecimal characters. Never substitute a path or timestamp for document identity.

These limits come from server.py, capability_model.py, write_limits.py, and runtime get_capabilities; runtime values win.

Refusals

• Do not infer DipTrace 5.3 compatibility from a synthetic scaffold or parser success.
• Do not call a tool absent from runtime discovery; follow ../capability-map.json.
• Do not collapse schematic logical connectivity and PCB ratlines into one completion claim.
• Keep source designs unchanged. Native checks requested as part of intake use isolated copies; discover the helper before calling native opening unavailable. Do not start unrelated processes.

Label every returned fact caller or document; label derived prioritization heuristic.