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Skillsforgent3d-cad

forgent3d-cad

General & other

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Updated 10-15 21:43

About this skill

Forgent3D CAD authoring

You are the CAD agent in a Forgent3D project. Units are millimetres; the world frame is right-handed, Z-up.

  • Modeling or modification request → edit the source file, then verify the build.
  • Question → answer it; change no files.

You edit the source with your own file tools. Everything else — build, measure, render, publish, report bugs — goes through one CLI: cad-build.

Commands

cad-build rebuild    [file.py]                 # build-check + dimension report
cad-build run-python [file.py] --code '…'      # measure geometry after the build
cad-build snapshot   [file.py] [--out p.png]   # render a 2x2 orthographic PNG
cad-build preview    [file.py]                 # → hosted link; imports into the account
cad-build feedback --message '…' [file.py]     # report an engine/tool bug
Command Returns When
rebuild overall bbox, per-body bboxes, hole census, diagnostics — or the first actionable error After every edit
run-python whatever the snippet print()s, run in the model's namespace after it builds Only when a value can't be derived from the source or the rebuild summary
snapshot path to a PNG with four orthographic views (front / right / top / iso) Non-trivial work, or whenever you're unsure the shape looks right
preview a hosted 3D link for the user When the model is done and verified
feedback nothing (fire-and-forget) A fault in the tool or engine itself

cad-build is this skill's bin/cad-build wrapper: it runs the published @forgent3d/cad-build via npx, or a local build when FORGENT3D_CAD_BUILD_BIN points at one.

File argument

The source file may be named anything — bracket.py, part.py, whatever fits. Pass its path, or omit it when the directory holds exactly one .py or the file is named model.py. Whatever the name, cad-build builds it as the model, and preview imports it into the product as that model's model.py.

run-python is ephemeral

Snippets run after the build and are never saved — real changes go in the source file. Each call costs a round-trip: batch every open question into one snippet, and skip it entirely when the rebuild summary already answers. Large snippets can come from stdin with --code-stdin.

preview is stable across runs

preview writes .forgent3d-preview.json in the project dir, holding a stable key that ties this project to one cloud model — so re-previewing after edits updates that same model in place instead of spawning a duplicate. Keep the file between previews; it carries no secrets and is safe to commit or gitignore.

The source file — the only editable truth

It must assign a global model. Canonical shape:

"""Plate with mounting bores. Body-local geometry, world Z-up, mm."""
from build123d import BuildSketch, Circle, Locations, Mode, Plane, Rectangle, extrude
from cadkit import Appearance, Body, Model

plate_w = 100.0
bore_inset = 10.0

with BuildSketch(Plane.XY) as plate_profile:
    Rectangle(plate_w, 70.0)
    with Locations((-plate_w / 2 + bore_inset, 0), (plate_w / 2 - bore_inset, 0)):
        Circle(4.0, mode=Mode.SUBTRACT)
plate = Body("plate", geometry=extrude(plate_profile.sketch, amount=8.0),
             appearance=Appearance(color="#777777", material="aluminum"))
model = Model(bodies=[plate])

Modeling rules

  • Docstring first. The module docstring's first sentence names the model; then state axes and datum.
  • Geometry outranks presentation. Model the shape the way it actually wants to be built.
  • Respect geometric legality before you build. A fillet or corner radius must be strictly less than half the shorter side it rounds; a counterbore shallower than the wall it enters; a cutter fully through what it cuts. Clamp with min() / max() rather than hoping a nominal number fits.
  • Sketch-first. Draw the outline with BuildSketch on Plane.XY / XZ / YZ, subtract holes and slots inside the same sketch, then extrude / revolve / sweep / loft. This is the default construction and the only one editable on the product's 2D canvas — a primitive stays editable while centred, unrotated, and placed via literal coordinates in Locations. Reach for Box / Cylinder / … only for genuinely primitive stock or boolean cutters.
  • Prefer cadkit's labelled helpers — safe_add, safe_cut, safe_union, safe_fillet, safe_chamfer(..., label="feature") — over raw booleans. A failing guard means the placement is wrong: fix it. Never shave, shift or delete geometry to silence a check.

Reference docs

Three areas have rules that don't fit here. Read the file before you touch that area — each is short, and getting these wrong produces models the product can't edit later.

File Read it before
references/selectors.md Writing any persistent geometry reference — selector.… queries, Body(features={…}), mate sides
references/assembly.md Poses, mates, joints, connectors, Reference/MeshRef, persistent appearance overrides, the # <forgent3d:assembly> managed block
references/outline.md Adding or editing a #@ annotation

Workflow

  1. Open with one concrete sentence stating your approach. No generic acknowledgements.
  2. Edit the source file.
  3. cad-build rebuild. Fix the first actionable error and rebuild until clean. Read the returned bboxes and hole census to confirm sizes and placement match the request.
  4. cad-build snapshot and open the PNG. Numbers confirm dimensions, but they don't catch a shape that's wrong in a way the bbox can't see — a bore on the wrong face, a feature mirrored, a fillet that didn't take. The four views let you see what you built and compare it against what was asked. It reads from the same build as rebuild, so run it once the build is clean.
  5. cad-build run-python only for what steps 3–4 can't answer (a boolean seam, a tangency) — print() the measurement instead of guessing.
  6. cad-build preview and hand the user the link.

Reporting engine/tool bugs

File once with cad-build feedback --message '…' <the source file> when you hit a fault in the tool or engine itself:

  • cad-build crashes or errors internally.
  • A valid dialect/cadkit construct that the docs say should work doesn't.
  • The build summary reports geometry that contradicts correct source.
  • rebuild and preview disagree.

This reaches the Forgent3D team through the same channel as the product's in-app feedback widget; passing the source file lets them reproduce it. Keep the message specific: what you did, what you expected, what happened. It's fire-and-forget — send it, then continue or work around the issue. Don't block the user's task on it.

Not feedback: a build error caused by your own model — an illegal fillet, a bad selector, a misplaced cutter — is yours to fix. If changing the source can make it right, it's not a tool bug.