# Celestial Altium Library: a cloud-hosted database library for Altium Designer > The issus/altium-library repository holds the symbols, footprints and STEP models behind the Celestial Altium Library, a free database library that is queried through a hosted portal rather than shipped as a finished integrated library. It suits engineers who place real manufacturer part numbers and want a filled-in BOM, and it does not help anyone outside Altium Designer. **issus/altium-library** — Open source Altium Database Library with over 200,000 high quality components and full 3d models. - Repository: https://github.com/issus/altium-library - Website: https://altiumlibrary.com - Stars: 2,492 · Forks: 1,059 - Language: Unknown - License: not declared - Published: 2026-09-28 · Updated: 2026-09-28 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/issus-altium-library ## What the Celestial Altium Library solves for Altium Designer users The problem is not that Altium lacks a component search. It is that a schematic symbol and a PCB footprint are two separate objects that must be tied to a real purchasable part, and doing that by hand for every resistor and connector is slow and error-prone. The README describes the alternative workflow plainly: you look up passive components on supplier websites, then search for those parts in Altium's Manufacturer Part Search panel, then assign properties to the symbol in your project. The Celestial Altium Library collapses that into a database lookup, so choosing a part is choosing the footprint, the parameters and the supplier data at the same time. The intended audience is specific. This is for engineers designing in Altium Designer who want to place a real part number, such as the Amphenol RJCSE538001 the README uses as its example, instead of a generic RJ45 jack symbol. It is also for teams that care about the bill of materials, because the README argues the library fills the BOM automatically and that this holds with or without ActiveBOM. Anyone not using Altium Designer gets nothing from it. ## How the database library is structured across GitHub and the hosted portal The repository is not the library in the sense of a single importable file. The top level holds Altium Database Library V2.DbLib, Altium Database Library V2.LibPkg, Altium Library.DsnWrk, Celestial Library.LibPkg, and the folders footprints/, symbols/, STEP/, Templates/ and BOM/. That layout matches the README's description: the schematic symbols and PCB footprints live in GitHub so you can clone the latest files when a new component needs them, while the database itself is cloud-hosted and served through portal.altiumlibrary.com. The DbLib file is the linkage layer. A database library in Altium maps a symbol to a footprint and attaches the technical parameters and pricing data that the database holds. That is why the README can claim the library covers every real-world capacitor and resistor while keeping relatively few files on your machine: the files are the symbols and footprints, and the breadth comes from rows in a hosted database rather than from a folder of integrated library files. The README states that new components appear in Altium immediately once they are added to the cloud database. That is the central design decision, and it is a trade-off. You get current data without re-importing anything, but you also depend on a hosted service and a login, and the repository alone does not contain the component rows. ## Footprints, 3D models and symbol conventions in the library The README makes three concrete claims about quality that are worth separating. First, footprints: every component has a footprint matching the manufacturer's recommended land pattern, or an IPC Compliant footprint for the package sizing when no recommendation exists. Only highly standardized passives use generic footprints; everything else is manufacturer-specific. Second, 3D models: each footprint carries a dimensionally accurate model created from the manufacturer's drawings, which the README ties to 3D collision checking and MCAD integration for enclosure design. Third, origin placement: each part's center is positioned where a pick and place head should collect it, so the pick and place export list contains centers in the correct location. Symbols follow a stated convention rather than being drawn ad hoc. VCC sits top left, GND bottom left, and user function pins go on the right. Standard protocols such as SPI keep pins in the same order across parts unless another library standard takes priority. Passives share the same symbol lead span so schematics stay visually consistent. That standardization is the part most likely to divide people. A uniform pin arrangement makes someone else's schematic readable, but if you already maintain in-house symbols with a different convention, mixing the two in one project will look inconsistent, and the library does not appear to offer a way to re-map pin positions. ## Getting access and adding the library to Altium The repository does not ship an installer. Access starts with a free registration on the Altium Library Portal, and the README points to the Celestial Library website for full instructions. The portal login page is the entry point the README gives: ```bash http://portal.altiumlibrary.com/Identity/Account/Login ``` Registration is free and is the gate for the hosted database. Once you have an account, the README directs you to the Get Started page, which is where the connection steps for Altium live: ```bash https://altiumlibrary.com/GetStarted ``` The README states that the schematic symbols and PCB footprints are hosted in GitHub so you can clone the latest library files when new components need them: ```bash git clone https://github.com/issus/altium-library.git ``` After cloning you have the DbLib, the LibPkg files, the workspace file and the symbols/, footprints/ and STEP/ folders on disk. The README does not reproduce the Altium-side configuration steps in the repository itself; it defers them to the Get Started page, so treat that page, not the README, as the authoritative setup guide. The README also does not document rollback, so if a library update breaks an existing project there is no stated procedure for reverting to an earlier state of the hosted data. ## Where the cloud-hosted model becomes a limitation The dependency on a hosted portal is the sharpest edge here. The README says the database is hosted on a dedicated cloud platform so that you always have the latest components, and that new parts become available immediately. That is convenient until the portal is unreachable, your account lapses, or you need to reproduce a design exactly as it was two years ago. Because the component data lives in the cloud rather than in the cloned repository, the Git history of this repository does not give you a versioned snapshot of the parts your BOM references. There is a second boundary: this is Altium-only. The DbLib format, the Manufacturer Part Search integration and the ActiveBOM behaviour described in the README are Altium Designer features. If your team is evaluating KiCad, none of this transfers, and the symbols and footprints are not offered as a neutral interchange format. Finally, the README's emphasis on high-quality data is a claim about curation, not a guarantee for your specific part. Coverage is described as expanding, which means the component you need may simply not be in a given category yet. The repository does not include a changelog of which parts were added when, so there is no way to check coverage growth from the repository alone. ## How this differs from an integrated library or a vendor part search The README draws the comparison itself: a database library versus an integrated library. An integrated library bundles symbols, footprints and models into a file you import, and the contents are frozen at the moment you build or download it. A database library keeps the symbol-to-footprint linkage and the part parameters in a database, so the same small set of local files can address a very large number of real parts. The Celestial Altium Library takes that further by putting the database in the cloud, which is what makes the immediate-update behaviour possible. The other comparison is against Altium's own Manufacturer Part Search, which the README describes as the manual path: find a part, then assign its properties to a symbol yourself. The difference is where the filtering happens. With the library, the README's example is opening the 0603 ceramic capacitor list, grouping by value, then by voltage, and sorting by price to reach the cheapest in-stock option without leaving Altium. Manufacturer Part Search gives you supplier data but not a pre-linked, standardized symbol and footprint pair for each result. ## Maintenance, contributions and licensing The last push to the repository was on 2026-08-07, and the repository is not archived, so the GitHub side is current. The README describes the library as under active development to expand component coverage, and states that the database is free to use and open source. The repository does not carry a licence file in its top-level entries, and the README text does not name a licence identifier, so the exact terms for reusing the symbols, footprints and STEP models are not established by what is published here. If you plan to redistribute the models or embed them in a product deliverable, confirm the terms with the project before you rely on them; this is not something to infer from the word open source alone. Upgrade cost is mostly on the client side. Because the component rows update in the cloud, you do not re-import the library to get new parts. What you do maintain is the clone: the symbols/, footprints/ and STEP/ folders are pulled from GitHub when new components require the files locally. Contributions are handled through Discord, which the README links and which is where the contributing section directs people. ## Conclusion Adopt it if your team already designs in Altium Designer and you want manufacturer part numbers, supplier links and 3D models inside the schematic editor. Skip it if you use KiCad or another EDA tool, since the library is built for Altium's database library format and the symbols and footprints are consumed through Altium itself. Before committing, register at portal.altiumlibrary.com, confirm the DbLib connection resolves against your Altium version, and check that the component categories you actually use are present with the parameters you filter on. ## FAQ ### What is the Celestial Altium Library? It is a free, open source database library for Altium Designer, created by Mark Harris and hosted on a dedicated cloud platform. The README describes it as containing high-quality data with accurate footprints and 3D models, and the repository carries the DbLib, LibPkg and workspace files plus the symbols, footprints and STEP folders. ### How do I install the Celestial Altium Library in Altium Designer? The repository has no installer. You register for free access on the Altium Library Portal, then follow the full instructions on the Celestial Library website, which the README links as the Get Started page. The GitHub repository supplies the DbLib and the symbol, footprint and STEP files. ### How do I add components from the library to a project? You search and filter inside Altium against the database, for example opening the 0603 ceramic capacitor list, grouping by value and voltage, and sorting by price. Placing the part brings its symbol, footprint, technical parameters and supplier data with it, which is what lets the README say the BOM fills itself out. ### What is the Altium Library Loader? The README does not describe a tool by that name. It documents the Celestial Altium Library as a cloud-hosted database library accessed through the Altium Library Portal, with the symbols and footprints hosted in GitHub. ### How do I use the Altium Library Loader? The README gives no instructions for a loader. It says to register for free access on the Altium Library Portal and to see the Celestial Library Website for full instructions. ## Sources - [Issues](https://github.com/issus/altium-library/issues) - [issus/altium-library on GitHub](https://github.com/issus/altium-library) - [Project website](https://altiumlibrary.com) - [README](https://github.com/issus/altium-library/blob/master/README.md) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/issus-altium-library