{"slug": "fluidcad", "name": "FluidCAD", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 4.81, "rising": -0.31, "first": "2026-04-10", "latest": "2026-10-15", "why": "I'll throw my hat in on the feedback... looks great!", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I'll throw my hat in on the feedback... looks great!", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": "fluidcad.io", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://fluidcad.io", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["FluidCAD"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 800654816, "item_id": 50040926, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50040926", "by": "seesthruya", "date": "2026-10-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love what I see so far with FluidCAD!", "excerpt": "I love what I see so far with FluidCAD! I'm a Fusion user that keeps bouncing off FreeCAD, and I have dabbled with build123d. Very interested to see where this project goes as it seems to be great combination of gui-driven and code-driven cad.", "context": "Fusion user", "use_case": "hybrid GUI and code CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenSCAD the Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller"}, {"id": 766465680, "item_id": 47904105, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47904105", "by": "eMPee584", "date": "2026-04-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Parametric CAD with JavaScript was posted two weeks ago", "excerpt": "Oh and also https://FluidCAD.io Parametric CAD with JavaScript was posted two weeks ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47721997", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Teaching Claude CAD skills. Onshape MCP and visual reasoning tools"}, {"id": 764041344, "item_id": 47752584, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47752584", "by": "eggy", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Looks great! Nice work.", "excerpt": "Looks great! Nice work. I am steeped in CAD for my work flow, so I used to program AutoCAD in AutoLISP, Rhino in Rhinoscript, now F#, and FreeCAD in Python as well as Blender. They have the geometry engines built-in and tested over decades. I think this is good for the maker with a 3D printer to do parts that are relatively simple (not discounting parametric code to make complex shapes here). Industry needs integrati", "context": "CAD professional", "use_case": "parametric CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: FluidCAD \u2013 Parametric CAD with JavaScript"}, {"id": 763645680, "item_id": 47727855, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47727855", "by": "interstice", "date": "2026-04-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I like the approach!", "excerpt": "Looking at this now, I like the approach! It's also fundamentally different from mine (maybe phew). The mouse driven approach makes it far more approachable, while mine is deliberately code driven and perhaps more quirky (step export is a code function for example). Also looking at your API, I used a vector type a lot for defining things like planes, so where you have sketch(\"xz\",func) mines a little more like plane(", "context": "Building a similar code-driven CAD tool", "use_case": "parametric CAD in JavaScript", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: FluidCAD \u2013 Parametric CAD with JavaScript"}, {"id": 763574448, "item_id": 47723403, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47723403", "by": "ramses0", "date": "2026-04-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'll throw my hat in on the feedback... looks great!", "excerpt": "I'll throw my hat in on the feedback... looks great! https://github.com/openscad/openscad/pull/4478#issuecomment-1747429401 My pet use case is: \"My naive approach as a programmer would be: `pen := new Pen(q,r,s,t); box := new Box( pen.L, pen.W, pen.H )`\" along with being able to sometimes work with the whole pen, and sometimes touch the pen vs. the cap separately. Since it's all javascript, it seems like there's a ch", "context": "", "use_case": "Parametric 3D CAD in JavaScript", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: FluidCAD \u2013 Parametric CAD with JavaScript"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "seesthruya", "context": "Fusion user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50040926", "date": "2026-10-11"}, {"by": "eggy", "context": "CAD professional", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47752584", "date": "2026-04-13"}, {"by": "interstice", "context": "Building a similar code-driven CAD tool", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47727855", "date": "2026-04-10"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["woodworking cad", "hybrid gui and code cad", "parametric cad", "parametric cad in javascript", "parametric 3d cad in javascript"], "compared": [{"slug": "freecad", "name": "FreeCAD", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "blender", "name": "Blender", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 801082896, "item_id": 50067681, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50067681", "by": "maouida", "date": "2026-10-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm also the developer of FluidCAD.", "excerpt": "I'm a developer and hobbyist woodworker too :) I'm also the developer of FluidCAD. It has an MCP you can wire to any LLM. It runs locally on your machine. It is still missing features for splitting the model into parts, but that is coming in a future release. https://fluidcad.io/ MCP config (node.js required): https://fluidcad.io/docs/cli/#fluidcad-mcp", "context": "", "use_case": "CAD for woodworking models", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: CAD for wood working with LLM support?"}, {"id": 800584208, "item_id": 50036513, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50036513", "by": "maouida", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have built FluidCAD[1] to overcome the issues of CAD by code", "excerpt": "Shamelss plug: I have built FluidCAD[1] to overcome the issues of CAD by code, less mental effort to design by providing visual guidance. Slowly it became more of a hybrid CAD experience (mouse or code driven), almost all features now can be done by mouse and the code is generated for you. It'll pick the right selection filters for you. https://github.com/Fluid-CAD/FluidCAD https://fluidcad.io/", "context": "", "use_case": "hybrid code/mouse CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenSCAD the Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller"}, {"id": 786406704, "item_id": 49150419, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49150419", "by": "maouida", "date": "2026-08-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I continue working on FluidCAD, a hybrid CAD by code (JS) + mouse based modeling.", "excerpt": "I continue working on FluidCAD, a hybrid CAD by code (JS) + mouse based modeling. I'm focusing on improving the 2D sketcher this week. https://github.com/Fluid-CAD/FluidCAD", "context": "", "use_case": "CAD by code", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (August 2026)"}, {"id": 785411696, "item_id": 49088231, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49088231", "by": "maouida", "date": "2026-07-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I work on FluidCAD on my free time.", "excerpt": "I work on FluidCAD on my free time. I published v0.0.40 last weekend with some big updates. https://github.com/Fluid-CAD/FluidCAD", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What apps are you building?"}, {"id": 764861537, "item_id": 47803846, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47803846", "by": "maouida", "date": "2026-04-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I wanted the workflow to be as close to traditional CAD as possible with more interactive UI.", "excerpt": "CadQuery was an inspiration when I built FluidCAD. I wanted the workflow to be as close to traditional CAD as possible with more interactive UI. https://fluidcad.io", "context": "", "use_case": "interactive CAD modeling", "switched_from": "", "story": "CadQuery is an open-source Python library for building 3D CAD models"}, {"id": 763663536, "item_id": 47728971, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47728971", "by": "maouida", "date": "2026-04-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "That's why I went with indices for this version.", "excerpt": "Yep, topological naming solving is a hard problem to solve. It took FreeCAD many years to get it to work correctly. That's why I went with indices for this version. You can also use filters like extrusion.endFaces(face().arc()) to get only arc edges. Regarding the picking; that's exactly the region picking feature in this screenshot: https://fluidcad.io/img/region-extrude.gif When the user click on a region we insert", "context": "", "use_case": "Parametric CAD with JavaScript", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: FluidCAD \u2013 Parametric CAD with JavaScript"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47721997", "title": "Show HN: FluidCAD \u2013 Parametric CAD with JavaScript", "mentions": 8}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50067325", "title": "Ask HN: CAD for wood working with LLM support?", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49984349", "title": "OpenSCAD the Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49713999", "title": "Cartesian \u2013 AI 3D Modeling for Design", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49148884", "title": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (August 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49078588", "title": "Ask HN: What apps are you building?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 4}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 801631857, "item_id": 50101991, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50101991", "by": "reacharavindh", "date": "2026-10-15", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'm going to try  https://sawdust.diy and https://fluidcad.io/ for the short term.", "excerpt": "OP here. writing for my own reference. Found great pointers so far. I'm going to try https://sawdust.diy and https://fluidcad.io/ for the short term. For the long term, I have noted FreeCAD + Blender + $ai_model to be a good general purpose workflow that yields more control, and will probably get me lost into the details. https://janne-alatalo.fi/en/articles/silhouette-modeling/ and its accompanying SKILL - https://g", "context": "", "use_case": "woodworking CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: CAD for wood working with LLM support?"}, {"id": 800654816, "item_id": 50040926, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50040926", "by": "seesthruya", "date": "2026-10-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love what I see so far with FluidCAD!", "excerpt": "I love what I see so far with FluidCAD! I'm a Fusion user that keeps bouncing off FreeCAD, and I have dabbled with build123d. Very interested to see where this project goes as it seems to be great combination of gui-driven and code-driven cad.", "context": "Fusion user", "use_case": "hybrid GUI and code CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenSCAD the Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller"}, {"id": 795483552, "item_id": 49717722, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49717722", "by": "maouida", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "trying to build parametric CAD modeling using FluidCAD [1] using its MCP", "excerpt": "From my experience trying to build parametric CAD modeling using FluidCAD [1] using its MCP, the biggest breakthrough is ASTRA. It seems to work well actually with any CAD if it has ways to verify its output. No otjer models was able to match its accuracy even Fable. [1] https://fluidcad.io", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cartesian \u2013 AI 3D Modeling for Design"}, {"id": 766465680, "item_id": 47904105, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47904105", "by": "eMPee584", "date": "2026-04-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Parametric CAD with JavaScript was posted two weeks ago", "excerpt": "Oh and also https://FluidCAD.io Parametric CAD with JavaScript was posted two weeks ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47721997", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Teaching Claude CAD skills. Onshape MCP and visual reasoning tools"}, {"id": 764041344, "item_id": 47752584, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47752584", "by": "eggy", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Looks great! Nice work.", "excerpt": "Looks great! Nice work. I am steeped in CAD for my work flow, so I used to program AutoCAD in AutoLISP, Rhino in Rhinoscript, now F#, and FreeCAD in Python as well as Blender. They have the geometry engines built-in and tested over decades. I think this is good for the maker with a 3D printer to do parts that are relatively simple (not discounting parametric code to make complex shapes here). Industry needs integrati", "context": "CAD professional", "use_case": "parametric CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: FluidCAD \u2013 Parametric CAD with JavaScript"}, {"id": 763645680, "item_id": 47727855, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47727855", "by": "interstice", "date": "2026-04-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I like the approach!", "excerpt": "Looking at this now, I like the approach! It's also fundamentally different from mine (maybe phew). The mouse driven approach makes it far more approachable, while mine is deliberately code driven and perhaps more quirky (step export is a code function for example). Also looking at your API, I used a vector type a lot for defining things like planes, so where you have sketch(\"xz\",func) mines a little more like plane(", "context": "Building a similar code-driven CAD tool", "use_case": "parametric CAD in JavaScript", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: FluidCAD \u2013 Parametric CAD with JavaScript"}, {"id": 763574448, "item_id": 47723403, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47723403", "by": "ramses0", "date": "2026-04-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'll throw my hat in on the feedback... looks great!", "excerpt": "I'll throw my hat in on the feedback... looks great! https://github.com/openscad/openscad/pull/4478#issuecomment-1747429401 My pet use case is: \"My naive approach as a programmer would be: `pen := new Pen(q,r,s,t); box := new Box( pen.L, pen.W, pen.H )`\" along with being able to sometimes work with the whole pen, and sometimes touch the pen vs. the cap separately. Since it's all javascript, it seems like there's a ch", "context": "", "use_case": "Parametric 3D CAD in JavaScript", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: FluidCAD \u2013 Parametric CAD with JavaScript"}]}