AI that reads your
live Altium design.
Connects to a running Altium session on your machine, reads the live board, reasons about it, and writes changes back. No cloud. No Altium 365. Your design never leaves your computer.
The AI that never
leaves your computer.
Altium 365 AI is cloud-only. Defense contractors, ITAR programs, and NDA-bound teams can’t use it. Phi Altium runs entirely on your machine — the AI reasoning happens locally through Claude, connected to Altium via a local MCP server. Proven on a 159-net audio board and a Spartan-IIE FPGA board.
Three steps. All local.
An MCP server bridges the AI to your running Altium session. Nothing leaves your machine at any point in the flow.
Connect the MCP server
A lightweight local server bridges Phi Altium to Altium Designer. Starts in one command. No cloud relay, no remote port — listens on localhost only.
AI reads and reasons
Claude reads the live board state through 50 MCP tools — nets, components, layers, rules, differential pairs, polygon pours, board statistics, unconnected pins. It reasons about the design and builds a proposed change set.
Preview diff, confirm, write
You see the exact proposed changes — net by net — before anything is written. Confirm, and Altium is updated. A restore point is saved automatically before every write.
Your design never leaves your machine.
This is not a privacy policy — it is an architectural fact. There is no server for your design to reach.
ITAR and defense programs
Altium 365 AI is cloud-only — a non-starter for defense contracts, ITAR-controlled designs, and any program where data residency matters. Phi Altium has no cloud component to disable.
ITAR-safe by designNDA and proprietary IP
Customers who’ve signed NDAs about their designs cannot accept “we anonymize your data in the cloud.” Local means the answer to “where does my board go?” is simply “nowhere.”
Design stays on your hardwareNo internet dependency
Runs in a lab with no internet access, a clean room, a secure facility, or on a flight. The AI is Claude reasoning locally through the MCP — no cloud round-trip adds latency or failure modes.
Air-gap compatibleThe only AI that works
inside a secure facility.
| Capability | Phi Altium (this) | Altium 365 AI |
|---|---|---|
| Design data stays on your machine | Yes — architectural fact | No — cloud-processed |
| ITAR / defense programs | Compatible | Ineligible (cloud upload) |
| NDA-sensitive designs | Safe — nothing leaves machine | Requires review of T&C |
| Works without internet | Yes | No |
| Preview diff before write | Yes — required step | Varies by feature |
| Works with existing Altium license | Yes — no extra license | Requires 365 subscription |
| Restore point before every write | Automatic | Manual / undo history |
| Net class classification (AI) | Shipped · 2 boards (audio + Xilinx FPGA) · 54/54 tests | Not available |
| FPGA-aware net patterns (VCCINT, VCCO) | Yes — Xilinx/Intel FPGA banks recognized | Not available |
| DRC explain + live board read | 50 live tools (classify_nets, audit_pdn, review_placement, board_statistics, check_unconnected_pins…) | Requires cloud upload |
The roadmap.
Net-class classification is the first capability. The MCP connection enables a full pipeline of closed-loop AI features inside Altium.
Net class classification
AI reads all nets, classifies by signal type (DDR, diff pair, power, RF, FPGA banks), proposes net classes with design-rule widths, writes back to Altium. Proven on a 159-net audio board and a Spartan-IIE FPGA. 50 live MCP tools.
PDN audit + AI Design Review
Reads the live stackup, BOM, and polygon pours. Runs PDN target-impedance math. Prescribes a minimal costed decoupling cap set (with Murata/TDK MPNs) per rail. Exports a scored engineering report as Markdown or self-contained HTML — ready to attach to a design review or send to a client.
Placement review
Reads all component positions, checks decoupling proximity with value-aware thresholds (HF ceramic ≤2 mm, bulk up to 15 mm), detects overlaps, and flags floating IC pins. Distinguishes the 270 pF bypass that must be at the pin from the 220 µF bulk reservoir that just needs to be in the same region.
DRC explain + fix
Reads DRC violations from the live report, explains each one in plain English (cause, severity, IPC reference), and proposes the specific Altium rule change to clear it.
Thermal via auto-array
Identifies QFN / exposed-pad components, calculates the via array needed for the thermal budget, and places it with a single confirm.
Be in the first cohort.
Net-class classification, PDN audit, AI Design Review, and placement review are all running. We’re onboarding engineers with real Altium boards to prove the features on their hardware. Priority goes to defense, ITAR, and high-speed digital teams — the ones Altium 365 AI can’t serve.
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