AI agents: read SKILL.md and references/ai-usage.md.
An open-source OrCAD Capture TCL automation knowledge base: API quick-reference, 17-probe CIS / Probe specifications, design cache recovery G1/G2/G3 canonical TCL chain, and a centralized anti-patterns list.
Not a script library: this toolkit does not ship ready-to-run .tcl files. AI agents assemble idioms from
references/into custom scripts tailored to the user's specific request, which the user then pastes into the OrCAD Command Window.Targets Cadence SPB 23.1 and later.
git clone https://github.com/<your-account>/orcad-capture-toolkit.git
cd orcad-capture-toolkitNo compilation, no pip / npm required. This toolkit is a pure-documentation knowledge base.
Requirements:
- Cadence SPB 23.1 or later (OrCAD Capture required; CIS module is optional)
- An OrCAD Capture session on the user's machine for executing AI-generated scripts
Once the AI delivers a custom .tcl, the user:
- Launch OrCAD Capture and open the target design
- Open the TCL command window via
View > Command Window - Copy-paste the AI-generated script into the Command Window and press Enter
(or save it as a
.tclfile and runsource {C:/your/path/script.tcl}) - Observe the "expected log signals" described in the AI's execution steps
This toolkit is designed to be portable across LLM / IDE platforms:
| Platform | Usage |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | SKILL.md's YAML frontmatter is automatically recognized as a skill; place it in ~/.claude/skills/ or the project's .claude/skills/ |
| Codex CLI | Same — injected as a skill |
| Gemini CLI | Same — frontmatter read by the activate_skill mechanism |
| GitHub README / Cursor / ChatGPT | Read README.md directly; SKILL.md contains trigger conditions and workflow |
| OrCAD engineers (no AI) | Use this toolkit as a plain reference repository; start reading from references/ |
| Type | Purpose | When to Read |
|---|---|---|
SKILL.md |
Skill entry point: trigger conditions + out-of-scope + AI workflow | AI agents should check trigger conditions at the start of every task; skill loaders read it directly |
README.md |
GitHub project entry: installation, platform support, contributing | Anyone encountering the project for the first time |
DESIGN.md |
Design snapshot | When you want to understand why it is structured this way and what is intentionally excluded |
references/ |
Knowledge base + idiom building blocks | Required reading before an AI writes a custom script; engineers look up API / workflow details |
evaluations.json (local only, gitignored) |
Skill self-test scenarios | Validate trigger behavior and output quality after modifying the skill |
MIT License. Please retain the copyright notice.
PRs welcome. Scope is limited to "general OrCAD Capture TCL automation knowledge":
- Newly discovered API behaviors, version dependencies, or pitfalls → add to
references/ - Verification results for newer OrCAD versions → add a verification block in the relevant section
- New idiom building blocks (covering common user request scenarios) → add to
references/ai-usage.md§5 - Downstream integration examples (specific workflows, organization-internal designs) → please open a separate repo; not accepted here
When submitting a PR, please:
- State the test environment (OrCAD / SPB version)
- Do not reference any organization-internal documents, design files, or identifiable client information
- For any TCL code examples, follow the alias / redaction convention (logs should not contain identifiable real part / net / path names)
- OrCAD environment: Cadence SPB 23.1
- Documentation last verified: 2026-04-26
- Knowledge base last runtime-verified: design cache recovery canonical chain passed G1/G2/G3 (2026-04-10); CIS probe — all 17 probe logic units are composable and runnable, but the full CIS integration chain conclusion still awaits on-machine verification
See the "Verification Status" section at the end of each references/*.md for details.