IC Studio
A modern, cross-platform environment for full-custom integrated circuit design —
schematic capture, circuit simulation, layout and physical verification in one native,
GPU-accelerated app.
IC Studio is written in Rust and renders through wgpu (Metal, Vulkan, DX12), so it runs
on Windows, Linux and macOS. Unlike a standalone layout viewer, the schematic, the
simulator and the layout share one design database: layouts are generated from
schematics, checked against them (LVS) and their parasitics flow back into simulation.
User guide · Quick tour · Demo gallery and scripts
| Schematic with DC operating point back-annotation | Transient / DC sweep waveforms |
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| Hierarchical layout: 8192 inverters, level of detail | Parametric devices (PCells) |
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| Common-centroid matched OTA, placed and routed automatically | 8 × 8 SRAM array |
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| Layout generated from the schematic, with flylines | Rule-deck DRC on placed cells |
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| Monte Carlo with spec statistics, yield and histogram | Visual DRC rule designer with self-tested rules |
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Install
# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://github.com/geniuskey/ic-studio/releases/latest/download/install.ps1 | iex
# macOS (Apple silicon) and Linux (x86_64)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/geniuskey/ic-studio/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh
The installer puts the app ic-studio and the command line tool ics (CLI and MCP
server) in one folder on the PATH, adds a launcher (Start Menu on Windows, desktop entry
on Linux) and registers the MCP server with Claude Code if claude is installed. Options,
uninstall and manual downloads: Installation.
Build from source
# Rust 1.95+ (https://rustup.rs)
cargo run --release # launch the desktop app
cargo run --release -- --demo # ... with the bundled demo designs
cargo run --release -- --demo --cell inv_tiles --workspace layout
cargo run --release -- path/to/project # ... opening a project folder
cargo build --release --workspace # both programs into target/release/
Optional: install ngspice (brew install ngspice,
apt install ngspice, or the Windows build) to use it as a simulation backend. Without
it, IC Studio uses its own built-in simulator.
Linux needs the usual windowing libraries:
libxkbcommon-dev libwayland-dev libx11-dev libxcursor-dev libxrandr-dev libxi-dev.
Features
Application
- Project → library → cell → view model (schematic / simulation / layout), stored as
human-readable JSON that works well with version control
- Workspaces for Home, Schematic, Simulation and Layout with shared cell tabs, project
explorer, command palette (⌘K / Ctrl+K), console, problems and netlist panels, dark and
light themes
- Every action is an
app::Command: menus, shortcuts, the palette and automation share it
- Cadence Virtuoso conventions: default bindkeys and two-click commands in the layout
editor, a Virtuoso or conventional mouse profile, and Cadence SKILL (
.il) scripts with an
interactive CIW prompt
Schematic and simulation
- analogLib-style primitives (R, C, L, V, I, diode, NMOS, PMOS, ground, supply), wiring,
labels, live connectivity, property inspector, SPICE netlister
- Operating point, DC sweep, AC and transient analyses on the built-in Rust MNA engine or
ngspice; waveform viewer with Bode plots and automatic measurements
- Optional post-layout simulation: wire capacitance to substrate, lateral and overlap
coupling between nets, MOS drain / source junctions (
ad as pd ps) and an RC network of
wire, via and gate resistance extracted from the layout are added to the matching
schematic nets and devices
- Schematic checker (Check and Save): missing ground, bad names, missing values, shorted
devices, voltage-source loops, floating nets and dangling wires, live in the Problems tab
Layout
- Hierarchy: cell instances and arrays (GDS SREF / AREF) with 90° rotations and mirroring,
hierarchy tree, drawn-level control, flatten and make-cell
- Scales to large designs: cached per-cell R-tree indices, view culling and level of
detail (small cells collapse to boxes, tiny shapes to dots), bounded work per frame
- Editing: rectangles, Manhattan or any-angle polygons, paths, labels, rulers; vertex and
edge handles that keep Manhattan outlines Manhattan; rotate / flip; µm-accurate inspector
- Boolean engines: AND / OR / NOT / XOR, grow / shrink, merge, layer operations; a fast
Manhattan region engine and an exact any-angle polygon engine (45° sizing, holes) used
for non-Manhattan input by layer operations, SKILL
dbLayer* and layout compare
- Via generator (single cut or area fill) and PCells: NMOS / PMOS (W, L, fingers),
poly resistor, MOM capacitor and well / substrate taps, stored as ordinary cells of a
pcells library
- GDSII and OASIS import and export with full hierarchy; unknown GDS layers are kept
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