pinscomponents

pinscomponents is a modular framework and open-source collection of components designed to model and manage pin-based interfaces in electronic design, simulation, and documentation workflows. The project aims to standardize how pins, headers, connectors, and related signaling resources are described and reused across tools and projects.

The library defines a hierarchy of component types: pins, headers, connectors, and nets. Each pin component specifies electrical characteristics (voltage ranges, drive strength, impedance) and metadata (name, function, orientation). Components can be grouped into pin schemes or connector sets and described in machine-readable formats such as JSON or YAML. The data model is designed to be tool-agnostic, so it can be consumed by schematic editors, simulators, or layout software.

Pinscomponents provides validation utilities to check pin counts, polarity compatibility, and net naming consistency. It supports import and export workflows, automatic documentation generation, and plugins for various CAD tools. Typical use cases include planning pinouts for microcontroller boards, verifying connector and cable compatibility, and generating vendor-neutral descriptions that can be reused across projects.

The project is typically distributed under permissive licenses and maintained by an active community of contributors. Development emphasizes interoperability, clear documentation, and stable data schemas. While adoption varies by organization, pinscomponents seeks to reduce design churn by providing a single source of truth for pin definitions.

See also: pin header, connector, PCB design, electronic design automation, SPICE.