LCSC Electronics — Component Search, Datasheets & Ordering

Related Skills

Skill	Purpose
`kicad`	Schematic analysis — extracts MPNs for part lookup
`bom`	BOM management — orchestrates sourcing across distributors
`jlcpcb`	PCB assembly — shares the same parts library
`spice`	Uses LCSC parametric data for behavioral SPICE models (no auth needed)

LCSC is JLCPCB's sister company — they share the same parts library and

Cxxxxx

part numbers. Use LCSC for production sourcing (assembled boards from JLCPCB/PCBWay). DigiKey/Mouser are for prototyping. For BOM management and export workflows, see

bom

Key Differences from DigiKey/Mouser

No API key needed — jlcsearch community API is free and open
Lower prices — especially for passives and Chinese-manufactured ICs
JLCPCB integration — same LCSC part numbers used in JLCPCB assembly BOMs
Direct PDF downloads — LCSC's CDN (wmsc.lcsc.com) serves datasheets without bot protection
Low MOQ — many parts available in quantities as low as 1
Warehouses — Shenzhen (JS), Zhuhai (ZH), Hong Kong (HK)
Website:
```
https://www.lcsc.com
```

LCSC Part Numbers

Format:

Cxxxxx

(e.g.,

C14663

). This is the universal identifier across both LCSC and JLCPCB. Use it for:

Direct ordering on LCSC
BOM matching in JLCPCB assembly (see
```
jlcpcb
```
skill)
Cross-referencing between platforms

jlcsearch API Reference

The jlcsearch community API is the recommended way to search LCSC. No authentication required.

Base URL:

https://jlcsearch.tscircuit.com

General Search

GET /api/search?q=<query>&limit=20&full=true

Parameters:

```
q
```
— search query (matches MPN, LCSC code, or description keywords)
```
package
```
— optional footprint filter (e.g.,
```
0402
```
)
```
limit
```
— max results (default 100)
```
full
```
— set to
```
true
```
to include all fields (datasheet URL, specs, stock per warehouse)

Category-Specific Search

GET /resistors/list.json?search=10k+0402
GET /capacitors/list.json?search=100nF+0402
GET /microcontrollers/list.json?search=STM32
GET /voltage_regulators/list.json?search=3.3V

Response Format

Results are returned as

{"components": [...]}

. With

full=true

, each component has:

json

{
  "lcsc": 14663,
  "mfr": "GRM155R71C104KA88D",
  "package": "0402",
  "description": "",
  "datasheet": "https://www.lcsc.com/datasheet/...",
  "stock": 2751535,
  "price": [{"qFrom": 1, "qTo": 9, "price": 0.0069}, ...],
  "basic": 0,
  "extra": {
    "number": "C71629",
    "mpn": "GRM155R71C104KA88D",
    "manufacturer": {"id": 4, "name": "Murata Electronics"},
    "package": "0402",
    "description": "16V 100nF X7R ±10% 0402 ...",
    "quantity": 2751535,
    "whs-js": 1234567,
    "whs-zh": 567890,
    "whs-hk": 0,
    "moq": 100,
    "order_multiple": 100,
    "packaging": "Tape & Reel (TR)",
    "packaging_num": 10000,
    "datasheet": {"pdf": "https://wmsc.lcsc.com/wmsc/upload/file/pdf/v2/lcsc/...pdf"},
    "images": [{"96x96": "...", "224x224": "...", "900x900": "..."}],
    "rohs": true,
    "url": "https://www.lcsc.com/product-detail/...",
    "attributes": {
      "Capacitance": "100nF",
      "Voltage Rated": "16V",
      "Temperature Coefficient": "X7R",
      "Tolerance": "±10%"
    },
    "prices": [{"min_qty": 100, "max_qty": 499, "currency": "USD", "price": 0.0048}, ...]
  }
}

Key fields:

```
lcsc
```
— numeric LCSC ID (without "C" prefix)
```
extra.number
```
— full LCSC code with prefix (e.g.,
```
C71629
```
)
```
extra.mpn
```
— manufacturer part number
```
extra.manufacturer.name
```
— manufacturer
```
extra.datasheet.pdf
```
— direct PDF URL (wmsc.lcsc.com CDN, downloads without auth)
```
extra.attributes
```
— parametric specs (capacitance, voltage, etc.)
```
extra.quantity
```
— total stock across all warehouses
```
extra.whs-js
```
,
```
extra.whs-zh
```
,
```
extra.whs-hk
```
— stock per warehouse
```
basic
```
—
```
1
```
if JLCPCB basic part (no setup fee),
```
0
```
if extended
```
extra.moq
```
— minimum order quantity
```
extra.order_multiple
```
— must order in multiples of this
```
extra.rohs
```
— RoHS compliance (boolean)

Rate Limits

The jlcsearch API is community-run with no documented rate limits, but be respectful — use delays of 0.5s between calls.

Datasheet Download & Sync

LCSC's CDN serves datasheet PDFs directly — no bot protection, no special headers needed. This makes LCSC a reliable datasheet source alongside DigiKey.

Datasheet Directory Sync

Use

sync_datasheets_lcsc.py

to maintain a

datasheets/

directory alongside a KiCad project. Same workflow and

manifest.json

format as the DigiKey and Mouser skills. No API key required.

bash

# Sync datasheets for a KiCad project
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/sync_datasheets_lcsc.py <file.kicad_sch>

# Preview what would be downloaded
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/sync_datasheets_lcsc.py <file.kicad_sch> --dry-run

# Retry previously failed downloads
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/sync_datasheets_lcsc.py <file.kicad_sch> --force

# Custom output directory
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/sync_datasheets_lcsc.py <file.kicad_sch> -o ./my-datasheets

# Parallel downloads (3 workers)
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/sync_datasheets_lcsc.py <file.kicad_sch> --parallel 3

# Batch mode — sync from a plain MPN list (no KiCad project required)
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/sync_datasheets_lcsc.py --mpn-list mpns.txt --output ./datasheets

MPN-list batch mode (KH-312) — when you have a list of MPNs but no KiCad project to point at. One MPN per line; blank lines and

comments (full-line and inline) are skipped; generic values are filtered via

is_real_mpn()

and de-duplicated. Output defaults to

./datasheets/

in the current working directory when

--output

is omitted.

The script:

Runs the kicad schematic analyzer to extract components, MPNs, and LCSC codes
Accepts any identifier — MPN, LCSC code, or other distributor PNs from KiCad symbol properties
Prefers LCSC code for search (exact match) — falls back to MPN keyword search
Falls back to wmsc.lcsc.com API when jlcsearch has no results for an LCSC code (Cxxxxx)
Downloads from LCSC CDN — direct PDF URLs, no bot protection
Writes
manifest.json
manifest — same format as DigiKey/Mouser skills
Verifies PDF content — checks MPN, manufacturer, and description keywords
Rate-limited — 0.5s between API calls (configurable with
```
--delay
```
)
Saves progress incrementally — safe to interrupt

Single Datasheet Download

Use

fetch_datasheet_lcsc.py

for one-off downloads.

bash

# Search by MPN
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/fetch_datasheet_lcsc.py --search "GRM155R71C104KA88D" -o datasheet.pdf

# Search by LCSC code
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/fetch_datasheet_lcsc.py --search "C14663" -o datasheet.pdf

# Direct URL download
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/fetch_datasheet_lcsc.py "https://wmsc.lcsc.com/..." -o datasheet.pdf

# JSON output
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/fetch_datasheet_lcsc.py --search "C14663" --json

The script:

OS-agnostic — uses
```
requests
```
→
```
urllib
```
→
```
playwright
```
fallback chain (no wget/curl)
Validates PDF headers — rejects HTML error pages
Falls back to alternative manufacturer sources when LCSC URL fails
Exit codes: 0 = success, 1 = download failed, 2 = search/API error
Dependencies:
- ```
pip install requests
```
  (recommended; urllib fallback works fine for LCSC)
- ```
pip install playwright && playwright install chromium
```
  (optional; rarely needed for LCSC)

LCSC Official API (Requires Approval)

Base URL:

https://ips.lcsc.com

. Requires API key + signature authentication. Contact

support@lcsc.com

for access. Rarely needed — jlcsearch covers most use cases.

Web Search Fallback

If the jlcsearch API is unavailable, search LCSC by fetching the website directly:

https://www.lcsc.com/search?q=<query>

Cross-Referencing & Missing Equivalents

LCSC part numbers are specific to the LCSC/JLCPCB ecosystem. Use the

extra.mpn

field to cross-reference on DigiKey/Mouser.

When an MPN has no exact LCSC match:

Search by key parameters (e.g., "100nF 0402 X7R 16V")
Look for pin-compatible alternatives from Chinese manufacturers
Verify specs and footprint match — pad dimensions can vary even within the same package size
As a last resort, mark as "consigned" and source separately

Tips

```
basic
```
field matters — JLCPCB basic parts have no setup fee; extended parts cost $3 each
Check stock per warehouse (
```
whs-js
```
,
```
whs-zh
```
,
```
whs-hk
```
) — availability varies
```
moq
```
and
```
order_multiple
```
— many parts require minimum quantities or specific multiples
Datasheet quality varies for Chinese manufacturers — cross-reference MPN on DigiKey for better docs

lcsc

NPX Install

Tags

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