Under the hood: How DRCY reviews your schematics
In this post, we introduced DRCY, an AI-powered design review agent that flags design issues, like voltage mismatches, swapped signals, and component incompatibilities before they turn into expensive board spins. DRCY runs an AI first pass on every design review, working from your native electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) files.
Now we’re going a layer deeper. Instead of focusing on what DRCY does, this post breaks down how it works, and the concepts behind it. Whether you’re evaluating DRCY for your team or simply want a clearer mental model for using AI agents in a hardware workflow, this article should give you a practical framework to build on.
The name itself is a hint: DRCY (pronounced "DAR-SEE") is our play on DRC (Design Rule Check). But unlike traditional rule checkers that run static tests against fixed constraints, DRCY reasons broadly about your design. It's a general-purpose circuit design rule checker that goes well beyond what teams can encode in traditional DRC.
Built into your workflow
DRCY runs inside Allspice, where your design reviews already happen: compare versions and comment on individual design objects.
Getting your designs into Allspice is easy. You can drag-and-drop files directly, or use a local client to sync with your team for an iterative work/review flow.
DRCY’s comments appear alongside feedback from human reviewers. No context switching or separate interface.
Think of it like adding a meticulous colleague to your review, one who doesn’t get sloppy or distracted. That consistency is what hardware design reviews that don't miss details depend on.
The snippet feature makes it easy to see the full context of DRCY's feedback. From there, you can escalate to an issue, resolve it immediately, or tag a collaborator for input. Analysis is even more powerful with a before-and-after comparison, so you don't waste time re-reviewing circuits blocks that have already been validated.
The power of native data access
Here's where DRCY differs fundamentally from general purpose AI tools analyzing your designs.
When you export a schematic to PDF or take a screenshot for an AI chatbot, you're throwing away most of the information that matters. An image shows shapes and text. It doesn't necessarily understand that this line is a net called VCC_3V3, that it connects to pin 7 of U4, or that U4 is a voltage regulator with specific input/output requirements.
Compound that with more complex ECAD data objects: busses and multi-channel sheet hierarchy. You end up with a ton of ECAD-specific logic to reason about before an agent can start analyzing design intent. That adaptor layer is where Allspice specializes.
DRCY sees what you see: nets, components, properties, hierarchy, and connectivity, with a schema specifically designed for AI reasoning. DRCY reads native files from these ECAD tools, with no export step:
- Altium
- KiCad
- OrCAD
- Allegro System Capture
- DeHDL
- DxDesigner
More formats are on the roadmap.
This native access is why DRCY can catch subtle issues.
As one senior hardware engineer put it after a review:
"I was pretty impressed that it figured out there was a 5-volt output with a missing 'V' in the net name." - Sr. HW Engineer
That catch requires understanding net context and cross-referencing expected voltage levels, which is a lot more difficult to reason from pixels.
How DRCY reasons: an agentic approach
You may have heard "agentic AI" thrown around lately. Here's what it actually means for DRCY: rather than running a fixed analysis pipeline, DRCY decides what to investigate based on what it finds in your design.
When DRCY encounters a voltage regulator, it pulls the datasheet to verify input/output voltage specs, traces the input net to confirm the source voltage is within range, checks that output capacitors meet the recommended values, verifies the enable pin is properly controlled, and much more. The path it takes depends on your specific design.
We call these capabilities "skills": specialized tools DRCY can invoke when needed. Think of it like having access to a well-organized reference library: DRCY can pull the right datasheet, cross-reference component specifications, trace signal connectivity, or apply domain-specific analysis heuristics: whatever the situation requires.
Current skills include:
- Datasheet parsing: Extracts and cites specs directly from component documentation
- Net connectivity analysis: Traces signal paths and validates connections and configurations
- Component cross-referencing: Checks compatibility between parts
- EE analysis guidance: Applies hardware-specific review patterns
"It's looking through data sheets, it's calling out really important pieces." - Sr. HW Engineer
We're actively expanding this skill library. And here's something we're excited about: these skills can leverage AllSpice Automations, our automation engine. Combining deterministic tests with AI reasoning lets you automate the routine checks while DRCY handles the nuanced analysis. More on that in a future post.
Checks DRCY runs on a typical board
Each of these checks belongs on any hardware design review checklist. Every example comes from a real design, anonymized.
DRCY builds this checklist from the datasheets of the parts in your design rather than running a fixed list. It reviews schematics only. It does not review layout: no trace widths, clearances, impedance or DFM.
Every finding cites the datasheet page it came from, so you can inspect the reasoning. Some findings will be wrong, more so on an unfinished design.
Mark a finding wrong with a one-line reason, and the correction carries into later reviews. Run DRCY on your own board and count the signal against the noise.
Context at review time
The question we get most often from engineering teams evaluating DRCY is "Are you training AI models on our designs?"
No. We don't train models on your data.
Instead, DRCY receives relevant context at review time. When analyzing your design, it's given:
- Your schematic data and component information
- Relevant datasheets for the parts you're using
- Your team's design review checklists (if you've configured them)
- Patterns from your past reviews
Think of it like going to the library to research a problem. Instead of memorizing all of the past context, DRCY pulls the references it needs, uses them, and leaves. Your IP stays yours and DRCY gets exactly the data it needs to make informed reasoning.
Allspice supports deployments built around customer security requirements, including NDA-restricted datasheets and designs stored in secure, access-controlled repositories. When available, DRCY can prioritize an internal datasheet library, or retrieve manufacturer datasheets and use engineer-uploaded, customer-specific documentation as needed.
Secure by design
Context handling is one piece of the security picture. Here's the rest.
All AI inference runs through AWS Bedrock, which provides complete isolation. Your data doesn't leave your security boundary, and it's never used to train foundation models. We've built DRCY on a zero-trust architecture from the start.
We also evaluate multiple foundation models and can customize the model selection based on customer requirements. This isn't one-size-fits-all. If your organization has specific compliance needs, we can work with you.
What's coming
DRCY today runs asynchronous design reviews, surfacing issues for your team to address. But that's just the beginning.
We're building toward an interactive mode where you can discuss your specific design context in real-time: ask follow-up questions, explore alternative approaches, and dig deeper into DRCY's reasoning.
We're also expanding DRCY's specialized knowledge. The goal is straightforward: make DRCY a more capable reviewer over time by connecting additional data sources.
The skill library will keep growing too, with tighter integration into AllSpice Actions and more automation capabilities.
DRCY is one part of a broader automation stack in AllSpice: AI reasoning, deterministic tooling, and the engineering artifacts your team already relies on. Because it’s built on AllSpice’s system of record, teams can keep automation transparent and auditable, with results grounded in real design context and supporting source material.
Try DRCY
Curious how DRCY would review your designs? Reach out to see how DRCY can accelerate your hardware development. We'd love to show you what it can find.
Learn more about DRCY | See DRCY in action
Frequently asked questions
What AI copilots exist for electrical design review?
DRCY is Allspice's AI design review agent, and it runs a first pass on electrical schematics inside Allspice. It reads native ECAD files, pulls the datasheets for the parts in your design and posts findings alongside comments from human reviewers. It reviews schematics only, not layout, and engineers still make every sign-off decision.
Which ECAD files does DRCY read?
DRCY reads native files from Altium, KiCad, OrCAD, Allegro System Capture, DeHDL and DxDesigner, with no export step. More formats are on the roadmap. Reading native data lets DRCY see nets, components, properties, hierarchy and connectivity instead of the shapes in a PDF or screenshot.
Can AI reason about datasheets to flag hardware design issues?
Yes: DRCY pulls the datasheet for each part in your design, checks the schematic against it and cites the datasheet page with every finding. In one real design, it flagged 310 nF of total capacitance where the datasheet called for 10 uF on page 3. Some findings will be wrong, and marking one wrong with a one-line reason carries the correction into later reviews.
Can defense and aerospace teams run DRCY without sending schematics to a vendor cloud?
Yes: teams can run Allspice self-hosted, on their own infrastructure, with their own models and their own tokens. Every DRCY finding cites its datasheet page, which gives reviewers a traceable record. If your organization has specific compliance needs, bring your IT security questionnaire and we will work through it with someone who can answer it properly.
Where does DRCY fit in a PCB design software review?
DRCY is not an ECAD authoring tool; it reviews the native files your existing PCB design software produces. You keep designing in Altium, KiCad, OrCAD, Allegro System Capture, DeHDL or DxDesigner, and DRCY runs a first pass on the schematics inside Allspice design reviews. It does not review layout: no trace widths, clearances, impedance or DFM.
