Open source · MIT · Runs inside SolidWorks

Tell SolidWorks what you want.
Watch it edit the model.

Forge is an AI CAD assistant that lives inside SolidWorks. Edit your model with natural language — “make five variants of this flange from 20 to 100 mm” — and it reads the part, makes the edits, and shows them as a diff you accept or reject. No macros, no scripting. Free and fully open source.

Install free — 2 minutes Watch the demos
No credit card Your files never leave your machine unless you ask Free, always — MIT licensed
SOLIDWORKS 2024 — FORGE PANEL

YOU

Make 5 variants of this flange — depth 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mm.

FORGE

  • Reading active part: flange_v2.sldprt
  • Identified driving dimension: D1@Boss-Extrude1
  • Created 5 configurations + part files
  • Generated 5 drawings, named to match

FILES CREATED

flange_20mm.SLDPRTcreated
flange_40mm.SLDPRTcreated
flange_60mm.SLDPRTcreated
flange_80mm.SLDPRTcreated
flange_100mm.SLDPRTcreated
Accept changes
Reject
Built for the tools you already use SolidWorks 2021+ Fusion 360 Onshape Add-in installs in 2 minutes — no workflow change

See it work

Real screen recordings. No mockups.

Every clip is one uncut take of AI CAD editing inside SolidWorks — prompt typed, model changed, drawing generated.

Mate every bolt in an assembly — one prompt

The afternoon of clicking nobody wants to do · SolidWorks 2024

Resize a part, keep it valid

Real dimensions, not guessed geometry

It checks its own work

Interference check before you accept

How it works

AI CAD automation in three steps. Zero new software to learn.

01

Install the add-in

One command. A Forge panel appears docked inside SolidWorks next to your feature tree.

02

Type what you want

Plain sentences, not macros. Forge reads the open part, finds the right feature and dimension, and plans the edit.

03

Review the diff, accept

Changes land through the native API — rebuild-clean, undoable, and only after you approve them.

EDITS

Parametric edits from a sentence

Wall thickness, hole patterns, fillets, extrude depths, mates. Forge maps your natural-language request to real named dimensions instead of guessing at geometry — closer to a SolidWorks macro that writes itself than to a text-to-CAD generator.

VARIANTS

Design tables without the spreadsheet

Ask for a sweep and get every part file plus its drawing, correctly named. Design-table and configuration work that used to be an afternoon of clicking.

EXPLAIN

Ask questions about a model

“Why did this rebuild fail?” “What drives this dimension?” Useful for inherited assemblies and for students learning the feature tree.

CONTROL

Nothing happens without approval

Every action is previewed as a diff, applied through the SolidWorks API, and reversible with a normal undo. You can read exactly what it does — the code is public.

Who it's for

Students, labs, and engineers who ship parts.

Students

Free, always — no student license or trial. Finish the CAD part of the project in an evening and ask Forge why a feature broke instead of guessing.

Professors & labs

Open source means you can read it, fork it, and teach with it. Install AI CAD tooling lab-wide with no license server and no per-seat purchase order.

Mechanical engineers

Automate the repetitive work: variant families, dimension sweeps, bolt mating, drawing generation. Keep your workflow, files, and PDM exactly as they are.

Open source

You can read every line that touches your model.

No black box in your CAD seat. MIT licensed, self-hostable, and open to pull requests — audit it, fork it for your lab, or ship a feature yourself.

kumar1441 / forge_ai

AI copilot for SolidWorks, Fusion 360 and Onshape.

LICENSE

MIT

LANGUAGE

C# · Python

ISSUES

Open — PRs welcome

SELF-HOST

Supported

$ git clone https://github.com/kumar1441/forge_ai.git
$ cd forge_ai && ./install.ps1

Install

Up and running in 2 minutes.

SolidWorks

C# ADD-IN
  1. 1Download Forge.SolidWorks.dll
  2. 2Run regasm /codebase Forge.SolidWorks.dll
  3. 3Open SolidWorks — the panel is there

Fusion 360

PYTHON
  1. 1Download the Forge add-in folder
  2. 2Utilities → ADD-INS → + → select folder
  3. 3Tick “Run on Startup”, then Run

Onshape

BROWSER APP
  1. 1Open the Onshape App Store
  2. 2Search for “Forge” and subscribe (free)
  3. 3Open a document — Forge is in the right panel

FAQ

Fair questions.

Something not covered? Email me directly — ravi@getforge.build

Will it break my models?

It can't act without approval. Every suggestion is shown as a diff first, applied through the native API, and undoable like any other feature edit.

Do my CAD files get uploaded?

Only the model metadata needed to answer your prompt — dimension names, feature tree, parameters. Geometry stays local, and you can self-host the whole backend if your lab or employer requires it.

What does it cost?

Nothing. Forge is free, always, and MIT licensed — no seats, no trial, no upsell. If you want help deploying it across a lab or team, book a call and I will walk you through it.

Which versions are supported?

SolidWorks 2021 and newer on Windows, Fusion 360 (current), and Onshape (any plan). Older SolidWorks builds usually work — open an issue and we'll test it.

Is this just ChatGPT for SolidWorks?

No. A chatbot can describe what to do; Forge does it. It reads your open document through the SolidWorks API, resolves which named dimension or feature your sentence refers to, and writes the change back into the model. You get an edited part, not instructions to follow.

Do I still need to write macros?

No. Most of what people write VBA macros for — dimension sweeps, batch drawing export, renaming, mating hardware — is a sentence in Forge. Your existing macros keep working; Forge doesn't touch them.

Can I contribute?

Yes — issues and PRs are open, and that's where feature discussions happen. Good first issues are tagged.

Install it now, or talk to the person who built it.

I'll happily walk through your workflow, help you set it up in a lab, or take a feature request straight from the call.