FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Xyce Studio.

Is Xyce Studio a simulator?

No. Xyce Studio is a graphical environment that drives the Xyce executable: it prepares the netlist, runs Xyce as a child process, and visualizes its output. All circuit simulation is performed by Xyce.

Do I need Xyce installed separately?

Yes. Xyce Studio does not bundle a simulator. Install Xyce yourself and point Xyce Studio to the executable (see Configuring the Xyce Executable).

Does Xyce Studio work without KiCad?

Yes — on macOS. The standalone application opens netlist files (.cir) and simulation output files (.raw, .prn, .csv, .csd, .dat) directly, without any KiCad involvement. The KiCad integration is only one way of launching the application, and it extracts the netlist from your schematic automatically.

Which KiCad versions are supported?

KiCad 10.0 or newer, with the KiCad API enabled (Preferences → Settings → API). See Installation for the plugin setup steps.

Which operating systems are supported?

• The KiCad plugin ships for macOS, Windows and Linux (kicad-xyce-plugin-macos.zip, kicad-xyce-plugin-windows.zip, kicad-xyce-plugin-linux.zip).
• The standalone application ships for macOS and Linux (xyce-studio-macos.zip, xyce-studio-linux.zip).
• Minimum versions: macOS 13.3 Ventura (Apple silicon and Intel); Windows 10 or newer (64-bit); Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or any distribution with glibc 2.39+, on X11 or Wayland — see Installation.

Which Xyce versions are supported?

Xyce Studio drives whatever Xyce executable you configure; there is no bundled or pinned Xyce version. Features like Harmonic Balance and Linear analysis depend on the capabilities of your installed Xyce release.

What output file formats can the waveform viewer read?

All plottable Xyce .PRINT formats: RAW (.raw), PROBE (.csd), CSV (.csv), TECPLOT (.dat) and the .prn formats (STD, NOINDEX, GNUPLOT, SPLOT), plus Touchstone (.s2p) files from .LIN analysis. See Simulation Output Files.

Where can I download it?

From the releases page.

How do I report a problem?

Open a GitHub issue with your platform and versions, the steps to reproduce, and the contents of the Simulation Output panel — see Troubleshooting first for known failure modes.