Terminology
Project
A Project is the top-level container holding one Plan and any number of Assemblies. Projects appear in the open panel as expandable groups with nested assemblies.
Plan
The Plan defines your system’s electrical architecture. Each project has one plan with two views — Layout (topology) and Schematic (expanded pins and positions with conductor paths). See Canvas & Navigation.
Assembly
An Assembly is a harness schematic — the same artifact you would build directly in Harness Builder (legacy mode), but generated from a plan selection. Includes connectors, wires, splices, BOM, and export, all connected back to the plan. Sync pushes plan updates without regenerating. See Assembly Generation & Sync.
Note: Assemblies are completely optional. You can use Plan Mode without ever generating an assembly. Assemblies add interoperability with the legacy Harness Builder workflow.
Component
A Component is a plan node representing a connector, device, or termination point — with a designator, category, pins/positions, optional part, and shape. See Components, Pins & Positions.
Branch Point
A Branch Point is a junction where bundles meet, routing conductors without pins. Conductors either pass through (continuing without a join) or are spliced (physically joined). Use branch points wherever a harness path splits or merges — power distribution, fan-outs, breakouts.
Splice
A Splice is a physical electrical connection between conductors at a branch point. Each splice gets an automatic designator (e.g., SP1), a configurable type (butt, Y, etc.), and an optional part for BOM tracking. Other conductors can connect to the splice from any bundle at that branch point.
See Connections, Conductors & Mates: Splices for splice types, conversion, and routing configuration.
Flying Lead
A Flying Lead is a conductor endpoint without a mating connector — the wire end itself is the endpoint. Represented as lightweight FL-prefixed nodes. Use for field-terminated wires, test points, or spare conductors.
Pigtail Lead
A Pigtail Lead is a pre-attached wire on a connector pin or terminal point position — part of the component, not the harness. Common on connectors with factory-terminated wire tails. Each lead has gauge, color, stripe, length, and wire MPN. Enable from the Leads tab in the Properties panel. Leads appear in the BOM, cut list, and exports.
Jumper
A Jumper is an external accessory that electrically bridges 2 or more positions on components with Terminal Point mating behavior (e.g., terminal blocks). Unlike inherent bridged positions (factory-internal wiring of the part), a jumper is a separate purchasable part with its own BOM entry and designator (e.g., JB1, JB2). Jumpers can bridge positions on the same terminal block or across adjacent terminal blocks.
Create a jumper by right-clicking a position on a terminal point component → New Jumper, then right-click additional positions → Add to JB1. Assign a color for visual identification and an optional part (MPN/manufacturer) via the Jumper properties panel. Jumpers participate in net grouping — all bridged positions are electrically equivalent.
Jumpers appear in the BOM, connection table (“Jumper” column), covering schedule, and ICD export.
Bundle
A Bundle connects two nodes (components or branch points) and carries conductors.
In Layout view, toggle between three display modes: Bundles Only (sheath paths with count badges), Bundles + Conductors (individual conductor lines overlaid), or Conductors Only (conductor lines without sheaths). Double-click a bundle to adjust routing with waypoints and bend handles. See Canvas & Navigation. Created by drawing in Layout view or automatically when connecting pins/positions in Schematic view.
Conductor
A Conductor is a single electrical path carried by a bundle. Conductors connect pins or positions on components whose mating behavior accepts conductors (Connector or Termination), with a termination method (crimp, solder, IDC) at each endpoint. A conductor can be a discrete wire or a core inside a cable. See Connections, Conductors & Mates.
Wire Group
A Wire Group collects two or more conductors into a physical grouping — twisted (at a specified pitch) or bundled (tape, braid, or lacing). Wire groups follow their conductors through branch points across multiple bundles. Twisted groups appear as vertical brackets on the schematic. See Wire Groups & Cables.
Cable
A Cable groups conductors under a multi-conductor assembly with numbered cores and a single BOM entry — cores do not get separate wire PNs. Cables can be shielded with an optional drain wire. On the schematic, cables appear as labeled ovals; shielded cables are amber. See Wire Groups & Cables.
Signal
A Signal classifies a net by function (e.g., VDC, GND, CAN_H). Each signal has a name and color. Assigned to nets — propagating to all conductors in the net. See Signals & Nets.
Net
A Net is a group of electrically connected conductors — through routing, mated pins/positions, bridged positions, jumpers, splices, or any combination. Nets are computed from connectivity. Assign a signal to a net and every conductor inherits it. See Signals & Nets.
Mate
A Mate defines how two components physically pair — separate from conductors. Each component has a shape-derived mating behavior that determines valid pairings and whether its pins/positions accept conductors. See Components, Pins & Positions: Mating Behavior for the full table. See Connections, Conductors & Mates for creating mates.
Device Group
A Device Group represents a single multi-connector device — e.g., a PCB with multiple headers, a DIN rail with terminal blocks, or an instrument with separate power and signal connectors. Components share a visual boundary and label. See Canvas & Navigation.
Visual Group
A Visual Group is a labeled box around nodes for organization — no electrical meaning, no effect on assembly generation or BOM. See Canvas & Navigation.
Note
A Note is a text annotation box placed on the plan canvas. Notes have no electrical meaning — they are for documentation, callouts, and manufacturing instructions. Three types are available: Text (paragraph), Numbered List (ordered items), and Table (columns and rows). Each note can have an optional title and a color-coded class (Note, Info, Warning, Important) for visual emphasis. Notes exist independently per view mode (layout and schematic) and per page. See Canvas & Navigation: Notes.
Subassembly
A Subassembly is a reusable template of plan elements saved to a shared library. Define a circuit pattern once and insert it into any plan.
- Save — select nodes and bundles, right-click, Save as Subassembly. All conductor properties, splices, and wire groups are preserved.
- Insert — right-click the canvas, Subassembly Library to browse and insert. A copy is placed on the current page.
Subassemblies are stored server-side and shared across all projects. See Parts & BOM: Subassembly Library.
Pages
Pages organize large plans into sections. Each page shows a subset of nodes and bundles while maintaining a single connected plan. See Canvas & Navigation: Pages.