Duplicating an existing footprint with pcbnew's Python API

Duplicate clones the object and all its pads; you then give it its own reference and position:

import pcbnew
from pcbnew import VECTOR2I, FromMM

board = pcbnew.GetBoard()
original = board.FindFootprintByReference("R1")
clone = pcbnew.Cast_to_FOOTPRINT(original.Duplicate(False))
clone.SetReference("R2")
clone.SetPosition(VECTOR2I(FromMM(50), FromMM(20)))
board.Add(clone)

⚠️ Duplicate takes an addToParentGroup argument (False if you call board.Add yourself), and returns a generic BOARD_ITEM — Cast_to_FOOTPRINT is required before calling SetReference.

There’s no dedicated duplication method on the IPC API side: clone the Python object with copy.deepcopy, then clear its ID before creating it — otherwise create_items treats it as the original and creates nothing:

import copy
from kipy import KiCad
from kipy.geometry import Vector2

board = KiCad().get_board()
by_ref = {f.reference_field.text.value: f for f in board.get_footprints()}
original = by_ref["R1"]
clone = copy.deepcopy(original)
clone.proto.ClearField("id")
clone.reference_field.text.value = "R2"
clone.position = Vector2.from_xy_mm(50, 20)
board.create_items(clone)

⚠️ Tested: without clone.proto.ClearField("id"), create_items returns something that looks like a success, but nothing shows up on the board — the ID copied from the original makes the server think it’s the same item, not a new one.