---
id: earthtojake/text-to-cad/cad-viewer
version: "4eb98d2c"
license: MIT
install: manual
updated: 2026-07-11
---

# cad-viewer — cad-viewer brings CAD geometry to life with an interactive 3D visualization environment. Load, inspect, and evaluate generated CAD files directly within your workflow, making design review and iteration seamless. Perfect for agents that need to validate or present CAD output in real time.

Publisher: earthtojake · Stars: 10959 · Updated: 2026-07-11

Install (manual): `git clone https://github.com/earthtojake/text-to-cad`

## SKILL.md

# CAD Viewer

Provenance: maintained in [earthtojake/text-to-cad](https://github.com/earthtojake/text-to-cad).
Use the installed local skill files as the runtime source of truth; the
repository link is only for provenance and release review.

Use this skill to open existing or newly generated CAD, implicit CAD,
robot-description, DXF, or plain FDM G-code files in CAD Viewer and hand back
live review links. The expected input is one or more explicit file paths.

## Start Viewer

Start or reuse one local CAD Viewer with `npm run agent:start`, passing the
absolute artifact directory as `--dir`. The `agent:start` launcher owns port
selection, compatible-server reuse, directory activation, and the `?dir=` query
parameter. Dev-mode viewers are reused only for matching git identities; dist
bundle viewers can be reused across git branches when their viewer versions
match. It activates reused servers through the Viewer's lightweight directory
activation API, without requiring agents to probe ports or trigger catalog
scans manually. Use the Viewer URL printed by `agent:start` as-is, then add only
a `file=` query value for the artifact you want to review.

Choose `--dir` as the absolute directory that contains the model
artifacts and sidecars, commonly `<repo>/models` or the consuming project's
equivalent model directory. The `file=` value must be relative to that `--dir`.
Do not manually choose ports, probe servers, rewrite `?dir=`, or start a
separate Viewer just to change directories.

Run from this skill directory:

```bash
npm --prefix scripts/viewer run agent:start -- --host 127.0.0.1 --dir <absolute-model-root>
```

Use the printed Viewer URL and append `file=`:

```bash
http://127.0.0.1:<printed-port>/?dir=/absolute/project/models&file=path/to/model.step
```

If a non-Viewer process or another worktree's Viewer occupies the candidate
port, the launcher will continue automatically. In sandboxed agent environments,
local binding or probe failures such as `EPERM` or `EACCES` can be expected;
rerun the same command with the needed permission/escalation.

## Links

- Before returning any `file=` link, resolve `<dir>/<file>` and confirm the
  artifact exists. Pass the generated artifact (e.g. `.step`), not its
  generator source (e.g. `.py`). If the resolved path is missing, do not
  return the link, and instead report the problem and point to the correct
  generated artifact path.
- Return one Viewer URL per requested file.
- Start/reuse the Viewer once per absolute directory `--dir`, then append
  `file=<path>` for each requested file. The file path must be relative to
  `--dir`.
- For directory-only review links, return the URL printed by `agent:start`
  without adding `file=`.
- Do not stop an existing Viewer server unless the user asks.
- If Viewer startup fails, report the failure and continue with the owning skill's non-GUI validation or artifacts.

## Claude Preview

The viewer port is dynamic — it is chosen at startup and may differ across
worktrees. To integrate with the Claude Preview tool, add `--json` to the
`agent:start` command:

```bash
npm --prefix scripts/viewer run agent:start -- --host 127.0.0.1 --dir <absolute-model-root> --json
```

The launcher writes a JSON result line to stdout after the human-readable lines.
Parse it by taking the last line of stdout that begins with `{`:

```json
{"url":"http://127.0.0.1:<port>/?dir=<absolute-model-root>","port":<port>,"action":"reuse"}
```

`action` is `"reuse"` when an existing server was reused and is immediately
ready, or `"start"` when a new server process was spawned and may still be
initializing. For a `"start"` result, probe `GET /__cad/server` on the base
URL (e.g. `http://127.0.0.1:<port>/__cad/server`) until it returns HTTP 200
before passing the `url` value to the Claude Preview tool.

## References

- Read `references/development.md` when the user asks to modify, debug, or
  iterate on CAD Viewer source.
- Read `references/viewer-features.md` when you need supported file types, Viewer controls, or file-specific feature details.
- Read `references/moveit2-server.md` only when the user specifically needs optional SRDF MoveIt2 IK or path-planning controls.


[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/earthtojake/text-to-cad/cad-viewer) · [View on GitHub](https://github.com/earthtojake/text-to-cad)