Inspecting the board
render_board
Render a synthesised image of the board for visual inspection.
Usage
render_board [options…]Angle brackets mark required arguments and square brackets optional ones. Available in the pcb editor. You can issue this yourself, and the AI agent issues the identical command — there is no second, hidden interface.
Arguments
options0 required, 1 optional.
Behaviour
Drawn from the document, never captured from the screen. Each item class gets its own nameable colour and a millimetre grid is overlaid with EVERY line labelled, so positions are read off directly rather than estimated. Y increases downward.
Cost control — image tokens scale with pixel area, so: * layer all (the default) is ONE image. Ask for a specific layer only when the defect is layer-specific; do not sweep every layer by reflex. * classes / without narrow what is drawn. Dropping silkscreen and fab for a clearance question makes the image both cheaper and easier to read. * max_px caps the long edge (default 1024). Raise it only for fine detail. * The framing follows the CONTENT, not the board outline, so empty substrate costs nothing.
Classes: edge_cuts board_cutout trace via pad_smd pad_tht pad_npth drill zone_fill zone_outline footprint silkscreen silk_text fab courtyard ratsnest no_connect drc. highlight <net> draws that net at full saturation and dims everything else.
How the agent uses it
- The agent works in a perceive / act / verify / recover loop: it describes the design, issues
render_boardor another command, checks the result, and undoes the change if the check fails. - Commands report what they actually did. A refusal is a result, not a silent no-op — which is what lets the agent recover instead of building on a change that never happened.
- Anything the agent can do here, you can do yourself, and the reverse.
Other inspecting the board
Try render_board in the editor
Free to start on macOS, Windows and Linux. Bring your existing KiCad and Altium libraries.