Virtuoso Bridge Lite lets LLM coding agents drive Cadence Virtuoso for analog and mixed-signal chip design, on the same machine or on a remote EDA server over SSH. Agents execute SKILL code, load SKILL files, or call Python APIs across four design domains: schematic editing, layout generation, Maestro simulation setup, and standalone Spectre simulation with PSF result parsing.
The core is Spectre execution and PDK/CDF callbacks that reproduce GUI-equivalent electrical results. Common schematic, symbol, and GDS operations have lightweight wrappers, and anything uncommon falls back to raw SKILL. Schematic work supports deterministic planning with explicit connectivity and placement constraints, and exact recreation of existing drawings across several PDKs from a coordinate manifest, with readback verification and screenshots.
The architecture separates a TCP SKILL client (VirtuosoClient), a Spectre runner (SpectreSimulator), and an optional SSH layer that manages tunnels and host roles. Multi-server, multi-account setups and parallel simulations are optional. The project ships Claude Code skills for Virtuoso, Spectre, netlists, and an optimizer, plus a CLI for lifecycle and diagnostics aimed at high-frequency agent use.
Compared with skillbridge, which uses the same Cadence SKILL IPC mechanism:
| Feature | Virtuoso Bridge Lite | skillbridge |
|---|---|---|
| Remote execution | SSH tunnel, jump host, auto-reconnect | Not supported |
| Calling style | String-based SKILL | Pythonic mapping |
| Load SKILL files | Yes | Not supported |
| Layout and schematic API | Context-manager API | Raw SKILL only |
| Spectre simulation | Built-in runner and PSF parser | Not supported |
| AI agent support | Skill files, CLI-first, command logging | Not designed for agents |
| IDE tab completion | No | Yes |
Features
- SKILL execution: run inline SKILL, load SKILL files, or call Python APIs against a live Virtuoso session
- Spectre runner: run standalone Spectre simulations locally or over SSH and parse PSF ASCII results into Python data
- Schematic planning: explicit connectivity with grid, polarity-row, differential-pair, pin-column, and output-stage constraints
- Exact schematic recreation: import routed geometry across PDKs through explicit maps, with symbol-pin audits and readback checks
- Maestro snapshots: pull a Maestro session's setup and latest-run netlists, logs, and results to a local folder
- Schematic diagnostics: check-and-save reports that capture only the current operation's errors and warnings
- Remote access: SSH tunnels, jump hosts, split GUI and daemon hosts, and auto-reconnect
- Scale-out: multiple connection profiles for parallel simulations across servers and accounts
- Agent skills: Claude Code skills for Virtuoso, Spectre, netlists, and circuit optimization
- SOS cellview control: optional checkout, check-in, and registration with dry-run and post-state verification
