Using the CLI

JITX can be driven entirely from the command line through the jitx command. The CLI interface allows you to perform all the standard interactions:

• installing and updating the JITX runtime

• scaffolding a new project

• managing project dependencies

• discovering and building designs

Additionally, you can use the CLI to open the interactive board and schematic editors, where you can place and route components by hand. This makes the CLI a good fit for terminal-centric workflows, headless and CI environments, and designing circuit boards in collaboration with coding agents like Claude Code.

The VSCode extension invokes the CLI internally. This means you can manage the same project either from the CLI or via VSCode. You can also share the same project between collaborators using either or both workflows.

Warning

Collaborators on a shared project should be on the same JITX runtime version. The runtime is installed separately from the project’s Python dependencies, so mismatched versions can produce different build results. Check what’s currently installed with jitx runtime introspect.

Tip

The cleanest way to keep everyone in step is to pin your jitx version in pyproject.toml. The scaffolded project ships a range (jitx>=4.0.0,<5); tighten it to an exact version such as jitx==4.2.0. With jitx pinned, running jitx runtime install from inside the project installs the matching runtime for every collaborator — no --version needed.

Using the CLI

• Installation
  • Requirements
  • Install the CLI
    • With uv (recommended)
    • With pip
• Creating a New Project
  • Scaffold the project
  • Create a virtual environment
  • Install the project’s dependencies
  • List your designs
  • Install the runtime
    • Supported platforms
  • Sign in
• Building and Editing a Design
  • Start the runtime
  • Build a design
  • Open the board and schematic editors