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A Second Silicon workspace combines imported board data, focused threads, and optional local tools.

Projects and boards

Import a KiCad or Altium project folder from New Project. Second Silicon filters the selected folder, detects project roots, and creates boards from the designs it can open. A folder with several KiCad .kicad_pro roots can produce several boards.

Source	Schematic surface	Semantic component and net data	Source editing
KiCad project folder	Rendered and/or native scene	Yes, when parsing succeeds	Available only when the board reports native editing support
Altium project folder	External-parser rendered surface, with semantic scene data when available	Depends on parser output	No; annotations remain overlays

See Supported formats for folder requirements.

Schematic and firmware views

The schematic view combines the rendered design, explorer rows, selections, comments, findings, and agent highlights. The visual surface and semantic hit targets can come from different representations, so a rendered schematic can still support component and net selection.

Editable KiCad boards expose Design mode and native schematic operations. Altium and rendered-only boards keep source files unchanged and use comments, highlights, probe markers, and other overlays.

The firmware view can show attached local firmware context, file navigation, and Build-mode threads when the required local capability is available. Local file operations require a supported desktop bridge path.

Threads and modes

A thread is tied to one board. In the schematic view, the mode picker offers Design, Debug, and Ask when supported. In the firmware view it offers Build, Debug, and Ask.

The side panel streams assistant messages and tool activity. It also supports message search, direct result navigation, image attachments, feedback, thread rename/archive, and PDF download.

Local tools and instruments

Symbiote pairs a browser workspace with capabilities on a Mac or Windows machine. Symbiote can advertise managed file access, firmware operations, KiCad CLI operations, local ECAD ingestion, and installed instrument plugins. The app shows unavailable states when the required capability is not connected.

PicoScope 2204A is the currently documented hardware integration. Captures and signal-generator controls depend on the installed driver plugin and device state. Measurements can always be entered in the thread without Symbiote.

AI models

Choose a model and reasoning effort from the composer. Provider keys and model visibility live under Settings. See AI models & usage.

Exports

Each thread can download a transcript-style PDF containing project, board, mode, model, notes, and completed timeline text. It does not yet include rendered schematic pages, waveform graphics, or an agent-written report summary.

Generated multi-thread board reports are not available in the current release.

Next: Quickstart to import a project folder, or Symbiote to pair local capabilities.