Early beta · launching soon
From board requirements to a routed PCB you can still edit.
Write what the board has to do and which parts you already picked. Copperline drafts the schematic, checks it, and lays it out.
Review note · C12
Rated 6.3 V on the 5 V rail. That leaves little margin once DC bias is counted. Use 10 V or higher.
VOUT = 0.8 V × (1 + 31.6k / 10k) = 3.33 V
Most of a board’s schedule goes to work that is not design.
You know what the board has to do. The days go to other things: comparing the same regulator across four distributor sites, drawing a footprint by hand from a dimensioned drawing on page 38, redoing a feedback divider because the first resistor value was out of stock, and finding a swapped pin after the boards come back from fab.
Copperline does that work and leaves the decisions to you.
Before the schematic
Parts research
Give it the requirements and it searches distributor catalogs for candidates, showing price, stock and lifecycle status for each one.
Datasheet to footprint
When a part has no symbol or footprint, it reads the datasheet and builds both, noting the page each dimension came from.
The schematic
Drafted with the math written down
Every resistor, capacitor and inductor value comes with the calculation that produced it, so checking it takes a minute.
Reviewed before layout
It checks wiring, pin functions and voltage, current and power ratings, and explains why each flag matters.
The board
Routed inside your rules
Your stackup, clearances and trace widths. Every trace stays editable, and the design rule check runs after routing.
After the board
Outputs and upkeep
Live bill of materials with pricing and stock. One-click manufacturing outputs: Gerber, drill, BOM and pick-and-place. Revision compare. Obsolescence alerts that suggest in-stock alternates.
Fits your tools
Works from your AI assistant over MCP. Imports and exports KiCad, with Altium as a goal.
One sheet, five stages.
Each stage passes its output to the next. You can stop at any of them and take the files into KiCad.
- U1Requirements
Input range, rails, interfaces, board size, and the parts you have already chosen. Plain text is fine.
out spec
- U2Parts
Copperline fills the gaps from distributor catalogs and builds any missing symbol or footprint from its datasheet.
out parts, footprints
- U3Schematic
A first draft with every value calculated and the working shown beside it.
out netlist
- U4Review
Wiring, pin functions and ratings are checked before you place a single part. You accept or change each flag.
out accepted flags
- U5Layout
Routing follows the design rules you set, traces stay editable, and DRC runs at the end. Then you export the fab files.
The autorouter is in the next beta release.
out fab files
- title
- How Copperline works
- sheet
- 1 of 1
Hardware engineers with more boards than hours.
Small hardware teams
One or two people own every board the company makes, and the schedule assumes they are faster than they are.
Engineering consultancies
A new client board every few weeks, each starting from a blank sheet and a new parts list.
Teams facing an end-of-life notice
A part goes obsolete and you need an in-stock alternate that fits the footprint and the ratings by the end of the week.
Firmware engineers who need a board
A test fixture, a breakout or a sensor carrier, without waiting in the layout queue.
What works today, and what does not yet.
In the beta today
- Parts research with live price and stock
- Datasheet to symbol and footprint
- Schematic drafting with the calculations written down
- Pre-layout review of wiring and ratings
- KiCad import and export
- Live bill of materials
Next
- The autorouter, as a beta inside your design rules
- The MCP server for AI assistants
- One-click manufacturing outputs
- Obsolescence alerts with alternates
Later
- Altium import and export
- A shared team workspace
- Revision compare
What beta teams get
Free use during the beta, a direct line to the founder, and a say in what we build next.
What we ask
A real board to try it on, honest feedback when something is wrong, and a short call every couple of weeks.
Access is by conversation. Write to the founder and tell us what you are building.
Get in touchQuestions
How much will it cost?
Pricing is not set yet. The beta is free for early teams, and we will tell you well before anything changes.
Do I have to leave KiCad?
No. Copperline imports and exports KiCad projects, so you can open any result in KiCad and finish it there.
What happens to my design files?
We agree data handling with each beta team before you share anything. By default we use your files only to work on your board. They are not used to train shared models, and we delete them when you ask.
How do I know a calculated value is right?
Each value shows the formula, the inputs and the datasheet page they came from. The review step flags anything that breaks a rating, and nothing goes to fab until you approve it.
Will the autorouter route every net?
It routes inside the rules you set. If you would rather hand-route high-speed or RF nets, lock them and the router leaves them alone. It ships in the next beta release, so expect it to change as we learn.
Which formats and tools does it support?
KiCad today. Gerber, drill, BOM and pick-and-place exports come next, along with the MCP server for AI assistants. Altium is a later goal.
When is general availability?
There is no date yet. We will open it up once routing and the manufacturing outputs hold up on real beta boards.
Why we are building it.
Designing a circuit board takes a few hours of engineering and days of lookup, redrawing and checking. The decisions that matter (which part, which topology, how the board will be tested) get squeezed by the clerical work around them.
We want engineers to spend their time on those decisions. Copperline does the research, drafting and checking, shows its work at every step, and hands back files you can open and edit in the tools you already use.
Founders
- Founder nameFounder
We are in early beta. If you want in, write to the founder.
Tell us what the board does and where you are stuck. We reply to every email.
Get in touchfounder@usecopperline.xyz