Schematic

A schematic is the logical electrical design: which components exist, which pins connect to which, and what each wire's real part data is. It's usually the first thing you build in a task, before laying the same design out physically in Harness mode.

Core concepts

Concept	What it is
Connector	A component placed on the schematic (e.g. a connector, relay, or other part) — added from the Component Library.
Route	A wire segment drawn between two component pins.
Signal	The electrical connection a route represents — a from-pin/to-pin pair, with or without a route drawn yet.
Splice	A junction joining multiple wires together, placed directly on the schematic.
Terminal	A terminal point placed directly on the schematic.
Frame	A drawing border/title block placed around the design for printing or export.

The toolbar

The schematic editor's controls are split across four docked regions rather than one bar — left and right floating toolbars, a header, and a footer. Left/right toolbar contents swap when you switch to Harness mode; everything below is the Schematic-mode set.

Left toolbar

	Select	The default pointer tool.
	Route	Draw a wire between two pins. Has a dropdown (▾) for related route options.
	Text	Add a free text label to the canvas.

Needs confirmation: a Signal command exists in the toolbar's source but is currently hidden behind a feature flag (not shown in the running app) — omitted above until it ships.

Below the actions, a second group opens the side panels:

	Components	Search the library and drag parts onto the canvas.
	Tables	Connector Table, Wire Table, and Signal (From-To) Table.
	Frames	Add a drawing border/title block for printing or export.
	Shapes	Basic drawing primitives (lines, rectangles, etc.).

Right toolbar

	Connector Table	Every placed connector, one row each.
	From-To Table	The Signal Table — see Signals below.
	Wire Table	Part numbers and properties for every wire.
	DRC	Runs the checks in Design rule checks in schematic below.
	Properties	Details and actions for whatever's currently selected.
	Get Started	Opens the in-app walkthrough panel — a separate, shorter surface from this guide.

An AI Assistant entry is also present on plans with that feature enabled — not shown here since it isn't universal.

Header and footer

The header carries Undo, Redo, Export, the rename-design control, and the Schematic/Harness mode toggle.

The footer carries canvas display toggles — Grid Snap, Crosshair, Ruler, Air Wires — and zoom controls: Zoom out, Fit to screen, Zoom in.

Working with connectors

• Place a connector — open the Component panel, choose a library and category, search, then drag the part onto the canvas. Each instance gets a designator (C1, C2, ...).
• Flip — select a placed connector and run the Flip Horizontal command to mirror it horizontally. (Only horizontal flip is currently available — Flip Vertical exists in code but is disabled.)
• Symbol Switch (Replace) — swap a placed connector for a different part without having to re-route its wires.
• Labels — each connector's designator label can be shown (tag-on icon) or hidden (tag-off icon) on the canvas, per-connector or globally.
• Delete — removing a connector also removes its symbol from the canvas. Needs confirmation: exact warning/confirmation behavior when the connector is still referenced elsewhere (e.g. Connector Table, Signal Table) — verify with engineering before documenting specifics.

Wiring and routing

• Route command — click a pin on one component, then the matching pin on another, to create a wire between them; repeat for each connection, then press Esc to exit.
• Wire Table — assign each wire a real part number and view/edit its properties (gauge, material, length, color, CSA, diameter) in one place.
• Wire labels — wires can display a label on the canvas alongside the route.

Signals

The Signal Table lists every from-pin/to-pin connection in the design, whether or not it has been drawn as a route yet — useful for checking a design against an imported from/to list.

Design rule checks in schematic

Opening DRC while in the schematic evaluates only schematic-relevant rules. Severities, from least to most critical: Alert → Warning → Error.

Severity	Rule	Example message
Error	A component defined in the tables isn't placed on the canvas	Connector C03 is defined in the engineering tables, but not placed on the canvas
Error	A signal is defined but has no route drawn	Signal S04 (C03:01 → C04:01) is defined but not routed on canvas
Error	A wire has an unconnected (floating) end	—
Warning	A connector, splice, or terminal isn't referenced by any signal	Connector C03 is not used in the design
Warning	A component has unused pins	—
Warning	A wire has a part number but is missing required properties (gauge, material, length, CSA, color, diameter)	—
Warning	A wire has custom properties set but no part number assigned	Wire W10 has custom properties but no part number assigned
Alert	Multiple wires are crimped into the same pin (multi-crimp)	—

This table should stay in sync with services/drc/config.json — that file is the source of truth for severities and wording.

Related pages

• Getting Started — the first steps of building a design.
• Harness — laying out the physical bundle from the same design.
• Component Library — finding and placing parts.
• Design Rule Checks — the full DRC reference, including harness-specific rules.