Protoboard is a framework for agents and people to design, check and release hardware projects. A project describes its system in UHD (Universal Hardware Description: modules, interfaces, links and harnesses, as TypeScript), and Protoboard supplies the rest: project conventions, a parts library, checks, a viewer, extensions that drive engineering tools (tscircuit and KiCad for boards, build123d for CAD, Zephyr and ESP-IDF for firmware), skills that teach an agent the workflow, and a release that ends in a Manufacturing Package.
Think of it as "Next.js for hardware": initialize a project, add
capabilities as packages, work in VS Code with your agent, view the system
live, and cut a versioned hardware release. Any agent that speaks MCP or
reads AGENTS.md can use it; the stack does not run the agent.
This repository holds the stack: the framework core, the protoboard CLI,
the extensions, the viewer shells, the VS Code extension, the parts service
client, and the reference projects. It is open source under the Apache
License 2.0.
Install the Protoboard extension in VS Code (Visual Studio Marketplace),
or in Cursor or Windsurf (Open VSX). It carries the whole stack and gives
your terminals the protoboard command, with no Node.js or npm needed. Or
install the command line alone (Node.js 22 or later):
npm i -g @protoboardai/cli
protoboard agents setup # connect Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, … to the stack's MCP serverThe installation guide covers macOS, Windows and Linux, each supported agent, your first project, signing in for the Protoboard parts library (the only part that needs an account), updating, uninstalling and troubleshooting.
protoboard init my-drone --template drone # or wearable, iot; or a blank project
cd my-drone
protoboard check # every validator that can run; exit 1 on errors
protoboard dev --open # the viewer at http://127.0.0.1:5180/, live
protoboard release --check # what stands between the design and a releaseThen open the folder in VS Code, or ask your agent to start from the
build-a-project skill. A project made with Protoboard 0.1 or 0.2 is moved
to 0.3 with protoboard upgrade (release notes).
- Quickstart: a project from a template to a release, step by step.
- Reference: the CLI, configuration, extensions and skills, the Manufacturing Package format and the library protocol.
- Guides: writing a capability provider, the SOP format every skill follows, evals, a local registry.
- Design: architecture, project structure, UHD boundary, tool integrations, distribution and the rest of docs/specs.
- Release notes.
| Path | What |
|---|---|
packages/core |
@protoboardai/core: project loading, the definition registry, resolution, checks, build, templates, parts and libraries. |
packages/cli |
@protoboardai/cli: the protoboard command and its MCP server. |
packages/cloud |
@protoboardai/cloud: the typed client of the parts service and of any uhd-library/v1 library. |
packages/views, packages/web-viewer |
The domain views and the shells of protoboard dev and the VS Code tabs. |
packages/ext-* |
The extensions: hardware, parts, sourcing, docs, release, drone, tscircuit, zephyr, esp-idf, frame-cad, harness-cad, enclosure-cad. |
packages/vscode-protoboard |
The VS Code extension (developer reference). |
examples/ |
Reference projects: a 5-inch quadcopter, a wearable watch, a smart water bottle and a motor test bench. |
docs/ |
The documentation above. |
scripts/ |
CI, the lints, the local registry and publishing. |
The stack builds against two repositories checked out beside it, UHD and the viewer:
git clone https://github.com/Delta-Robotics-Inc/uhd.git
git clone https://github.com/Delta-Robotics-Inc/uhd-viewer.git
git clone https://github.com/Delta-Robotics-Inc/protoboard-stack.git
(cd uhd && npm install && npm run build)
(cd uhd-viewer && npm install && npm run build)
cd protoboard-stack && npm install
npm run typecheck && npm test
scripts/ci-stack.sh # the whole CI flow, as GitHub Actions runs itCONTRIBUTING.md has the commands, the pull request process and the sign-off; docs/ci.md the workflows.
The code is Apache-2.0 (LICENSE, NOTICE); contributions come in under the same licence with a DCO sign-off. "Protoboard" and its logo are trademarks of Delta Robotics, Inc.; a fork you distribute needs its own name (TRADEMARKS.md).