AELM is now available for free
We released AELM, a VSCode extension that lets you write circuits as text and renders them as schematics automatically.
What AELM is
AELM (Agent-native Electronic Layout Markup) is a text-based CAD tool for electronic circuits. You describe a circuit in a dedicated DSL, and AELM renders the schematic from that description automatically. The core is built in Rust and WebAssembly, and it runs as a VSCode extension.
By treating a circuit as text rather than as a drawing, we hoped to bring the everyday habits of software development — how we write things and how we keep a record of them — into circuit design.
The idea: write it as text
At the heart of AELM is a simple flow.
- Define the circuit in a dedicated DSL
- Render the schematic from that definition automatically
- Because the definition is plain text, you can version it directly with Git
The definition you write as text is drawn out directly as a schematic. Since the state of the circuit lives as text, changes are easy to see at a glance, and reviewing them feels natural.
Why text
Most traditional circuit CAD tools save their design data in a binary format. That makes it hard to see what changed, and reviewing or tracing history takes extra effort.
In AELM, the design itself is text. You can run a diff just like with code, review it in a pull request, and record the reason for a change in a commit. The goal is to keep a design readable and easy to follow.
How to use it, and how it's released
- Just install the VSCode extension to get started
- It's published on the VSCode Marketplace
- There's no charge — it's free to use
We hope you'll start with a small circuit and get a feel for writing it as text. What it can do today is still only a part of the picture — we plan to fill it out little by little, eventually supporting simulation and PCB artwork (board fabrication). We'll keep refining it, one step at a time.