Changelog
What's new in Pinscope.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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`.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- April 29, 2026v2.0.0
Public Changelog
- NewInitial public changelog.