CLI Tool

LayKit includes a command-line tool for quick file operations without writing code.

Installation

The CLI tool is automatically built when you build the project:

cargo build --release

The binary will be available at target/release/laykit.

Commands

Convert

Convert between GDSII and OASIS formats:

# GDSII to OASIS
laykit convert input.gds output.oas

# OASIS to GDSII
laykit convert input.oas output.gds

Format Detection: The input file format is automatically detected by reading the magic bytes at the beginning of the file, not by file extension. This means you can convert files regardless of their extension:

# Works even if the file has the wrong extension
laykit convert myfile.dat output.oas  # Detects actual format from file content

GDSII magic bytes: 00 06 00 02 (HEADER record)
OASIS magic bytes: %SEMI-OASIS\r\n

Info

Display detailed information about a layout file:

laykit info design.gds

Note: Like the convert command, the info command detects the file format using magic bytes, so it works regardless of the file extension.

Output includes:

File size and format
Library/cell names
Structure count
Element counts by type
Creation timestamps

Example output:

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  GDSII File Information
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

File: design.gds
Size: 15234 bytes (14.88 KB)

Library: MY_LIBRARY
Version: 600
Units: 1.000e-06 user, 1.000e-09 database (meters)

Structures: 5

  [1] TOP
      Created: 2025-01-15 14:30:00
      Elements: 145
  [2] SUBCELL_A
      Created: 2025-01-15 14:30:00
      Elements: 23
  ...

Total Elements: 312

Element Breakdown:
  Boundary     156
  Path          89
  Text          45
  StructRef     22

Validate

Validate file structure and check for common issues:

laykit validate layout.gds

Note: The validate command also uses magic byte detection to identify the file format automatically.

The validator checks for:

Empty library/structure names
Invalid unit values
Unclosed boundaries
Paths with insufficient points
Undefined structure references
Invalid array dimensions
Duplicate structure names

Example output:

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  Validation Results
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

File: layout.gds

⚠ Found 2 issue(s):

  [1] Structure 'TOP' element 5 (Boundary): not closed
  [2] Structure 'CELL2': references undefined structure 'MISSING'

Help

Show usage information:

laykit help
# or
laykit --help

Use Cases

Quick Format Conversion

# Convert all GDS files to OASIS
for file in *.gds; do
    laykit convert "$file" "${file%.gds}.oas"
done

Batch Validation

# Validate all layout files
for file in *.gds *.oas; do
    echo "Validating $file"
    laykit validate "$file"
done

File Inspection

# Get quick info about multiple files
for file in designs/*.gds; do
    echo "=== $file ==="
    laykit info "$file" | grep -E "Structures:|Total Elements:"
done

Error Handling

The CLI tool returns appropriate exit codes:

0 - Success
1 - Error (file not found, invalid format, etc.)

This makes it suitable for use in scripts and CI/CD pipelines:

if laykit validate input.gds; then
    echo "File is valid"
    laykit convert input.gds output.oas
else
    echo "Validation failed"
    exit 1
fi

Performance

The CLI tool is optimized for:

Fast startup (no heavy initialization)
Efficient memory usage
Streaming I/O where possible
Minimal overhead for small files

For very large files (>1GB), consider using the streaming parser API directly in your Rust code.

LayKit Documentation