KiCad Version Control with OpenVault
OpenVault brings Git workflows to KiCad projects. Track schematics and PCB layouts with full revision history, branching, and text-based diffs. Collaborate without conflict or lock-in.
KiCad files are text-based. That's your advantage.
KiCad stores schematics (.kicad_sch), PCB layouts (.kicad_pcb), and project files (.kicad_pro) as plain-text S-expressions. This is a significant advantage for version control.
Unlike many CAD tools that produce opaque binary formats, KiCad's text-based approach means Git can diff, merge, and track changes naturally. When two engineers edit the same schematic or layout, you can see exactly what changed line by line. You don't need binary merge strategies or special tooling. Standard Git diffs work.
OpenVault sits on top of Git and Git LFS, wrapping Git's power in a workflow tuned for how engineers work with design files. For KiCad projects, this means:
- Commit every design iteration with an author, timestamp, and message. Build a trustworthy audit trail.
- Branch to explore variants without touching the main design. Try a different trace routing or schematic reorganization in an isolated space.
- Diff revisions to see what changed in the layout or schematic. Review changes before merging.
- Merge changes coherently so the schematic, PCB, and supporting files travel together as one design revision.
- Work offline and sync when connected. No network dependency, no locked-out moments.
OpenVault for KiCad Projects
Text-based diffs
KiCad files are S-expressions. Git diffs work naturally. See exactly which traces moved, which nets changed, and which symbols were updated. No binary opaqueness.
Commit and branch
Start a feature branch for layout experimentation or schematic refactor. Commit your work with a message explaining why you made the change. Merge back when ready.
Full history
Every revision carries its author, timestamp, and rationale. Audit trail comes for free from doing the work. Understand why any design decision was made.
No lock-in
OpenVault tracks KiCad files faithfully. Your designs stay portable. Export to other tools, switch CAD platforms, or share in open formats anytime.
Offline first
Clone a project, work anywhere offline, commit locally. Sync to the team repository when connected. No network dependency during design iteration.
Conflict handling
Two engineers edit the same trace routing or net? OpenVault shows both versions and flags the conflict. You review the changes and decide what to keep.
A workflow for KiCad teams
You start your morning by syncing the latest project. Before you touch anything, you can see what changed overnight: which nets were reorganized, which footprints were swapped, and why each change was made. There's a commit message with every revision, so the context is already there.
When you start layout work, you create a branch. Now you have a private space to route traces without worrying about stepping on a teammate's edits. You can try a routing approach, revert it, try another. None of that churn touches the main design.
When the layout is ready, you commit it as one unit: the updated PCB, the schematic reference updates, the BOM changes if any. Then you push to the shared repository. A teammate syncs and gets the whole coherent change. The pieces that belong together travel together.
If someone else edited the same net or footprint placement, OpenVault flags it. You see both versions and decide which approach to keep. That review step keeps the design intent intact.
Why this matters for regulated designs
In aerospace and medical device electronics, you need to answer "what changed, when, by whom, and why" for every design revision. Teams without version control reconstruct this from email and design notes, usually scrambling before an audit.
With OpenVault, the audit trail is built into the workflow. Every commit carries its author, timestamp, and rationale. When you need a change log for submission, you already have one. The discipline that keeps your team from losing design work also keeps you audit-ready.
Getting started with OpenVault for KiCad
OpenVault is free and open source under the MIT license:
pip install openvault
openvault init
Initialize a KiCad project directory as an OpenVault repository. Commit your schematic and PCB files. Create branches for features or variants. Work with the same Git commands you may already know, wrapped in a workflow tuned for CAD files.
When your team needs web-based collaboration, shared repositories, and a 3D-preview interface, Tool Crib Cloud adds a hosted layer with permissions management and cloud storage. The command-line tool works standalone with no cloud dependency.
Common Questions
- Why use OpenVault for KiCad instead of plain Git?
- You can use plain Git if you want. OpenVault adds engineering-friendly tooling on top: automatic Git LFS routing for binary files, conflict resolution workflows tuned for CAD, multi-file coherence so related files stay synchronized, and commands that mirror Git but hide the complexity unrelated to your job. For teams that already know Git, OpenVault feels familiar. For everyone else, it removes the parts that have nothing to do with design.
- Are KiCad files actually text-based?
- Yes. KiCad stores schematics (.kicad_sch), PCB layouts (.kicad_pcb), and project files (.kicad_pro) as plain-text S-expressions. This means Git can diff them naturally, show you line-by-line changes, and handle merges without special binary merge strategies. It's one of KiCad's advantages as an open source tool.
- Do I need Git LFS for KiCad files?
- Not for the design files themselves. KiCad schematics and layouts are text-based and work fine with standard Git. However, if your project includes renders, footprint libraries, or 3D models as binary files, OpenVault can route those through Git LFS automatically to keep your repository fast. Most KiCad projects will not need LFS for the core design files.
- What if two people edit the same PCB layout?
- OpenVault detects the conflict and shows both versions. Because KiCad PCB files are text-based S-expressions, you can see exactly what each person changed at the line level. You review the changes and decide what to keep. There's no automatic merge of 3D geometry, which keeps your design integrity intact. Resolving the conflict takes more effort in that moment, but you stay in control.
- Does OpenVault work with other ECAD tools?
- OpenVault is designed to track the files any CAD tool produces, including ECAD tools like KiCad, Altium, and others. It sits underneath the tool and tracks files faithfully regardless of what created them. If you use Altium schematics or other formats, OpenVault will handle them, though binary ECAD formats won't get the same text-based diff benefits as KiCad's S-expression files.
Start versioning your KiCad projects
OpenVault is free and open source. Install it now to add Git-style version control to your KiCad workflow.