text-to-cad

Why it's ranked here

Eleven skills cover the full pipeline from a plain-language part request to a validated toolpath, and the underlying engine is a real package with its own versioning discipline, not a wrapper prompt. A same-command update path, a documented major-version migration guide, and a configured CI test workflow point to a maintained, non-trivial codebase rather than a demo repo. MIT licensed. The breadth here, spanning CAD, robotics description formats, simulation, and slicing, is unusual for a single skill collection, which is why it earns a broader slot than a single-purpose modeling skill.

What's good

The system is engineered around real production concerns, not just demo output. A guard keeps one broken font file in a user's system fonts from crashing every command, a content-addressed cache skips rebuilding parts that have not changed, and reading an externally sourced vendor file is tracked so the cache correctly notices when that source changes. A geometry viewer caches the expensive mesh conversion step so previews stay fast across sessions. There is also a real distinction between installing everything fresh and merely refreshing what is already present, which matters because new releases add new skills you would otherwise miss.

Tradeoffs

Windows is the rough edge. The CAD kernel ships an unsigned native module, and Windows 11 blocks unsigned native code by default with no per-app exception, so a Windows user must either turn off a system-wide security feature or move the work into WSL. Major version upgrades carry no compatibility layer: old configuration keys become unrecognized arguments and errors describe only the new contract, so a half-migrated project fails without explaining what changed. One of the two update commands only refreshes skills you already have installed and silently skips ones added in a newer release, which is an easy trap for anyone who reaches for the more conservative-sounding command.

How to use it well

Reach for this when an agent needs to hand back something manufacturable, not just a picture or a description: a machinist-ready drawing, a robot's joint geometry, a simulation-ready world, or a print job checked against a specific printer's limits. It fits naturally into a git-based project where geometry is code, not a one-off image generator. Install through the dedicated command line tool rather than a generic package manager, and re-run the install command itself, not the lighter update command, so new releases' skills actually show up. It is not for freehand organic sculpting or artistic meshes; the modeling is fully parametric and script-driven.

Observed

License

License: MIT.

Python support

Requires Python 3.11 or newer.

Packaging

Installable as agent skills via a dedicated Skills CLI, or as native plugins for Codex, Claude Code, and Grok Build.

Skills included

Ships eleven skills spanning CAD generation, a local CAD/robot file viewer, off-the-shelf parts sourcing, 2D DXF drawing, URDF and SRDF robot description, SDF simulation worlds, pre-upload fabrication checks, mesh printability checks, G-code slicing, and printer job execution.

Interfaces

Interfaces: command-line tool, importable Python library, and agent-skill/plugin packages.

Testing

A GitHub Actions test workflow is configured for the repository's main branch.

Platform note

The CAD kernel depends on OpenCascade's Python binding, which ships a native module that is unsigned; Windows 11's Smart App Control, on by default on a fresh install, blocks unsigned native code with no per-application exception, so it must be disabled system-wide or the tool run under WSL.

Data handling

Large model and mesh fixtures are tracked with Git LFS and excluded from default fetches.

Compatibility

Major version upgrades of the CAD engine ship with no backward-compatibility layer, deprecated aliases, or automatic code migration tool.