Signex is open-source EDA tooling built in Rust with GPU-accelerated
rendering and an Altium Designer-quality UI. Today it is a schematic
editor with symbol, footprint and component-library editors, ERC,
annotation, and PDF / BOM / netlist export. The PCB editor, 3D viewer,
simulation and plugin system are on the roadmap, not in
the v1.0 Community Preview. Native file formats (.snxsch, .snxpcb) are
line-diffable in git and ~5× smaller than the equivalent JSON.
New here? Install a package (see Download), then follow the
User Guide: it takes you from File ▸ New Project
to a saved schematic and an exported PDF.
Migrating from a GPL-based EDA tool? The optional import companion repository
(GPL-3.0-or-later, distributed independently) converts
project files from GPL-based EDA tools to Signex's native
formats one-way. Run it once against your project; open the resulting
.snxprj in Signex.
Migrating from Altium? Install the optional
signex-altium-import
companion (Apache-2.0, clean-room). Then File › Import › Altium Project…
converts a .PrjPcb, .SchDoc, .PcbDoc, .SchLib or .PcbLib into a sibling
<name>-signex/ folder and opens it. The import lists everything it had to
approximate or skip; review that list before you fabricate an imported
board.
Two editions from one codebase:
- Signex Community (Apache-2.0, free forever) — the schematic editor
today; the PCB editor follows in v2.x (see the roadmap)
- Signex Pro (subscription, planned for v3.0) — adds Signal AI
(Claude-powered design copilot), plugins, real-time collaboration, and
Signex 365 cloud PLM
Status: Early development, heading for the first release candidate.
v0.15.0 (2026-07-23) is the latest tagged release; v1.0.0-rc.1, the
first release candidate of the v1.0.0 Community Preview (schematic-only),
is next. trunk already carries work past v0.15.0 that no release contains
yet: a stock library with placeable parts, typed component values with a
range filter, ERC completeness rules with waivers and an ERC report,
cross-sheet net navigation, project-wide Find and Replace, and in-place
text editing. The version axis and the v1.0 exit criteria are in
docs/ROADMAP.md. Release candidates are published as
GitHub pre-releases; see Download.
Join the discussion or check the roadmap.
Features
What works today (v0.1–v0.15, plus the work on trunk since):
- Open native Signex schematics (
.snxsch, .snxsym, .snxprj); migrate
legacy files from GPL-based EDA tools via the import companion repository
- Full schematic editing: select, move, wire (W), bus (B), label (L),
component placement (P), delete, rotate (Space), mirror (X/Y)
- Advanced shape tools — Line, Rectangle, Circle, Arc (3-click), Polygon
(click-by-click), editable drawing Properties with live preview
- Copy/paste, undo/redo (100 levels), save to the native
.snxsch /
.snxprj formats (.snxsch: TOML envelope + TSV bulk blocks, line-diffable
in git; .snxprj: JSON, see why)
- 7 built-in themes with customizable theme editor
- Altium-style docking panels with drag-to-undock/dock
- Active Bar — 13-button floating toolbar with dropdown menus
- Context menu, in-place text editing (F2), selection filter
- Properties panel with context-aware field editing, Parameter Manager
- Multi-window editing (v0.7) — undock any tab into its own OS window
and edit it independently; each window keeps its own pan/zoom, selection,
and undo/redo history
- ERC validation (v0.7, extended since) — 31 built-in rules (
RuleKind in
crates/signex-erc/src/lib.rs) including cross-sheet hierarchy checks,
net-label conflicts, bus checks and completeness checks (part without
footprint / value / MPN, unannotated designator, single-pin net, net with no
driver, off-grid, ...); per-finding waivers that carry a reason and an
author; File ▸ Export ▸ ERC Report as .txt, .csv, .json, .html or
.pdf (docs/ERC_RULES.md,
docs/ERC_REPORT.md)
- Annotation (v0.7) — four modes, review-and-confirm dialog,
lock/unlock per designator, project-wide consistency
- F5 net-color palette (Altium profile), F8 ERC, F9 AutoFocus (dim unrelated objects)
- Pin connection matrix (6×6 axes folding the 14 pin directions, per-cell severity override)
What's next:
| Version | Milestone |
|---|
| v1.0 | Community Preview — schematic-only release |
| v2.0–v2.2 | Community Release — full PCB editor (viewer, routing, DRC, output) |
| v2.3–v2.5 | 3D Viewer, Advanced PCB, High-Speed Design |
| v3.0 | Pro Release — Signal AI + plugins + collaboration |
| v4.0 | Unified simulation view with SPICE, EM, thermal |
| v5.0 | Signex 365 cloud PLM |
Screenshots
Architecture
A 17-crate Rust workspace (edition = 2024), an acyclic DAG with
signex-app at the apex and signex-types as the shared foundation:
signex/
├── crates/
│ ├── signex-app/ # Main binary — iced 0.14 app (panels, dock, canvas, editors)
│ ├── signex-types/ # Domain types — schematic/PCB/layer/theme — NO rendering deps
│ ├── signex-engine/ # Command / patch / undo engine for schematic edits
│ ├── signex-net/ # Authoritative netlist + connectivity contract
│ ├── signex-erc/ # ERC rule engine (+ signex-erc-dsl)
│ ├── signex-sketch/ # Apache-clean Newton-LM constraint solver + sketch schema
│ ├── signex-bake/ # Sketch → footprint bake (pad / silk / courtyard / mask / …)
│ ├── signex-output/ # PDF / netlist / BOM export pipeline (+ signex-bom)
│ ├── signex-renderer/ # Domain types → render primitives (+ signex-gfx wgpu pipelines)
│ ├── signex-library/ # .snxlib component library — port/adapter model (+ signex-library-server)
│ ├── signex-widgets/ # Reusable iced widgets (tree view, active bar, previews)
│ └── signex-3d-model-importer/ # STEP / WRL importer for 3D body attach
└── Cargo.toml
Design principles:
- Native
.snx* formats first. .snxsch / .snxpcb / .snxprj are the canonical formats (TOML envelope + TSV bulk blocks, line-diffable, ~5× smaller than JSON; the .snxprj project file is the one JSON exception, see docs/architecture/snxprj-format.md). One-way import from GPL-based EDA tools is an optional, independently-distributed companion tool.
- Elm architecture (MVU). iced's
state → view → Message → update cycle; view is pure, update is the only mutation site and never blocks — all IO returns as a Task. No process-global mutable state.
- Domain logic in domain crates. Types and engines below
signex-app carry zero iced/wgpu deps (Cargo-enforced); connectivity is derived once in signex-net and read everywhere else, never re-derived.
- Multi-window by default. Built on
iced::daemon; every undocked tab gets its own engine + canvas keyed by window id, so two schematics can be edited in parallel without cross-talk.
- Nanometer coordinates.
i64 nanometers internally; exact in both metric and imperial — no float EPS comparisons for "same point".
- Canvas for schematic, Shader for PCB. CPU tessellation for schematics, GPU instanced rendering (
signex-gfx, wgpu 27) for large PCB scenes.
Download
Before downloading, check the hardware requirements.
These packages are published for every release from v1.0.0-rc.1 on. Release candidates such as v1.0.0-rc.1 are
published as GitHub pre-releases, which the releases/latest link skips:
open the Releases page to get
one. The latest stable release, v0.15.0, carries a smaller set (x86_64 Linux
packages, the aarch64 macOS .dmg, the Windows installers and zips) and needs
glibc 2.39.
| Platform | Package | Architecture | Use |
|---|
| Windows | signex-setup-<arch>-<version>.exe | x86_64, ARM64 (aarch64) | Run for a guided installation |
| Windows | signex-windows-<arch>-<version>.zip | x86_64, ARM64 (aarch64) | Extract and run without installing |
| macOS | signex-macos-universal-<version>.dmg | Apple silicon and Intel | Open and drag Signex to Applications |
| Linux | signex_<version>_<arch>.deb | x86_64 (amd64), ARM64 (arm64) | Debian or Ubuntu (glibc 2.35 or newer from v1.0.0-rc.1 on): sudo apt install ./signex_<version>_<arch>.deb |
| Linux | Signex-<version>-<arch>.AppImage | x86_64, ARM64 (aarch64) | Most distributions: make executable with chmod +x, then run |
| Linux | signex-linux-<arch>-<version>.tar.gz | x86_64, ARM64 (aarch64) | Extract and run without installing |
| All | signex-<version>.cdx.json | n/a | CycloneDX SBOM: the signex binary's dependencies for every platform (a superset of any one build), with version and licence |
| All | SHA256SUMS.txt | n/a | SHA-256 checksums of every file above |
From v1.0.0-rc.1 on, the Linux packages (.deb, AppImage, tarball) are built on Ubuntu 22.04 and
need glibc 2.35 or newer, so they run on Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12 and later
distributions. Check yours with ldd --version.
First launch
Until release signing is enabled (see
docs/RELEASE_SIGNING.md), packages do not carry a
trusted publisher or developer signature:
- Windows: Microsoft Defender SmartScreen may appear. Select More info,
then Run anyway.
- macOS: after opening the DMG and moving Signex to Applications,
right-click Signex and select Open on the first launch to bypass
Gatekeeper's unidentified-developer warning.
These workarounds can be removed when
Windows signing and
macOS signing and notarization
land.
Verify a download
Every release includes a SHA256SUMS.txt: take the one attached to the release
you downloaded, from the Releases page.
Download it next to the package you chose. The checksum file lists every
release artifact, so the commands below select the one file you downloaded.
Linux (set file to the exact filename you downloaded):
file='Signex-<version>-x86_64.AppImage'
grep -F " $file" SHA256SUMS.txt | sha256sum -c -
macOS (set file to the exact filename you downloaded):
file='signex-macos-universal-<version>.dmg'
grep -F " $file" SHA256SUMS.txt | shasum -a 256 -c -
Windows PowerShell (set $file to the exact filename you downloaded):
$file = "<downloaded-package-filename>"
$expected = ((Select-String -Path .\SHA256SUMS.txt -SimpleMatch " $file").Line -split '\s+')[0]
(Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 -Path $file).Hash.ToLowerInvariant() -eq $expected
Hardware Requirements
Signex uses wgpu for hardware-accelerated rendering and
expects a modern GPU with effective Vulkan 1.1 (Linux), DirectX 12 (Windows),
or Metal (macOS) support. In practice this means a GPU released around 2014
or later — Intel HD Graphics 4400+, NVIDIA GeForce 600-series and newer, AMD
Radeon HD 7000-series and newer, or any Apple Silicon Mac.
Older GPUs that only expose legacy OpenGL may still launch the app via the
fallback path, but expect rendering glitches such as overlapping panels and
broken layout — these GPUs are not supported.
Building
Prerequisites: Rust 1.97.0 — pinned via rust-toolchain.toml, so rustup
installs it automatically; this is also the MSRV (we build and support exactly
this toolchain) — and a GPU supporting Vulkan, Metal, or DX12.
On Linux, install the development packages CI uses (Debian and Ubuntu names;
mesa-vulkan-drivers supplies a software Vulkan driver for machines without a
GPU):
sudo apt-get install -y \
libxkbcommon-dev libwayland-dev libvulkan-dev \
libx11-dev libxrandr-dev libxinerama-dev libxcursor-dev libxi-dev \
mesa-vulkan-drivers
A binary you build yourself links against your own glibc. The glibc 2.35
floor applies to the release packages, which are built on Ubuntu 22.04 for
that reason (scripts/check_glibc_ceiling.sh, #1688).
git clone https://github.com/alplabai/signex.git
cd signex
cargo run -p signex-app # Run
cargo test --workspace # Test
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings # Lint
Roadmap
| Milestone | Version | Status |
|---|
| Scaffold — Iced shell, panels, themes, dock system | v0.1 | Done |
| Parser — external format read/write, domain types | v0.2 | Done |
| Canvas — wgpu pan/zoom/grid, Altium-style camera | v0.3 | Done |
| Schematic Viewer — render all elements, multi-sheet nav | v0.4 | Done |
| Schematic Editor — select, move, wire, undo/redo, save | v0.5 | Done |
| Full SCH Editor — copy/paste, labels, components, Active Bar | v0.6 | Done |
| Validation + Multi-Window — ERC, annotation, pin matrix, undockable tabs | v0.7 | Done |
| Output — PDF, BOM, netlist, multi-project workspaces, dirty tracking | v0.8 | Done |
Native file formats — .snxsch / .snxpcb TOML+TSV; external-format I/O via the import companion | v0.9 | Done |
Library Browser tab — read-only .snxlib table | v0.10 | Done |
| Library & Polish — full DBLib model, SCH Library editor, Component Preview, picker + auto-mount, distributor adapters | v0.11 | Done |
Symbol & Library — clean-room schematic renderer, unified Active Bar in symbol editor, .snxsym TOML envelope | v0.13 | Done |
Footprint Editor — .snxfpt pad + parametric-sketch editor, Newton-LM solver (19 constraints), Align/Distribute/Move/Fill/Text tooling | v0.14 | Done |
| Editor Fixes — footprint/symbol editor correctness, order-independent netlist, crash-safe persistence, pinned toolchain | v0.15 | Done |
| Command Registry & Symbol Units | v0.16 | In progress |
| Community Preview — schematic-only editor | v1.0 | Release candidate v1.0.0-rc.1 next |
| PCB Viewer — GPU rendering, layers, cross-probe | v2.0 | |
| PCB Routing + DRC + Output | v2.1–v2.2 | |
| Community Release — full schematic + PCB editor |
See docs/ROADMAP.md for the detailed version plan.
Documentation
The User Guide takes you from a downloaded package
to a saved schematic and an exported PDF, starting with File ▸ New
Project. It lives in the repository, so it is versioned with the code and
reviewed in pull requests.
In-repo reference docs live under docs/: the
command reference,
keyboard shortcut file format,
main menu bar, ERC rules,
ROADMAP.md, LICENSING.md,
RELEASE_SIGNING.md, and
REPOSITORY_AND_CODEBASE.md. The
wiki is no longer the primary guide.
Contributing
Signex is open source and we welcome contributions from everyone — whether
you're an EDA professional, a Rust developer, or someone who just wants to
help build a better design tool.
Ways to contribute:
- Report bugs or rendering discrepancies
- Add test fixtures from real projects
- Implement a feature from the roadmap
- Fix an open issue
- Improve documentation
Build and run (Linux needs the packages listed under Building):
git clone https://github.com/alplabai/signex.git
cd signex
cargo build --workspace
cargo run -p signex-app
See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide: branching
workflow, crate map, code style, and good first issues.
License
Signex Community Edition is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.
The main repository contains no GPL-derived code; Apache consumers (anyone
embedding or linking against Signex) get a clean Apache codebase with no GPL
aggregation in their build closure.
Migration from GPL-based EDA tools is provided via the optional import companion repository,
which is GPL-3.0-or-later because it implements those tools'
file formats with structure derived from their GPL-3.0 source. The two
projects are distributed independently. See docs/LICENSING.md
for the full rationale and the audit trail behind the two-repo split.
Copyright 2026 Alp Lab AI
