We received many questions on how to export data out of Flux.ai and whether we can help with the migration process. Quilter is agnostic about which ECAD tool you use. We support most popular formats, and we don't endorse or recommend one tool over another. This guide is for the people who have asked us for help with the migration process itself. If anything here isn't technically accurate, let us know and we'll make corrections. We’ve linked primary documentation where possible and will update this guide as Flux.ai and destination-tool export/import support changes.

This guide explains what you can export from Flux.ai, what those files are useful for, and how to move your PCB design intent into a destination workflow.

Can You Migrate a Flux.ai Project Directly Into Another ECAD Tool?

No, there is no one-click project migration into another tool.

You can export a native Flux .flx project file, and Flux states it as a complete project backup. However, we have not found a publicly documented importer that turns .flx into a native KiCad, Altium, Cadence, or Siemens project. Treat .flx as your Flux-native archive, not as a guaranteed migration file.

If you are leaving Flux.ai, your goal should be to preserve enough design intent to continue the project somewhere else. Export everything Flux gives you, but in most cases, the practical migration path is to rebuild the schematic and board in the destination environment using those exported files as references.

Step 1: Export everything before you lose access

Before changing tools, export and archive every available file. 

Check that:

• Gerbers contain all expected layers.
• Drill files are present.
• The BOM has real manufacturer part numbers where needed.
• Pick-and-place data includes the expected designators and rotations.
• Netlists are readable and non-empty.
• 3D exports reflect the correct board outline and mechanical orientation.

Step 2: Decide whether you need manufacturing output or editable design

If the board is complete and you only need to fabricate it, you may not need to migrate the design at all. All you need are manufacturing outputs, BOM, pick-and-place, and a manufacturer review.

If the board still needs engineering work, revision, compliance review, team handoff, or long-term maintenance, you need an editable design in the destination environment.

Step 3: Choose your destination tool

A migration is also a chance to choose the tool you actually want to use moving forward.

Flux.ai to KiCad

Most of the people who ask us for advice on migration from Flux.ai are hobbyists, students, or early-career engineers. Many of them choose KiCad, because it's free and open source. Moreover, there is large online community and many tutorials on how to use it. KiCad can be a good choice for prototypes, side projects, and even professional work. The KiCad community has mapped a lot of the migration steps, including a Flux-to-KiCad reverse-engineering thread and a general guide to reconstructing a project from Gerbers.

Flux.ai to Altium

If you need to export Flux files into Altium, it is likely that your team is already using Altium Designer and you were experimenting with Flux. If that is the case, check if your schematic started life in Altium before you imported it into Flux. Finding that original project might save you a lot of time. Flux can import Altium ASCII schematics, but that's a one-way street, and there's no path back out into a native Altium project.

Flux.ai to Cadence or Siemens

Nobody has actually asked us about moving from Flux to Cadence or Siemens, but we’ll include it for completeness. These are enterprise environments, and a migration into them is less about opening a file and more about recreating the design inside the company's controlled process: libraries, constraints, stackup, reviews, and release. If that's where you work, your team likely has a documented process you would need to follow to migrate or create a new project.

Flux.ai to Quilter

A word on Quilter, since people ask. We don't capture schematics and we aren't a CAD editor, so Quilter isn't a Flux replacement and there's no "migrate to Quilter" path in the usual sense. If you have a schematic plus a starter board file or board outline in Altium, KiCad, Cadence, or Siemens, and you can define the relevant constraints, Quilter can generate placement and routing candidates and return completed layouts in the same file format it received. More on that below.

Step 4: Rebuild the schematic from the strongest available sources

Whatever tool you chose, start with the schematic. It's the source of truth.

A note on the AI schematic-capture tools. Most of them are built to generate a circuit from a plain-English description. They can speed up the process acting as a drafting aid on top of your netlist. Let it stub out symbols and connections, then check every net against the netlist you exported from Flux. If you need to rebuild an existing schematic, do not rely on AI tools to do it for you, always validate their output.

Here is how to use exported files:

• Use the BOM to place the right components.
• Use the schematic netlist to verify connectivity.
• Use screenshots to preserve schematic organization; Flux’s FAQ says schematic PDF export is not currently supported.
• Use the Flux .flx backup as a reference archive.
• Use the layout netlist to cross-check board-side connectivity.
• Use Gerbers and pick-and-place only as layout references, not schematic sources.

When you rebuild, watch for the things that can quietly disappear in a netlist-driven rebuild, like no-connects, hierarchical sheet structure, the design notes and constraints. Engineers often underestimate the effort it takes to migrate between ECAD platforms. Migration from Flux.ai can be a more challenging process than migrating between the standard industry tools. Major ECAD tools maintain importers for many established EDA formats. But Flux.ai is not currently listed in the public KiCad or Altium import documentation we checked, and we are not aware of a documented .flx importer in the mainstream ECAD tools Flux users usually ask about.

Step 5: Rebuild or regenerate the board

Once the schematic is done, you have three options for the board layout.

You can route it by hand. Use the old pick-and-place and Gerbers to reconstruct the placement and understand the previous strategy, then drive the new board from the schematic and use your tool's design rule check (DRC) and electrical rule check (ERC).

You can hand it to a contractor or a design house, if you don't have the time or the layout experience in-house. Give them the whole package, the rebuilt schematic, board outline, stackup, constraints, BOM, pick-and-place, old Gerbers, mechanical files, and notes on the critical nets, not just the Gerbers.

Or you can use an automated layout engine, which is where we come in. This is where Quilter is most useful when the schematic is ready, the layout work is the bottleneck, and the board falls within the range of complexity Quilter can handle. You can check our current capabilities here https://docs.quilter.ai/about-quilter/what-quilter-does-well and follow our progress here https://www.quilter.ai/changelog.

Many people who reached out to us for help migrating from Flux.ai do not have enough PCB layout expertise and were hoping to have Flux AI copilot help them complete the layout. If you are leaving Flux.ai because the layout turned out too difficult or too expensive to complete, Quilter’s Free tier might be a good option https://www.quilter.ai/free-ai-pcb-design. 

Cost considerations when leaving Flux.ai

Flux meters AI usage with Agent Compute Units (ACUs). Per Flux's documentation, ACU consumption depends on the complexity of the request and project, and it is not possible to know in advance how many ACUs a request will consume. Paid plans include monthly ACUs, included ACUs do not roll over, and additional usage is handled by raising a monthly spending limit rather than buying prepaid credits. Free plans do not include ACUs.

For Quilter specifically, review the tier and data terms before uploading sensitive IP. Quilter’s Free Tier is great for academic, personal, and hobbyist use. Free Tier board metadata and/or input files may be used to generate training puzzles for Quilter’s AI. Enterprise designs are confidential and not used for training.

Common mistakes when migrating off Flux.ai

Mistake 1: Treating Gerbers as a source of design intent

Gerbers are essential for fabrication, but they are not meant for continued design work. Use them as visual and manufacturing references, not as your primary migration artifact.

Mistake 2: Forgetting to export the native .flx backup

Even if your destination tool cannot use the .flx file, keep it. It is your Flux-native archive of the project.

Mistake 3: Exporting only manufacturing files

If you only export Gerbers, drill files, BOM, and pick-and-place, you may miss useful migration references like netlists, 3D files, IPC-2581C, and the native project backup.

Mistake 4: Rebuilding the board before rebuilding the schematic

Start with the schematic. If the schematic is wrong, the board will be wrong.

Migration checklist

Before leaving Flux.ai, make sure you have:

• Native .flx project backup
• Gerbers and NC drill files
• BOM
• Pick-and-place files
• EDIF schematic netlist
• IPC-D-356 layout netlist
• IPC-2581C, if available
• STEP, STL, or COLLADA exports
• Screenshots or PDFs of schematic sheets https://docs.flux.ai/faq/frequently-asked-questions--faq-
• Board outline
• Stackup
• Design rules
• Differential-pair constraints
• Impedance requirements
• Length-matching requirements
• Power requirements
• Mechanical keepouts
• Placement requirements
• Critical-net notes
• Manufacturer requirements
• Version history or comments worth preserving

After importing or rebuilding in the destination tool, verify:

• ERC passes or all warnings are understood.
• DRC passes or all violations are understood.
• BOM matches the original design.
• Netlist matches the original intended connectivity.
• Footprints are correct.
• Board outline and mounting holes match mechanical requirements.
• Stackup and impedance constraints are defined.
• Critical nets are constrained or manually reviewed.
• Gerber output from the new tool matches the intended design.
• A human engineer has reviewed the schematic and layout before fabrication.

Bottom line

Migrating off Flux.ai is about preserving design intent. Export the .flx project backup, save every neutral file Flux provides, rebuild or verify the schematic first, and then choose the layout path that fits your board: manual layout, a contractor, or automated layout.

Frequently asked questions

Can any ECAD tool open Flux.ai .flx files?

As of this review, we have not found a publicly documented .flx importer in the mainstream ECAD tools Flux users usually ask about. Flux documents .flx as a native project backup containing schematic and PCB layout data, but destination-tool support is the important question. Treat .flx as your archive and export neutral files for migration.

Is there a Flux.ai to KiCad converter?

Not as a reliable one-click migration path. KiCad documents import support for Altium, CADSTAR, Eagle, EasyEDA/JLCEDA, PADS ASCII, gEDA/Lepton, and several schematic/PCB formats, but Flux.ai .flx is not listed. The practical path is reconstruction using BOM, netlists, Gerbers, pick-and-place, and mechanical references.

Can I export a Flux.ai project to KiCad?

No, not as a guaranteed one-click KiCad-native migration. Flux documents several export formats, including manufacturing files, BOM, pick-and-place, an EDIF schematic netlist, an IPC-D-356 layout netlist, 3D files, IPC-2581C on select plans, and a native .flx project file. The practical path to KiCad is to export everything, preserve the .flx backup, then rebuild the schematic and board in KiCad using the BOM, netlists, Gerbers, pick-and-place, and mechanical references.

Can I export a Flux.ai project to Altium?

No, do not assume a clean Flux-to-Altium editable project export. Flux documents importing Altium ASCII schematics into Flux, but that is not the same as exporting a complete Flux design back into an Altium-native project. If the design originally came from Altium, look for the original source project before rebuilding.

Does Flux.ai export editable schematics?

Flux documents an EDIF schematic netlist export and a native .flx project export that contains schematic design information. The migration question is whether your destination tool can turn those into a clean, maintainable schematic. In most migrations you should expect to use the exported netlist and BOM as references while rebuilding the schematic in the destination tool.

Does Flux.ai export editable PCB layout?

Flux documents a native .flx project export that includes PCB layout information, plus manufacturing exports, pick-and-place, the IPC-D-356 layout netlist, and 3D files. None of these is automatically a destination-native editable board in KiCad, Altium, Cadence, or Siemens. Treat the .flx file as a Flux-native archive and use the other exports as references unless your destination tool explicitly supports the file you are importing.

What is the safest way to migrate off Flux.ai?

Export everything, validate the files, rebuild or import the schematic first, verify connectivity against the netlist, then rebuild the board manually, with a layout specialist, or with an automated layout tool. Do not rely on Gerbers alone.

Which tool should I migrate to after Flux.ai?

Choose based on your needs. KiCad is attractive as a free open-source tool. Altium is common for commercial teams that need integrated design, collaboration, and release workflows. Cadence and Siemens fit more formal enterprise environments. Quilter is relevant if your schematic is ready and layout is the bottleneck, regardless of which ECAD you decide to migrate to.

Is Quilter a Flux.ai replacement?

No. Quilter does not replace Flux.ai feature for feature. It is not a browser ECAD environment or a schematic generator. It is a physics-driven AI layout engine that works from existing schematic files and constraints and returns completed layouts in the original file format it received them.

When is Quilter a good fit after leaving Flux.ai?

When the schematic is ready or can be rebuilt, layout is the bottleneck, and the board is within Quilter's current recommended scope https://docs.quilter.ai/about-quilter/what-quilter-does-well

Sources

Flux. “Data Portability: Export Formats and Capabilities.” Flux Documentation. Accessed June 22, 2026. https://docs.flux.ai/reference/data-portability.

Flux. “Flux ACUs.” Flux Documentation. Accessed June 22, 2026. https://docs.flux.ai/reference/copilot-credits.

Flux. “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).” Flux Documentation. Accessed June 22, 2026. https://docs.flux.ai/faq/frequently-asked-questions–faq-.

Flux. “Gerber Exports and Manufacturing Files.” Flux Documentation. Accessed June 22, 2026. https://docs.flux.ai/reference/gerber-export.

Flux. “Importing Schematics from Cadence and Altium to Flux.” Flux Documentation. Accessed June 22, 2026. https://docs.flux.ai/reference/reference-import-designs.

KiCad. “Import Formats.” KiCad Developer Documentation. Accessed June 22, 2026. https://dev-docs.kicad.org/en/import-formats/.

KiCad.info Forums. “Converting Flux.ai Projects to KiCad?” Accessed June 22, 2026. https://forum.kicad.info/t/converting-flux-ai-projects-to-kicad/59947.

KiCad.info Forums. “Reverse Engineering KiCad Project from Gerber Files.” Accessed June 22, 2026. https://forum.kicad.info/t/reverse-engineering-kicad-project-from-gerber-files/30903.

Quilter. “Changelog.” Quilter. Accessed June 22, 2026. https://www.quilter.ai/changelog.

Quilter. “Free AI PCB Design.” Quilter. Accessed June 22, 2026. https://www.quilter.ai/free-ai-pcb-design.

Quilter. “Terms of Service.” Quilter. Accessed June 22, 2026. https://www.quilter.ai/terms.

Quilter. “What Quilter Does Well.” Quilter Documentation. Accessed June 22, 2026. https://docs.quilter.ai/about-quilter/what-quilter-does-well.