OrCAD / Allegro MCP servers and AI agent skills

How AI connects to OrCAD / Allegro

An MCP server or skill can only do what OrCAD / Allegro lets programs do. OrCAD / Allegro exposes 3 automation interfaces:

• OrCAD Capture Tcl/Tk extensions (Tcl): Capture embeds a Tcl interpreter. You type commands in its Command Window, and scripts dropped in the capAutoLoad folder load at start-up. Cadence's Tcl/Tk Extensions application note documents the Dbo database commands (DboState, DboTclHelper and the DboPage constructors) that read and change parts, nets and properties. Capture also ships a Tcl Communication Server, which the 17.4 servers reach over a socket. Documentation
• Allegro SKILL (axl functions) (LISP): Allegro PCB Editor is scripted in SKILL through functions prefixed axl, such as axlDBGetDesign, axlDBCreateLine and axlSaveDesign. You load .il files at the Skill> prompt, not the Command: prompt. SKILL has no socket support, so the SPB 17.4 server spawns a helper process with ipcBeginProcess and talks to it over pipes. The SKILL reference ships with the installation. Documentation
• PSpice command-line simulation (Command line): PSpice can run a .cir netlist without the GUI through psp_cmd.exe, writing the same .out file the GUI produces. The 16.6 server uses this route for bias-point and transient runs because its text output is easier for an agent to read than the Probe window.

What Cadence offers

Cadence's AI work for PCB centres on Allegro X AI, which Futurum's CadenceLIVE 2026 report describes as bringing placement, routing and early agentic flow automation to packaging and PCB. These run inside Cadence's own tools. No official MCP server or third-party AI client support for OrCAD or Allegro was found as of this check.

Checked 4 Nov 2026. Sources: CadenceLIVE 2026, Can agentic AI finally crack 3D IC design automation? (Futurum)

What you can do with OrCAD / Allegro and AI

• List every part with its value, footprint and part number from an open Capture design, and change a property across many parts at once.
• Run pre-netlist, BOM and high-speed net audits in Capture and find hanging wires or single-node nets.
• Check an Allegro board for placement keep-in, overlap and creepage problems, dangling copper and cluttered silkscreen.
• Draw a small circuit in Capture 16.6, simulate it in PSpice and export the bias point and waveforms to PDF.
• Diff the schematic netlist against the board's pin dump to prove the schematic matches the board as built.

Taken from the listings' own documentation. Check each listing for exactly what it supports.

Installing

The listings here document setup for Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Codex CLI, Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI, VS Code and ZCode. Install steps, copied from each project's own documentation, are on each listing's page. Most OrCAD / Allegro integrations run on your own computer next to OrCAD / Allegro, so you need OrCAD / Allegro installed and licensed on the same machine unless the listing says otherwise.