Changelog

What's new in Pinscope.

  1. May 26, 2026v2.3.2

    Smarter RF Topology Review

    Schematic review now reasons about *what each external part is for* before flagging it — catching valid bias, coupling, and matching circuits that previously looked like errors.

    • ImprovedThe reviewer states the role of every external part on an IC pin (choke, blocking cap, divider, decoupling, matching) before judging the connection. Common RF topologies like bias-T (DC injected onto a coax through a choke, with the chip protected by an internal DC block and a downstream load doing the actual draw) are no longer flagged as errors against the chip.
    • ImprovedStricter absolute-maximum-rating checks: the cited limit must come from the same pin under stress (a Vdd abs-max no longer counts against an RF or signal pin), and the inequality must be a strict exceed — equal-to-abs-max is at most a Warning.
    • ImprovedSingle-concern deep dives are capped at two follow-up queries; concerns that can't be resolved in that budget are reported as Warnings with the unresolved question stated, so one suspect finding can't starve the rest of the IC review.
    • ImprovedInferred rail voltages from the power-tree pass are no longer treated as ground truth by the schematic reviewer. Voltages set by net name (`+5V`, `+3V3`) or by user power-source hints are trusted as before; voltages the power-tree LLM guessed for an adjustable regulator output or propagated through inference are kept on the power-tree view for reference but excluded from review reasoning, so a single misread rail can't anchor a false-positive Error.
    • ImprovedAfter each IC's review, a second pass normalizes findings against a fixed Error/Warning/Info rubric and merges any two findings that share a single root cause (e.g. "series resistor drops VIN" and "VOUT setpoint exceeds available VIN" are one defect, not two). Cuts run-to-run severity drift and avoids inflating the error count when one defect can be described from multiple angles.
  2. May 25, 2026v2.3.1

    EDIF Netlist Support

    EDIF 2.0.0 netlists upload alongside PADS-PCB, with a sub-design picker for files that contain more than one design. Schematic review is also more cautious about polarity / direction-control findings.

    • NewUpload EDIF 2.0.0 (`.edn`) netlists directly. Format is auto-detected from the file contents — no need to convert to PADS-PCB first. Verified against Siemens xDX Designer exports.
    • NewWhen an EDIF file contains multiple sub-designs, project setup shows a picker so you can choose which one to review. The picker auto-confirms when there's a single clean match against your BOM and only asks when it's ambiguous; unselected sub-designs are filtered out of the design graph.
    • ImprovedStronger verification of differential and polarity pin assignments (USB D+/D−, TX/RX, IN+/IN−, anode/cathode) directly against the datasheet.
    • ImprovedImproved support for bidirectional buffers and level translators (74xx245 and friends) — direction-control truth tables are factored into bus-contention analysis.
    • ImprovedFindings that share a single root cause on the same chip are grouped into one combined finding.
  3. May 24, 2026v2.3.0

    LCSC Part Number Support

    JLCPCB-style BOMs with LCSC part numbers (e.g. `C12044`) now work out of the box — Pinscope auto-detects the column, resolves each id to the real manufacturer part number, and shows you what it resolved to before the pipeline runs.

    • NewLCSC part numbers in the manufacturer part number column are auto-detected at BOM upload and converted to real MPNs. Works with JLCPCB / EasyEDA exports without any column renaming.
    • NewProject setup now shows the LCSC → MPN mapping on each IC row in the datasheet step (e.g. `C12044 → TP4057-42-SOT26-R`), so you can see what each LCSC id became before the pipeline starts.
    • NewPassive specs (value, voltage, tolerance, dielectric, package) are resolved from the LCSC catalog during project setup, with per-row progress and status — you see what's resolved before spending credits on the full pipeline.
    • ImprovedDatasheet auto-fetch hit rate is dramatically higher on LCSC BOMs, because DigiKey now sees real MPNs instead of `C…` ids.
  4. May 22, 2026v2.2.1

    Easier Netlist Uploads & Xpedition Support

    Tabbed file upload guide with per-tool instructions, Xpedition coverage, and direct `.net` / `.txt` uploads.

    • NewDocumentation for exporting a PADS-PCB netlist from Siemens Xpedition Designer / DxDesigner (VX.2.x, including VX.2.14).
    • ImprovedFile upload guide reorganized into tabs — KiCad, Altium, OrCAD/Allegro, Xpedition, EasyEDA, and Eagle each get their own panel.
    • ImprovedNetlist uploads now accept `.asc`, `.net`, `.NET`, and `.txt` directly — no more renaming required before upload.
    • ImprovedFile guide now calls out the difference between the PADS-PCB schematic netlist Pinscope needs and the `!PADS-POWERPCB` PCB-layout dump that some EDA tools also save as `.asc`.
  5. May 20, 2026v2.2.0

    Cross-chip Datasheet Review

    The reviewer now reads neighbor-chip datasheets to verify cross-chip constraints, with fewer false errors when a spec can't be confirmed.

    • ImprovedSchematic review now cross-references connected chips: when an issue depends on a neighbor's spec (5V tolerance, absolute-max, drive strength), the reviewer pulls the relevant pages from that chip's datasheet before flagging it.
    • ImprovedFewer false errors on cross-chip findings: if a counterpart spec can't be confirmed from the datasheet, the issue is reported as a Warning with the unverified assumption stated — instead of being overstated as an Error.
    • FixedSome review findings could occasionally fail to appear in the report.
  6. May 19, 2026v2.1.0

    Datasheet Reference Highlighting

    Datasheet citations now highlight the exact supporting sentence on the PDF page, with more reliable page numbers on large datasheets.

    • ImprovedDatasheet references now highlight the exact supporting sentence on the PDF page, not just the page number.
    • FixedDatasheet citations landing on the wrong page for large (multi-hundred-page) datasheets.
    • FixedReviewed findings losing their checked state on page refresh.
  7. May 1, 2026v2.0.1

    Flagging & Onboarding

    One-click flags on finding cards, an onboarding survey for new users, and small UI polish.

    • NewReport findings with one click via the flag button on any finding card.
    • NewOnboarding survey for new users to help us improve the product.
    • ImprovedComment input box now fills available width.
  8. April 29, 2026v2.0.0

    Public Changelog

    • NewInitial public changelog.