User manual

Welcome to Bastion Circuit Designer, a state-of-the-art Electronic Design Automation (EDA) suite designed for engineers, students, makers, and hobbyists. Bastion combines real-time SPICE analog simulation, microcontroller emulation, live animated electron flow, and global component supply chain sourcing into a single unified desktop experience.

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1. Workspace & Interface Tour

The Bastion workspace is organized into 5 primary zones designed for maximum workflow efficiency:

1. Top Navigation & Toolbars:
   • Menu Bar: Quick access to File, Edit, View, Place, Simulate, Tools, and Help.
   • Toolbar: 55 dedicated quick-action buttons for creating sheets, opening files, saving, undo/redo, wire tool, pan, zoom, component rotation, and starting simulation.
2. Left Panel — Component Library & Solution Explorer:
   • Component Palette: Categorized library containing over 50+ microcontrollers (RP2040, ESP32, Teensy, STM32, ATmega), sensors, logic gates, passives, displays, and actuators.
   • Solution Explorer: Tabbed view of project sheets, subcircuits, and 10+ pre-built reference designs.
3. Center Canvas:
   • High-performance, hardware-accelerated schematic sheet with infinite canvas, 10px grid snapping, animated electron particles, and high-DPI rendering.
4. Right Panel — Properties Inspector & BOM:
   • View and edit reference designators (R1, C1, U1), component values (10k, 100nF), tolerances, footprints, and thermal specifications.
5. Bottom Dock — Virtual Instruments:
   • Embedded 4-Channel Digital Storage Oscilloscope, Logic Analyzer, Multimeter readout, and audio synthesis monitoring.

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2. Building Your First Circuit (Step-by-Step)

Let's build a simple LED flasher circuit in under 60 seconds:

+5V Rail ───────[ Resistor 330Ω ]───────[ LED Anode ──►|── LED Cathode ]─────── GND (0V)

Step 1: Placing Components

1. In the left Component Palette, search for 5V Source (or press P).
2. Click on the canvas to place it at \((X: 100, Y: 100)\).
3. Search for Resistor, place it to the right of the voltage source.
4. Search for LED, place it next to the resistor.
5. Search for Ground, place it below the components.

Step 2: Rotating & Aligning Parts

• Click on any component to select it (it glows cyan).
• Press R to rotate it 90° clockwise.
• Press Delete or Backspace to remove a component.

Step 3: Wiring Nets (Connecting Components)

1. Move your mouse over any component pin. A gold connection terminal circle appears.
2. Click and hold the terminal, then drag to another terminal.
3. Release the mouse button: Bastion automatically routes an orthogonal copper wire (net).
4. When wires intersect, a connection junction dot is automatically placed.

Step 4: Changing Component Values

1. Click on the resistor.
2. In the Properties Inspector on the right, change Value from 1k to 330 (or 330Ω).
3. Set the LED color parameter to GREEN or RED.

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3. Running Real-Time Interactive Simulations

Bastion features a true Modified Nodal Analysis (MNA) SPICE simulation engine running concurrently with the UI:

Starting and Pausing Simulation

• Press Spacebar (or click the green Run Simulation button on the toolbar).
• Instantly, the canvas comes alive:
  • Animated Electron Particles: Cyan dots flow along wires. Fast flow indicates high current (Amperes); slow flow indicates a trickle. Reversing current causes particles to reverse direction.
  • Voltage Gradients: Wires glow brighter cyan at higher voltages (+5V) and darker blue near Ground (0V).

Interacting with Live Circuits

• Pushbuttons: Click on any momentary pushbutton to close contacts; release to open.
• Toggle Switches (SPST/SPDT): Click to flip switch positions and redirect current flow.
• Trimpots & Potentiometers: Click and drag the wiper knob to adjust resistance dynamically while watching downstream voltages change in real time.
• Microcontroller Emulation: MCUs execute compiled firmware loops, driving GPIO pins HIGH (3.3V) and LOW (0V).

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4. Using Virtual Test Instruments

Bastion includes professional virtual lab bench instruments:

Virtual Digital Storage Oscilloscope (DSO)

• Press Ctrl+O to open the Oscilloscope panel.
• Click on any wire to attach a channel probe:
  • Channel 1 (Cyan): Signal A.
  • Channel 2 (Gold): Signal B.
• Automatic measurements calculate:
  • Frequency (Hz): Signal repetition rate.
  • Duty Cycle (%): High-pulse ratio.
  • Peak-to-Peak Voltage (\(V_{\text{pp}}\)): Maximum voltage swing.

Virtual Multimeter (DMM)

• Press M to toggle the Multimeter probe tool.
• Hover over any wire to inspect DC voltage, AC RMS voltage, and instantaneous current in Amperes.

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5. Component Sourcing & Distributor Search

Need to know how much your circuit will cost to build in real life? Bastion integrates with the world's leading electronic component distributors:

How to Search for Parts:

1. Click Tools > Sourcing & Component Distributors... (or press Ctrl+Shift+D).
2. Type an MPN or description (e.g. NE555P, RP2040, STM32F103).
3. Bastion simultaneously queries DigiKey, Mouser, Octopart/Nexar, and LCSC.
4. The comparison table displays:
   • Live Stock: Number of units ready to ship.
   • Price Breaks: Unit costs at quantities of 1, 10, 100, and 1,000.
   • Packaging: Cut Tape, Tape & Reel, Tube, Bulk.
   • RoHS Compliance: Green verification badge.
5. Click "Import to BOM" to update your Bill of Materials, or "Place on Schematic" to drop the verified manufacturer footprint directly onto your canvas!

Configuring API Keys:

• Open Tools > Options & Preferences... (or Ctrl+,).
• Enter your API keys for Octopart, DigiKey, Mouser, or LCSC.
• Click "Test Connections" to verify live credentials with a single click.
• Click "Save to distributor_config.json" to persist your settings.

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6. AI Co-Pilot & Pair Programming

Bastion offers two complementary AI workflows: an In-App Interactive Co-Pilot drawer and an external Model Context Protocol (MCP) server.

6.1 Interactive In-App AI Co-Pilot

Click the AI Co-Pilot button on the top-right toolbar (or select View > Toggle AI Co-Pilot Panel) to open the intelligent assistant drawer:

• Conversational Hardware Engineer: Ask technical questions, request component calculations (e.g. "What pull-up resistor do I need for 400kHz I2C?"), or analyze active schematics.
• Direct Software Automation:
  • Simulation Control: Type "Run simulation", "Pause simulation", or "Step 10µs" to control the MNA solver.
  • SPICE Physics Linter: Type "Verify SPICE" or click the chip to trigger background thermal and wattage limit checks.
  • Supply Chain & BOM: Type "Check BOM" or "Optimize pricing" to query live stock and pricing across DigiKey, Mouser, and LCSC.
  • Canvas & File Ops: Type "Clear canvas", "Export SVG", or "Export PNG" for instant headless file exports.
  • Instrument HUD & Console: Type "Toggle oscilloscope" or "Open console" to control overlays and logs.
  • Theme Control: Type "Switch to dark theme", "High contrast", or "Light theme".
• Atomic Circuit Synthesis & Zero-Scramble Guarantee:
  • Prompt: "Wire an ESP32 to an MPU6050 and add pull-up resistors"
  • Prompt: "Add a 4.7k pull-up resistor on GPIO21"
  • Prompt: "Create a 555 astable timer circuit"
  • Prompt: "Add a green status LED with current-limiting resistor"
  • The Co-Pilot generates an atomic diff preview showing every proposed operation. Click Apply Diff to Schematic to apply changes instantly without disturbing existing components or manual wiring layouts!
• Dynamic Online Engine Status:
  • ONLINE (CAD): Embedded deterministic hardware synthesis engine ready (no cloud key required).
  • ONLINE (LLM): Connected to configured Cloud LLM (Gemini, Claude, OpenAI) for open-ended creative circuit synthesis.
  • THINKING...: Amber pulse indicating active patch generation or physics solving.

6.2 External Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server

Bastion includes a built-in Model Context Protocol (MCP) server running on port 8765:

• Auto-Start: The MCP server starts automatically whenever Bastion launches.
• Client Config: Automatically writes bastion_mcp_config.json to the project root.
• Connecting AI Clients:
  • In Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Antigravity, add the configuration from bastion_mcp_config.json.
  • Your AI assistant can converse with the AI Co-Pilot (ask_ai_copilot), synthesize hardware subcircuits (synthesize_circuit), switch themes (switch_theme), inspect schematics, place components, run SPICE simulations, read oscilloscope measurements, run self-tests, and query distributor pricing directly!

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⌨7. Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Category	Shortcut	Action
General	Ctrl + N	New Schematic Sheet
	Ctrl + O	Open Schematic File
	Ctrl + S	Save Schematic
	Ctrl + Z	Undo Last Edit
	Ctrl + Y	Redo Edit
	F1	Open Shortcuts & EDA Reference
Editing	R	Rotate Selected Component 90°
	Delete / Backspace	Delete Selected Item
	Escape	Cancel Current Tool / Deselect All
	W	Activate Wire Net Tool
	P	Open Component Placement Palette
Simulation	Spacebar	Start / Pause Real-Time Simulation
	Ctrl + R	Reset Simulation Time to 0.0s
	Ctrl + Shift + O	Open Oscilloscope Instrument Dock
	M	Toggle Virtual Multimeter Probe
Sourcing & Tools	Ctrl + Shift + D	Open Component Distributor Search
	Ctrl + Shift + B	Open Bill of Materials (BOM) View
	Ctrl + ,	Open Preferences & Settings