Building from Source

This guide covers building KiCad from source on various platforms using CMake.

Prerequisites

Required Dependencies

KiCad requires the following libraries and tools:

Build Tools

CMake 3.22 or higher (3.28.1+ for MSVC ARM builds)
C++20 compiler
- GCC (Linux)
- Clang (macOS/Linux)
- MSVC (Windows)
SWIG 4.0 or higher (for Python scripting)

Core Libraries

wxWidgets 3.2.0 or higher (gl, aui, adv, html, core, net, base, propgrid, xml, stc, richtext, webview)
Boost 1.71.0 or higher (locale, unit_test_framework for QA)
OpenGL with GLU
GLM 0.9.8 or higher
Cairo 1.12 or higher
Pixman 0.30 or higher

Additional Libraries

Python 3.6 or higher (interpreter and libraries)
libgit2 1.5 or higher
CURL
ZLIB
Zstd
ngspice (for circuit simulator)
OpenCASCADE 7.5.0 or higher (for STEP support)
Protobuf (for IPC API)
Freetype 2.11.1+ on MSVC
HarfBuzz (font support)
Fontconfig (font support)

Platform-Specific

Linux: GTK3, libspnav (3D mouse), Wayland 1.20+ (optional)
Windows: Windows SDK
macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools

Quick Start

Basic Build Commands

# Clone the repository
git clone https://gitlab.com/kicad/code/kicad.git
cd kicad

# Create build directory
mkdir -p build/release
cd build/release

# Configure
cmake ../.. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

# Build (use -j<N> for parallel builds)
make -j$(nproc)

# Install (optional)
sudo make install

Important CMake Options

Build Type

-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=<type>

Available types:

Release - Optimized build (default)
Debug - Debug symbols, no optimization
RelWithDebInfo - Release with debug info
QABuild - Custom QA build without NDEBUG

Installation Prefix

-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local  # Default

Feature Flags

Python Scripting

-DKICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON  # Build wxPython support (default: ON)

Testing and QA

-DKICAD_BUILD_QA_TESTS=ON      # Build QA tests (default: ON)
-DKICAD_SPICE_QA=ON            # Build spice QA tests (default: ON)

Optional Features

-DKICAD_SIGNAL_INTEGRITY=ON    # Signal integrity tools (default: ON)
-DKICAD_IPC_API=ON             # IPC API support (default: ON)
-DKICAD_UPDATE_CHECK=ON        # Update checking (default: ON)
-DKICAD_USE_SENTRY=OFF         # Sentry metrics (default: OFF)
-DKICAD_BUILD_I18N=OFF         # Build translations (default: OFF)

Platform-Specific

# Linux
-DKICAD_WAYLAND=ON             # Wayland support (default: ON on Linux)
-DKICAD_BUILD_FLATPAK=OFF      # Flatpak conventions (default: OFF)

# Windows
-DKICAD_WIN32_DPI_AWARE=OFF    # DPI awareness (default: OFF)
-DKICAD_WIN32_BUILD_PARALLEL_CL_MP=OFF  # Parallel /MP compilation
-DKICAD_WIN32_LTCG=OFF         # Link-time code generation

# macOS
-DKICAD_APPLE_MAKE_RELOCATEABLE_BUNDLE=ON  # Relocatable bundle

Debugging and Development

# Sanitizers (not compatible with gold linker)
-DKICAD_SANITIZE_ADDRESS=OFF   # Address sanitizer
-DKICAD_SANITIZE_THREADS=OFF   # Thread sanitizer

# Debug options
-DKICAD_STDLIB_DEBUG=OFF       # libstdc++ debug mode
-DKICAD_STDLIB_LIGHT_DEBUG=OFF # Lightweight debug assertions
-DKICAD_USE_VALGRIND=OFF       # Valgrind instrumentation
-DKICAD_BUILD_SMALL_DEBUG_FILES=OFF  # Smaller debug binaries (Linux)

# Profiling
-DKICAD_GAL_PROFILE=OFF        # GAL profiling

# Development tools
-DKICAD_DRC_PROTO=OFF          # DRC prototype tool
-DKICAD_BUILD_PNS_DEBUG_TOOL=OFF  # P&S debug tool

Compiler Options

-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="<flags>"   # Extra C++ compiler flags
-DCMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE=ON    # Verbose build output
-DUSE_CCACHE=ON                # Use ccache for faster rebuilds
-DUSE_DISTCC=ON                # Use distcc for distributed builds
-DKICAD_USE_PCH=ON             # Precompiled headers (default: ON)

Variable Initialization

-DKICAD_INIT_VARIABLES=Default  # Options: Default, Off, Zero, Pattern

Installation Locations

Linux

Default locations (with CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local):

/usr/local/bin                  - Binaries
/usr/local/lib/kicad            - Shared libraries
/usr/local/share/kicad          - Data files
/usr/local/share/kicad/demos    - Demo projects
/usr/local/share/kicad/template - Project templates
/usr/local/share/doc/kicad      - Documentation

macOS

Application bundle structure:

KiCad.app/
├── Contents/
│   ├── MacOS/           - Executables
│   ├── Frameworks/      - Shared libraries
│   ├── PlugIns/         - KiFace modules
│   └── SharedSupport/   - Data files

Windows

C:\Program Files\KiCad\
├── bin\                - Binaries and DLLs
├── share\kicad\        - Data files
└── share\doc\kicad\    - Documentation

Build Examples

Development Build

cmake ../.. \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug \
  -DKICAD_BUILD_QA_TESTS=ON \
  -DKICAD_STDLIB_LIGHT_DEBUG=ON \
  -DUSE_CCACHE=ON

Release Build

cmake ../.. \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local \
  -DKICAD_BUILD_QA_TESTS=OFF

Minimal Build (No Python)

cmake ../.. \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DKICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=OFF

Troubleshooting

Missing Dependencies

If CMake reports missing packages, install the development packages for your distribution: Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt-get install cmake build-essential libwxgtk3.2-dev \
  libboost-dev libboost-locale-dev python3-dev swig libglm-dev \
  libcairo2-dev libpixman-1-dev libgit2-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev \
  zlib1g-dev libzstd-dev libngspice0-dev libocct-dev

Fedora:

sudo dnf install cmake gcc-c++ wxGTK-devel boost-devel python3-devel \
  swig glm-devel cairo-devel pixman-devel libgit2-devel libcurl-devel \
  zlib-devel libzstd-devel ngspice-devel opencascade-devel

Build Errors

Out of memory: Reduce parallel jobs (make -j2 instead of make -j$(nproc))
Compiler version: Ensure you have a C++20 compatible compiler
wxWidgets version mismatch: Ensure wxWidgets and wxPython use the same version/toolkit

Advanced Topics

Cross-Compilation

For cross-compilation, set the appropriate CMake toolchain file:

cmake ../.. -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=<toolchain-file>

Custom Python Site Packages

-DPYTHON_SITE_PACKAGE_PATH=/custom/path

Link Maps (Linux only)

-DKICAD_MAKE_LINK_MAPS=ON

Next Steps

After successfully building KiCad:

Run the test suite: ctest --output-on-failure
Review the code style guidelines
Start making changes and submit merge requests

Contributing

Architecture

API Reference

Building from Source

Prerequisites

Required Dependencies

Build Tools

Core Libraries

Additional Libraries

Platform-Specific

Quick Start

Basic Build Commands

Important CMake Options

Build Type

Installation Prefix

Feature Flags

Python Scripting

Testing and QA

Optional Features

Platform-Specific

Debugging and Development

Compiler Options

Variable Initialization

Installation Locations

Linux

macOS

Windows

Build Examples

Development Build

Release Build

Minimal Build (No Python)

Troubleshooting

Missing Dependencies

Build Errors

Advanced Topics

Cross-Compilation

Custom Python Site Packages

Link Maps (Linux only)

Next Steps

​Prerequisites

​Required Dependencies

​Build Tools

​Core Libraries

​Additional Libraries

​Platform-Specific

​Quick Start

​Basic Build Commands

​Important CMake Options

​Build Type

​Installation Prefix

​Feature Flags

​Python Scripting

​Testing and QA

​Optional Features

​Platform-Specific

​Debugging and Development

​Compiler Options

​Variable Initialization

​Installation Locations

​Linux

​macOS

​Windows

​Build Examples

​Development Build

​Release Build

​Minimal Build (No Python)

​Troubleshooting

​Missing Dependencies

​Build Errors

​Advanced Topics

​Cross-Compilation

​Custom Python Site Packages

​Link Maps (Linux only)

​Next Steps

Prerequisites

Required Dependencies

Build Tools

Core Libraries

Additional Libraries

Platform-Specific

Quick Start

Basic Build Commands

Important CMake Options

Build Type

Installation Prefix

Feature Flags

Python Scripting

Testing and QA

Optional Features

Platform-Specific

Debugging and Development

Compiler Options

Variable Initialization

Installation Locations

Linux

macOS

Windows

Build Examples

Development Build

Release Build

Minimal Build (No Python)

Troubleshooting

Missing Dependencies

Build Errors

Advanced Topics

Cross-Compilation

Custom Python Site Packages

Link Maps (Linux only)

Next Steps