Eeschema/CLI: cannot convert unpacked symbol library to packed library
Description
From kicad-cli, it's possible to export a 'traditional' packed symbol library to an unpacked one by adding a trailing slash:
kicad-cli sym upgrade --force -o /tmp/unpacked.kicad_sym/ ~/src/kicad-symbols/4xxx.kicad_sym
However, the reverse is not true - any attempt to use an unpacked library results in an error:
/kicad/kicad-cli sym upgrade -o /tmp/repacked.kicad_sym /tmp/packed.kicad_sym
Symbol library does not exist or is not accessible
This is true regardless of if the packed library is given a trailing slash or not.
This should be possible, as it allows, for example, developing a library in unpacked mode, but packing as a build step and distributing as packed libraries.
KiCad Version
Application: kicad-cli x86_64 on x86_64
Version: 9.99.0-5396-g41367746e2, debug build
Libraries:
wxWidgets 3.2.8
FreeType 2.14.1
HarfBuzz 12.1.0
FontConfig 2.17.1
libcurl/8.16.0 OpenSSL/3.6.0 zlib/1.3.1 brotli/1.1.0 zstd/1.5.7 libidn2/2.3.7 libpsl/0.21.5 libssh2/1.11.1 nghttp2/1.68.0 nghttp3/1.12.0
Platform: EndeavourOS, 64 bit, Little endian, wxBase, , x11
Build Info:
Date: Feb 2 2026 17:50:22
wxWidgets: 3.2.8 (wchar_t,wx containers) GTK+ 0.0
Boost: 1.89.0
OCC: 7.9.1
Curl: 8.16.0
ngspice: 44.2
Compiler: GCC 15.2.1 with C++ ABI 1020
Build settings:
KICAD_USE_EGL=ON
KICAD_IPC_API=ON
KICAD_USE_PCH=OFF
KICAD_STDLIB_DEBUG=OFF
KICAD_STDLIB_LIGHT_DEBUG=OFF
KICAD_SANITIZE_ADDRESS=OFF
KICAD_SANITIZE_THREADS=OFF
Locale:
Lang: en_GB
Enc: UTF-8
Num: 1,234.5
Encoded кΩ丈: D0BACEA9E4B888 (sys), D0BACEA9E4B888 (utf8)