BlogHeyPCB Time Machine

GitHub Has Version History. Now Hardware Does Too.

Every schematic, PCB, and AI edit stays on one HeyPCB timeline, so you can see who changed the board, rewind, and restore any version.

HeyPCB Time Machine header with Replay, Inspect, Restore, and a before-and-after Halo board beside Charles H's routed edit.

GitHub shows who changed the code, what they changed, and when.

But when multiple people and AI agents are working on the same circuit board, how do you know which change caused something to go wrong?

So we built a Time Machine for hardware.

Time Machine panel under Every edit, on one timeline, listing Inky, Charles H, and Inky G with a playback strip.

Every schematic change, PCB edit, and AI modification lives on one shared timeline.

See who changed what, rewind through previous edits, or restore any earlier version. All directly inside HeyPCB.

Three stacked board views for Justin K's schematic, Inky G's layout, and Charles H's routing.

Three people. One PCB. We built a circular PCB with 16 RGB LEDs to demonstrate how it works.

I designed the schematic, Inky G placed the components, and Charles routed the board.

38 edits. Three people. One timeline.

Earlier PCB version showing Charles H's cursor and a design review with one error and zero unconnected nets.

Everything was routed, but a design rule check found one error.

Instead of digging through old files, we opened Time Machine and dragged backward through the timeline.

We found the exact edit where Charles routed a trace too close to the programming header. We could even see his cursor where he made the change.

The PCB editor shows Inky working to reroute Charles's MISO track near J2, with Time Machine open.

Then we asked Inky to fix it.

We selected the connector and asked Inky to reroute the trace without moving it. Inky fixed the clearance violation, and the board passed its design rule checks.

Zero DRC violations. Zero unrouted connections.

Time Machine panel reading 41 edits, one Inky run, and three people, with filters and a strip to play edits back.

Then, Inky's edits were automatically recorded on the same timeline, along with the prompt that triggered them.

Now you can track every change, whether it's made by a teammate or an AI agent, all in one place.

A 3D view of the circular green board with parts around its edge, beside the Time Machine list.

Every edit has a history.

Hardware is becoming more collaborative, with humans and AI agents building together. Time Machine makes sure no change gets lost.

Every edit. Every contributor. One timeline.

Time Machine: heypcb.ai/timemachine Circuit World: Explore 11,000+ open-source PCBs at heypcb.ai/world

Topics

  • HeyPCB Time Machine
  • PCB version history
  • hardware version control
  • rewind and restore PCB edits
  • AI agent PCB timeline
  • collaborative circuit board history
  • schematic and PCB edit timeline

Share

First published on X

More posts

HeyPCB graphic reading MCP, From prompt to Hardware, with a Claude MCP add command and logos of 20+ MCP clients.HeyPCB MCP

Your Agent Can Now Build Hardware.

HeyPCB MCP lets AI agents design schematics, place parts, route boards, and export KiCad projects. Claude Code used it to build a routed 8×8 RGB display.

HeyPCB1 min
heypcb Explore — 10,000+ open source boards, a place to discover hardware — surrounded by drawings of the boards.open-source hardware

We built a map of open-source hardware

heypcb Explore puts 11,000+ open-source boards on one map. Zoom out to see categories, zoom in to the boards people built, and open any of them.

HeyPCB1 min