solidcraft-upstream/docs/book/src/guide/getting-started.md

Getting started

The desktop executable is solidcraft, the CLI is solidcraft-cli, and designs are saved as .solidcraft. Designs, settings and setups from builds released under the previous product name keep working (see the compatibility notes).

Desktop

Download the installer for your system from the Download section of the README or the releases page, or build it yourself with stable Rust (1.95 or newer):

git clone https://github.com/bherbruck/solidcraft && cd solidcraft
cargo run --release -p solidcraft -- --sample   # opens with a sample part

solidcraft part.step opens a STEP, IGES, 3MF, STL or OBJ file as a new design, and solidcraft design.solidcraft opens a saved design. Windows builds cross-compile from Linux with cargo xwin build --release --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc -p solidcraft.

macOS

Open the release .dmg and drag SolidCraft.app onto Applications.

When updating from a build released under the previous product name, follow the macOS upgrade notes so you replace it rather than install a second copy.

Linux Flatpak

Install Flatpak using your distribution's package manager. For an installation that receives updates, add Flathub for the required Freedesktop runtime and the SolidCraft application feed to the same user installation:

flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists solidcraft https://bherbruck.github.io/solidcraft/flatpak/solidcraft.flatpakrepo
flatpak install --user solidcraft ai.storyteller.solvecraft
flatpak run ai.storyteller.solvecraft

The application ID is unchanged, so existing installations keep receiving updates under whatever remote name they were added with (see the compatibility notes).

Alternatively, download the release's .flatpak file for your architecture and run flatpak install --user ./solidcraft-VERSION-linux-ARCH.flatpak. The bundle supplies the Flathub runtime repository address; installation still needs internet access to fetch any missing runtime. Launch with flatpak run ai.storyteller.solvecraft, rather than looking for a host solidcraft binary. Files chosen through Open/Save use the desktop file-chooser portal; command-line paths outside Documents may need a specific additional filesystem permission.

Web

The same app runs in the browser: open SolidCraft on the web (?sample opens the sample part, ?webgl forces WebGL2 where WebGPU is missing). Designs are saved in the browser's private file storage, which needs HTTPS or localhost. To build it yourself:

rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown
cd apps/solidcraft-web && trunk serve --release

CLI

solidcraft-cli runs the same commands without a window:

cargo run --release -p solidcraft-cli -- commands                       # every command, as JSON
cargo run --release -p solidcraft-cli -- run examples/bracket.json --out bracket.step
cargo run --release -p solidcraft-cli -- eval examples/bracket.json     # volume, area, faces…
cargo run --release -p solidcraft-cli -- snapshot examples/bracket.json --out bracket.png
cargo run --release -p solidcraft-cli -- exec solid.box '{"length": 20, "width": 10, "height": 5}'

A script is a list of commands:

{"commands": [
  {"command": "sketch.create", "params": {"plane": "XY"}},
  {"command": "sketch.rectangle.two_point", "params": {"p0": [0, 0], "p1": [40, 30]}},
  {"command": "sketch.finish", "params": {}},
  {"command": "solid.extrude", "params": {"distance": 20}},
  {"command": "solid.fillet", "params": {"edges": [[0, 0, 10]], "radius": 3}}
]}

Units are millimetres and degrees unless an expression says otherwise ("1 in", "30 deg"), and Z is up.

Name and compatibility

SolidCraft was renamed from an earlier working name. Since 0.5.0 everything uses the new name: the solidcraft and solidcraft-cli programs, .solidcraft designs, SOLIDCRAFT_* environment variables, settings folders and the solidcraft MCP server. Upgrading keeps working: designs, settings, recovery files, environment variables and CLI/MCP setups from earlier builds carry over. Every compatibility shim is listed in the compatibility notes.

Use the SolidCraft documentation and web-app URLs. GitHub redirects links to the renamed repository; old-name Pages and Flatpak URLs are not maintained as permanent aliases.