Setting Up KiCad to Write to a Master Log - Like Cadence

 Linux / macOS

1. Open a terminal.

2. Launch KiCad like this:

   kicad --verbose > ~/kicad_master.log 2>&1
   

   • --verbose makes KiCad print more detail (Python plugin loads, file paths, warnings, etc).

   • 2>&1 merges stderr into stdout so you don’t miss errors.

   • The result is a file ~/kicad_master.log.

3. If you want this every time you launch KiCad:

   • Create a wrapper script, e.g. ~/bin/kicad_log.sh:

     #!/bin/bash
     LOGFILE=~/kicad_master.log
     echo "=== KiCad started at $(date) ===" >> $LOGFILE
     kicad --verbose >> $LOGFILE 2>&1
     

   • Make it executable:

     chmod +x ~/bin/kicad_log.sh
     

   • Update your desktop launcher / alias to run kicad_log.sh instead of kicad.

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🪟 Windows

1. Create a shortcut to kicad.exe.

2. Right-click → Properties → in the Target field add:

   "C:\Program Files\KiCad\bin\kicad.exe" --verbose > "%USERPROFILE%\Documents\kicad_master.log" 2>&1
   

3. Now every launch appends to kicad_master.log in your Documents folder.

4. If you want rotation (like CDS.log overwriting each run), add echo to clear the file first via a .bat wrapper:

   @echo off
   set LOGFILE=%USERPROFILE%\Documents\kicad_master.log
   echo === KiCad started at %date% %time% === > %LOGFILE%
   "C:\Program Files\KiCad\bin\kicad.exe" --verbose >> %LOGFILE% 2>&1
   

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📄 What you’ll capture

• Plugin load successes/failures.

• Python scripting API errors.

• DRC/ERC outputs if invoked.

• ngspice messages (simulations).

• Crash stack traces if KiCad dies.

• Environment details (like Python path, KiCad version/build).

This way, you’ll always have a persistent kicad_master.log that acts very much like CDS.log — a single place to check if something went wrong.