Ece Tool Suite

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At a glance

Instruments	Oscilloscope, multimeter, spectrum analyzer, power supply, function generator, electronic load. USB, LAN, serial, GPIB. 19 vendors recognised from *IDN?.
Never lies about data	Every reading is tagged SIMULATED, UNVERIFIED_HW or VERIFIED_HW. The tag can be lowered, never raised. Promotion needs a live *IDN? and a clean error queue.
Safe sourcing	No output turns on without a declared DUT envelope, protective limits written and read back, and your explicit confirm. Any failure rolls back with the output off.
Power design	Buck and boost sizing, then verified by actually running the netlist through LTspice or ngspice. Loop margins, magnetics, cap banks, 20 calculators.
Digital	Verilog, SystemVerilog and VHDL through Icarus, Verilator, GHDL, Yosys and nextpnr. SPI, I²C, UART and CAN decode. MCU flashing over UPDI.
Design glue	Parts search with distributor link import, KiCad schematic analysis, CubeMX .ioc editing, LabVIEW automation.
Agent-ready	Built-in assistant plus an MCP server, with a tool surface that is a strict subset of the app's and cannot energize anything.

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Quick start

You need Python 3.12+ and Node 18+. No instrument required.

git clone https://github.com/karimrayttu/ece-tool-suite.git
cd ece-tool-suite
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\setup.ps1   # macOS/Linux: ./scripts/setup.sh
npm run app

That is the whole install. The setup script builds the Python environment and installs the JS dependencies; npm run app opens the native window and starts the backend itself.

Confirm it works with npm test. Expect 328 passed, 1 skipped on a full install, or a green run with more skips if you took the -Minimal option. Full detail in Installation.

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Contents

• At a glance
• Quick start
• What it is
• Requirements
• Installation
• Running it
• Step by step: your first measurement
• The bench
• Design tools
• Digital and embedded
• Automation and integrations
• Configuration
• Troubleshooting
• Platform support
• More documentation
• Contributing
• License
• Trademarks

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What it is

Bench work spreads across too many windows. The scope has its own utility, the supply has another, the SPICE run is somewhere else, and the numbers get copied between them by hand. This started as a way to put a scope, a meter, a supply and a spectrum analyzer behind one connection flow, and then kept growing into the design tools that surround them.

The thing I cared about most was that it never fabricates a measurement. Every reading carries a tag saying where it came from, and the tag can only be lowered, never quietly raised:

Tag	Meaning
SIMULATED	Produced by an instrument model, not by hardware
UNVERIFIED_HW	A real session is open, but nothing has confirmed what is on the other end
VERIFIED_HW	A live *IDN? and a clean error-queue read-back both passed

That tag rides with the data into the UI, the WebSocket streams, the audit log, and every tool result handed to an agent. provenance.py refuses to construct a reading without one, and refuses to raise one. There is no software path to VERIFIED_HW; it takes an instrument.

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Requirements

	Minimum	Notes
Python	3.12	3.13 works too
Node	18	20 is what CI uses
OS	Windows 10 or 11	See Platform support
VISA	Optional	Needed only for USB instruments

No instrument is required to install, run, or develop against the app.

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Installation

1. Clone the repository.

git clone https://github.com/karimrayttu/ece-tool-suite.git
cd ece-tool-suite

2. Run the setup script. It creates backend/.venv, installs the backend and its optional extras, and runs npm install at the repo root.

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\setup.ps1

On macOS or Linux use ./scripts/setup.sh. Either script accepts -Minimal / --minimal to skip the optional extras; the app still runs, and the tabs that need them say what is missing instead of failing.

3. Check it worked.

npm test

You should get 328 passed, 1 skipped. The suite drives instrument models rather than hardware, and every feature that shells out to a vendor tool (Yosys, Icarus, LTspice, LabVIEWCLI, CubeMX) skips its tests when that tool is absent. On a machine with none of them installed you get a green run with a lot of skips, which is the correct result.

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Running it

npm run app      # native Electron window; it starts the Python backend itself
npm run dev      # backend plus the Vite dev server at http://localhost:5173
npm run build    # rebuild the UI into apps/renderer/dist
npm run lint     # ruff over the backend
npm run smoke    # headless check that the packaged launch path works

npm run app is the normal way in. The Electron shell owns the backend's lifecycle: it picks a free port starting at 8848, passes a per-launch token that /health has to echo back so it never adopts a server it did not start, rebuilds the UI if it is stale, and kills the backend on quit.

To build a Windows installer, see docs/packaging.md.

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Step by step: your first measurement

Every instrument tab has the same four-step connection bar. This is the whole flow.

1. Open the tab for the role you want. Oscilloscope, Multimeter, Spectrum or Sources. The Connections tab above does all six at once if you prefer a single view.

2. Find the instrument. Press Discover to list the VISA resources visible over USB and LAN, or type the address yourself:

Interface	What to type
LAN, VXI-11	TCPIP0::192.168.0.50::inst0::INSTR
LAN, HiSLIP	TCPIP0::192.168.0.50::hislip0::INSTR
LAN, raw socket	TCPIP0::192.168.0.50::5025::SOCKET
USB (USBTMC)	USB0::0x2A8D::0x1234::MY51234567::INSTR
Serial	COM3 in the address box, or ASRL3::INSTR
GPIB	GPIB0::22::INSTR

3. Press Connect. The session opens through the system VISA layer if one is installed, and falls back to pyvisa-py if not. The badge now reads UNVERIFIED_HW.

4. Press Verify. This queries *IDN?, parses the vendor, model, serial and firmware, then drains :SYST:ERR? until the queue reports empty. Both have to pass. A populated error queue means the instrument rejected something, and a reading taken in that state is not trustworthy even if a number came back. When both pass, the badge turns green and reads VERIFIED_HW.

Disconnecting destroys the session and the promotion with it. Reconnecting starts over at UNVERIFIED_HW.

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The bench

Oscilloscope

Four channels with V/div, offset, coupling and probe attenuation; timebase and trigger; Run, Stop and Single. The measurement strip under the graticule carries Vpp, Vampl, Vmax, Vmin, Vtop, Vbase, Vavg and Vrms, all read back from the instrument rather than computed in the browser. Exports CSV, saves the canvas as PNG, and can pull a native screenshot off the scope.

Auto Setup is bounded, never native. The button runs identify, reset, verify, a bounded autoset, then capture. It computes V/div and s/div from the expected signal and checks the result against the scope's live front end. The instrument's own :AUToScale is refused in any automated path, because it hands range selection to the instrument with no limit on what it does to a 50 Ω front end.

Multimeter

Eleven functions, range and NPLC control, math and auto-zero. The readout tracks min, max and average alongside the live value. Client-side CSV export, plus a server-side recorder that logs a session to disk and exports it as CSV.

Spectrum analyzer

Centre, span, RBW, VBW, reference level, attenuation and averaging. Trace modes are write, max hold, min hold, average and view, with detector and preamp controls. The peak marker reads out under the grid, and there are one-press setups for an ISM sweep, a harmonics sweep and a spur search.

Sources, and the safety interlock

Power supply, function generator and electronic load. Before anything can be energized you declare the DUT's maximum voltage and current. The verdict badge updates as you type.

An output turns on only when all four of these hold:

1. A DUT envelope is declared. There is no safe default, so its absence is a refusal.
2. The requested level sits inside both that envelope and the instrument's own rating.
3. The protective limits (OVP, OCP) were written and read back.
4. You ticked Confirm energize.

The runner rejects any plan where the enable step is not last or where protection is not set first, then executes step by step: evaluate, write, drain the error queue, read the value back. Any failure aborts with the output forced off. Output OFF is never gated.

Workbench

Scope, meter and spectrum in one view, each with its own connection bar so you can bring up any combination. Auto-connect all walks the discovered resources and binds them to roles.

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Design tools

Power supply designer

Enter Vin, Vout, Iout, switching frequency and ripple target. Auto-design picks the topology and explains why, sizes the inductor and output capacitor, suggests candidate parts, and produces a type-II compensation starting point.

Then verify it. Verify (LTspice) generates a self-contained switching netlist, runs it headless, parses the .raw, and checks measured output regulation, ripple, inductor current and efficiency against targets. Verify loop builds the open-loop model and pass/fails the achieved phase and gain margins. There is also magnetics design against a real core and wire database, and capacitor bank sizing.

The module states its own limits: the plant is not the full Ridley sampled-data model, and the current-sense transresistance and reference default to generic values which come back in the response so you can refine them from the datasheet. Treat the margins as a design review, then confirm on the bench.

Calculators

Twenty calculators in the UI and two more on the API. Resistor divider with E24 snapping, LC low-pass, L-network match, microstrip impedance, decoupling advisor, LED series resistor, RC and RL time constants, LC resonance, op-amp gain both ways, IPC-2221 trace width, junction temperature, 555 astable, ADC resolution, dBm conversion, current-sense shunt, capacitor energy, buck duty cycle and antenna wavelength.

Parts

Search an offline catalog, or paste a Digi-Key, Mouser, LCSC, TI or ST product link and have the part number, manufacturer and specs pulled out automatically. Parametric values are normalized into spec chips so a 3.3 V part and a 3V3 part compare properly. Add NEXAR_CLIENT_ID and NEXAR_CLIENT_SECRET for live distributor results, or connect a Digi-Key developer app on the Connections tab.

KiCad

Paste a .kicad_sch and get components, nets and detected circuit patterns. It is a pure parser, so KiCad does not need to be installed.

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Digital and embedded

RTL and FPGA

Write Verilog, SystemVerilog or VHDL and every button hands off to a real tool: Verilator and Verible for lint, Icarus and GHDL for simulation, Yosys for synthesis, nextpnr for place-and-route and timing. Nothing here judges your HDL itself; the toolchain's own diagnostics are the verdict.

Export a Xilinx, Intel or Lattice project when you want to finish in vendor tools. The engineering-patterns library carries reference implementations of clock-domain crossing, reset synchronization, self-checking testbenches, XDC timing and ILA debug.

Model-assisted RTL generation is available with an API key, and it only reports a result as validated when lint and simulation actually pass. With no testbench that means lint-clean and nothing more, which the panel says out loud.

Logic analyzer

Decode SPI, I²C and UART from any source: a sigrok-supported analyzer, a Saleae, an MSO scope's digital pod, or an imported CSV. The decoders are pure functions over sample arrays, including UART parity and framing-error detection, and matching signal generators produce known waveforms so the decoders are testable without hardware.

CAN bus

Load a DBC and decode logged frames into engineering values, with both Intel and Motorola bit layouts.

MCU programmer

Read a target's device ID, supply voltage and flash through a UPDI, PDI or debugWIRE debugger (Curiosity Nano, Atmel-ICE, MPLAB SNAP, PICkit), and get the firmware back as Intel HEX. The device catalog works offline from metadata alone. Chip erase sits behind a Danger Zone with an explicit acknowledgement, and with no debugger attached the hardware operations error honestly rather than pretending.

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Automation and integrations

LabVIEW

Detects LabVIEW and the LabVIEW CLI, lists the .lvproj files it finds, and drives NI's supported automation channel for headless VI runs, mass compile and build specs. VI Server over COM lets you set front-panel controls, run a VI and read its indicators from the app.

Software setup

Freely redistributable tools install from their official source with live progress. Login-gated vendors open their official download page instead; no vendor authentication is ever bypassed. A tool counts as installed only when detection finds the binary again afterwards.

Agents and MCP

Two separate paths, deliberately.

The in-app assistant is a chatbox wired to the shared tool registry. It sees provenance-tagged results and cannot confirm an energize on your behalf. Set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY to enable it.

The MCP server lets an external client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor) drive whatever the app has connected. It opens no instruments itself; it calls the running app, so the app keeps sole ownership of the hardware. The Connections tab generates the client config with your interpreter path filled in. See docs/mcp.md.

The agent-facing surface is a strict subset of the chatbox surface, and test_contract.py asserts it. No tool that can energize a DUT is reachable from the agent bridge at all.

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Configuration

Everything is optional. Nothing is read from a file; these are environment variables, and .env.example lists them all with notes.

Variable	Effect
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	Enables the assistant and the model-assisted RTL endpoints
ECE_SUITE_MODEL	Overrides the default model
NEXAR_CLIENT_ID, NEXAR_CLIENT_SECRET	Live Nexar parts search
DIGIKEY_CLIENT_ID, DIGIKEY_CLIENT_SECRET	Digi-Key API, also enterable in the UI
ECE_SUITE_DATA	Where the audit log and recordings go (default ~/.ece-suite)
ECE_SUITE_PORT	Backend port (default 8848, falls back to the next free one)
ECE_SUITE_HDL_BIN	Extra directory to search for the HDL toolchain
ECE_SUITE_LABVIEW_DIR	Where VIBuilder.vi and its guide live
ECE_SUITE_<ROLE>_RESOURCE	Auto-connect a role at startup; roles are SCOPE, DMM, SA, PSU, AWG, ELOAD

Auto-connecting looks like this:

ECE_SUITE_SCOPE_RESOURCE=TCPIP0::192.168.0.50::inst0::INSTR
ECE_SUITE_DMM_RESOURCE=USB0::0x2A8D::0x1234::MY51234567::INSTR

A failed auto-connect is written to the audit log and leaves that role disconnected. It does not stop the app from starting.

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Troubleshooting

Discover finds nothing over USB. Install Keysight IO Libraries Suite or NI-VISA. That layer is what enumerates USBTMC devices. LAN instruments do not need it.

Verify fails but Connect succeeded. The error queue came back populated, which means the instrument rejected a command. Open the Interactive IO console on the Connections tab and send :SYST:ERR? to see which one.

The window is blank or shows an old UI. The Electron shell loads the built renderer from apps/renderer/dist. Run npm run build.

No backend interpreter found. The setup script has not run, or it failed partway. Re-run it; it stops on the first failure rather than continuing.

A tab says a tool is missing. That is the tab telling you the truth. Install it from the Software Setup tab, or point ECE_SUITE_HDL_BIN at a non-standard location.

Something energized that should not have. Set the limit on the instrument's front panel as well. The software interlock stops this application from exceeding your declared envelope; it is not a substitute for the instrument's own OVP and OCP, and the MCP server's raw SCPI passthrough bypasses it by design.

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Platform support

Windows 10 and 11 is what this is developed and tested on, and the only platform CI covers.

The backend and the UI run on macOS and Linux, and LAN instruments work there through pyvisa-py. Several features are Windows-only by nature and report themselves unavailable rather than failing: LabVIEW automation goes through COM, the one-click installers use winget, and the tool detection paths are Windows install locations. Building an installer is Windows-only.

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More documentation

Document	Covers
User guide	Connecting instruments and what each tab does
Instrument support	Vendors, SCPI dialects, capability profiles, adding a model
Developer tutorial	Seven chapters on how the code works
MCP setup	Driving the bench from an external agent client
Packaging	Building the Windows distributable
Changelog	What changed per release

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Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. CONTRIBUTING.md has the layout, the three invariants that will not be relaxed, and how to add an instrument.

If you own a bench instrument this suite claims to support, confirming or correcting its profile is the single most useful contribution. Vendor coverage beyond Keysight is written from programming manuals, not from hardware.

One known rough edge, so you find out here rather than later: backend/ece_suite/main.py holds the entire HTTP and WebSocket surface in one 2300-line module. Splitting it into routers has to happen in one go, because the tests import from it directly.

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License

MIT, see LICENSE. Third-party components and their licenses are listed in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md. Note that the optional spice extra pulls in a GPL-3.0 library, which matters if you redistribute a build.

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Trademarks

This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of the companies whose products it talks to. Keysight, Agilent, Tektronix, Teledyne LeCroy, Keithley, RIGOL, SIGLENT, Rohde & Schwarz, Fluke, B&K Precision, GW Instek, Yokogawa, OWON, Aim-TTi, Chroma, Kikusui, ITECH, Pico Technology, Hantek, National Instruments, LabVIEW, Texas Instruments, WEBENCH, STMicroelectronics, Microchip, AMD, Xilinx, Intel, Lattice, KiCad, Digi-Key, Mouser and Nexar are trademarks of their respective owners, used here only to say which hardware and file formats are supported.