Frequently asked questions

Q: When will harness.design stop being free?

The harness.design beta ended on April 7th, 2026. harness.design now has a Free plan and a Pro plan. The Free plan includes unlimited harnesses, unlimited parts, and up to 100 connections per harness. A Pro subscription is required to add more than 100 connections per harness. See the Full Release page for full details.

Q: How do I zoom in and out?

Use the scroll wheel on a mouse, or pinch on a trackpad.

Q: How do I set a wire gauge or cross-section (e.g. 22 AWG)?

You need to create a Wire Part first. Go to the Parts View, add a Wire Part, and set the gauge in the part properties. You can then assign that wire part to any wire on the schematic. See Wire Part and Wire documentation for full details.

Answers to the questions we hear most often. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, reach out to us at harness.design.nz@gmail.com or join our Discord community .

Parts library

Is there a global parts library I can reuse across projects?

Not yet. A master parts library is our most-requested feature and is actively in development. In the meantime, the best workaround is to create a dedicated harness called something like “Master Parts Library”, build all your common parts there, and then import them into any new harness using the Import Parts button in the Parts View.

Do I have to recreate parts for every new harness?

You don’t have to start from scratch. Until the global library is released, you can import parts from any existing harness. See Importing Parts for the step-by-step guide.

Are there built-in connector libraries (e.g. Deutsch, TE)?

We’re planning to offer pre-built global libraries of common connectors and parts that all users can draw from. This will likely roll out alongside the master parts library feature.

How do I zoom in and out?

Use the scroll wheel on a mouse, or pinch on a trackpad.

How do I pan around the schematic or layout?

Press down the middle mouse button (scroll wheel) and drag, or use a two-finger drag on a trackpad.

How do I undo and redo?

Undo: Ctrl + Z (Windows) ⌘ + Z (Mac)
Redo: Ctrl + Shift + Z or Ctrl + Y (Windows) ⌘ + Shift + Z or ⌘ + Y (Mac)

See the full list of keyboard shortcuts.

The scroll wheel/ trackpad is not working as expected. How do I fix it?

Open Main Menu → Settings and set Input type to the type you are using. This forces behaviour regardless of what input device is detected. See Input type.

Wires & cables

How do I set a wire gauge or cross-section (e.g. 22 AWG)?

You need to create a Wire Part first. Go to the Parts View, add a Wire Part, and set the gauge in the part properties. You can then assign that wire part to any wire on the schematic. See Wire Part and Wire for full details.

Why does my wire show as a dashed line?

A dashed wire means it hasn’t been routed through a bundle on the Layout View yet. Once you add the wire to a bundle, it will display as a solid line. See Dashed Wires for more information.

Can I add shielded cables?

Yes. Shields are supported on both cables and connectors. See:

Can I use twisted pairs?

Yes, twisted pairs are supported. right-click the canvas in Schematic View and select Twisted wires to add a new group, or select multiple existing wires, right-click, and choose Twist together. You can see which wires are twisted together in the Connections View via the Twisted With column. See Twisted Wires for full details.

Can I add a custom colour picker?

We can’t offer a freeform colour picker because wire colours need to work correctly across selected, deselected, light mode, and dark mode states. We do regularly add new preset colours. If there’s a specific colour missing for you, let us know.

Connectors

How do I prevent a long connector label from being cut off?

right-click on the connector in the Schematic View and select Width.

How do I add custom cavity numbering?

Double click on the cavity number and enter a desired value.

Can I rotate connectors?

Yes, connectors can be rotated 90° in the Schematic View. right-click a connector and select Rotate, or select a connector and press the R key. See Rotating a Connector.

Can I delete a single cavity/pin from a connector?

Yes. right-click the cavity you want to remove and select Delete. You can also reorder cavities or insert new ones above an existing cavity from the same right-click menu. See Reordering, Inserting and Deleting Cavities.

Can I paste a list of pin names into a connector?

Not yet, but this is a feature we would like to add. For now, use the Tab key to move between cavities quickly while naming them, and Shift + Tab to go backwards.

Can I change the colour of a connector on the schematic?

No, colour cannot be assigned directly to a connector. Colour is a property of the Connector Part — the housing part assigned to a connector. To set a colour, edit the connector part and set its Color field to reflect the physical housing colour.

Layout view

How do I set or edit bundle lengths?

Lengths are set in the Layout View, not the Schematic View. See Setting bundle lengths.

How do I control which side of a connector a wire exits from?

Add Layout Points to a wire to define its routing. See Layout Points for documentation and examples.

Can I section off or hide part of the harness in the layout view?

Not yet. The ability to mark areas, create sections, or hide groups is a planned feature.

How do I position a splice?

Splices are automatically positioned based on the most efficient wiring path. To move one manually, drag its location handle in the Layout View to any Branch Point, Connector, or Terminal. For staggered or offset splices, add an extra branch point and assign the splice there. See Locating a splice.

Idents & wire labelling

Can I add coloured idents to wire ends?

Yes. right-click a wire and click the button next to Ident to add a colour band. You can add multiple colour bands and they display in the order added. See Assigning Idents.

Can I add numbered wire idents?

Yes. right-click a wire and click on the Ident placeholder text in the menu to add a text label. The label background colour can be set by adding colour ident bands alongside it. See Assigning Idents.

How do I name or number a splice?

Splice naming is not currently supported. Each splice has a unique component ID that can be displayed on the schematic and layout views via View Options → Show component IDs.

How do I add labels to wires?

right-click on a wire in the Schematic View, then click on the Ident placeholder text in the menu to add a text label. You can also add a Note to the canvas near a wire for more detailed annotations. See Note.

Can I show ident labels in the PDF export?

Part names and ident labels are not currently included in the PDF export. This is a known gap and is on the roadmap.

Schematic features

How do I use auto layout?

Press Shift + A to auto layout all wires, or select specific wires and press A to auto layout just those. See the full list of keyboard shortcuts.

What does a dashed/dotted wire mean?

A dashed wire means it has not yet been routed through a bundle in the Layout View. See Dashed Wires.

Can I add text boxes or notes to the schematic?

Yes, Notes are supported in both Schematic and Layout views. right-click the canvas and select Note, then left-double-click to enter text. You can adjust the width and text alignment via the right-click menu. See Note for full details.

Is there a search function to find a connector or wire in a large project?

Not yet. It has been requested by several users and is on our development list.

If you have a component selected you can use the Fit to View button in the toolbar on either the Schematic or Layout screen to zoom in and center the view on that component.

Can I add connector cavity drawings or pinout images?

Not yet, but adding pinout images to connectors is high on our priority list.

Can I add photos or images to the schematic to help with routing?

This has been requested and is something we’re exploring. If you have a specific use case, get in touch and let us know how you’d use it.

PDF & export

How do I export to PDF?

Go to Main Menu → Export, then select Schematic or Layout to export as PDF. See Export documentation for full details on what’s included in each export type.

Why are component/resistor labels missing from my PDF export?

Part names and some component labels are not yet included in the PDF export. This is a known limitation on the roadmap.

Can I get a dark mode PDF?

This is not currently planned. The PDF is intended as a technical drawing document suitable for printing, so it will remain in light mode. Title blocks and other print-ready features are planned for the future.

Can I rescale the schematic before exporting?

Manual pre-export scaling is not yet available. This is on the roadmap. In the meantime, tidying up the layout before exporting gives the best results.

How do I export the wiring table?

The wiring table can be exported to CSV from Main Menu → Export → Wiring table. See Export documentation for full details.

Yes. Shared users get read-only access; only the harness owner can edit it. Anyone viewing a shared harness can duplicate it to make their own editable copy. Open the Share panel from the Main Menu. See Sharing documentation for full details.

Yes. All shared access is read-only. Shared users can view and navigate the harness but cannot edit it. They can duplicate the harness to make their own editable copy. See Sharing documentation for full details.

Saving & autosave

How does saving work? I closed the tab and lost progress.

The app autosaves approximately every 15 seconds while you’re online. If your internet connection drops and the app can’t reach the server, changes since the last successful save may be lost. However, you can save your harness as a local JSON file via Export → Raw data, and reload it later via Open → Local data. See Local Data for details.

If you close the tab while offline, you may lose recent changes. Keep an eye on the save status indicator in the app.

Can I save files locally or run the app offline?

harness.design is a web-based application, so it requires an internet connection to use. However, you can save your harness as a local JSON file via Export → Raw data, and reload it later via Open → Local data. See Local Data for details.

I signed up with Apple but can’t sign back in. What do I do?

If you originally signed up using Sign in with Apple, you must use the Apple button on the sign-in page, not the email/password fields. Apple may relay a private email address during sign-up, so entering your real email won’t work.

How do I change my password?

Password change is available in your account settings. If you’re experiencing issues, make sure you’re signed in first.

Can I use harness.design on an iPad or phone?

The app works in read-only mode on iPad and mobile browsers. Our assumption is that most users prefer to design on a desktop and then reference their harness on a tablet or phone while building or troubleshooting in the workshop.

Pricing

When will harness.design stop being free?

The harness.design beta ended on April 7th, 2026. harness.design now has a Free plan and a Pro plan. The Free plan includes unlimited harnesses, unlimited parts, and up to 100 connections per harness. A Pro subscription is required to add more than 100 connections per harness. See the Full Release page for full details.

Will there be a free tier?

Yes. The Free plan includes unlimited harnesses, unlimited parts, and up to 100 connections per harness. See Full Release for full details.

How much will it cost?

See the Full Release page for pricing details.

Is a one-time lifetime purchase an option?

harness.design uses a subscription model. See the Full Release page for details.

Where can I see what’s been added recently?

Check the Updates for a history of updates. For the most up-to-date news and early previews, join our Discord server .

Still have questions?

If your question isn’t covered here, we’re happy to help directly.

Email: harness.design.nz@gmail.com
Discord: discord.com/invite/eTv6ph4Uzg

We read every message and genuinely appreciate the feedback. It directly shapes what we build next.