Assembly parts

The parts pane in Diagram and PCB lists native parts already added to the assembly. Eligibility depends on the part's own symbol or pads. No separate eCAD library or KiCad library identity is required; KiCad imports create native CAD parts.

Add part to assembly…, at the top of the pane in Diagram and on the PCB schematic, opens Assembly's Insert component window — the same one the toolbar's Add component opens — so a part can be added without leaving Diagram or PCB. While the pane lists nothing, that button is the pane's only control and says under it which parts will appear. Once the assembly holds a part, its card appears here; place its symbol in Diagram or on the PCB schematic. A native instance with pads reaches the PCB on its own, including a part with no symbol: the board follows this list, so it needs no view switch and no button. Update from parts in the board view forces that pass and re-frames the board. Parts with neither symbol nor pads do not appear.

BOM reference designators are optional. A part without one uses its assembly instance name; repeated labels are disambiguated. Sheet entries retain their native instance identity independently of these display labels. Editing a BOM reference updates its placed sheet entries in the same undo step.

Search filters the cards. A card's context menu opens the native source part; embedded-only parts are edited with Assembly's Open part. Save edits and use Update Components to refresh model, symbol and pads together. Connections follow a renamed pin only when its address is unchanged: a connection point is addressed [<occurrence chain>:]<port>.<point>, and the NAME is the identity — there is no separate id behind it, so renaming a pin renames the address.

Global library management is outside this integration. The document's existing native part storage remains the source for assembly instances. No bundled catalog or generated footprint runs in the application. See The eCAD editor.