kernelcad

kernelCAD

A two-tier skill system. Load kernelcad-authoring to write or modify any .kcad.ts model. Add specialty skills as the task demands.

Decision tree

• Authoring or editing .kcad.ts geometry → load kernelcad-authoring.
• Real / production / complex enclosure, gearbox, bearing housing, robot arm, NEMA plate, shaft/bearing → load kernelcad-authoring (+ kernelcad-assemblies / kernelcad-features / kernelcad-parts as needed); lookup_cookbook via the industry→cookbook table in kernelcad-mcp (housing / mechanism / scissor-lift / 4-DOF arm / NEMA / shaft-bearing / sheet-metal / enclosure lid); prefer design_loop until green (docs/agent/adam-quality-bar.md).
• Building from a reference photo or visual brief → also load kernelcad-from-reference.
• Building from an engineering drawing PDF → call drawing_to_cad, then load kernelcad-from-reference for its ledger and fidelity rules.
• Adding fillets, chamfers, shells, holes, cutouts → also load kernelcad-features.
• Editable parameters / set_param / live sliders → also load kernelcad-params.
• Multi-part with joints / mates / connectors → also load kernelcad-assemblies.
• Need an off-the-shelf fastener, bearing, motor, header, or connector → also load kernelcad-parts.
• Checking FDM printability or print orientation (overhangs, bridges, nozzle-relative walls), slicing a model to G-code, or sending G-code to a real network printer (OctoPrint/Moonraker/Bambu) → also load kernelcad-print.
• Freeform NURBS surfaces, NURBS curves, Coons patches, multi-section sweeps, G2 fillet continuity, or freeform 2D path outlines (nurbsSurface, surfaceFromCurves, surfaceFromBoundary, nurbsCurve, spline3d, hermiteG2, variableSweep, fillet({ continuity: 'G2' }), path().spline(...), path().nurbsSegment(...), path().hermiteG2(...)) → also load kernelcad-nurbs.
• Mechanical patterns (linear / circular / grid replication of a sub-feature) → also load kernelcad-patterns.
• Folded sheet-metal parts (brackets, channels, panels, bend tables, flat patterns) → also load kernelcad-sheet-metal.
• Bent tubes and fluid lines between ports (hydraulic, fuel, oil, coolant; bend radius, clearance, tube bend tables) → also load kernelcad-tubes.
• Signed-distance fields (smooth-blended primitives, organic shapes via sdf.* + materialize) → also load kernelcad-fields.
• Exporting an assembly to URDF for a motion planner or simulator → also load kernelcad-urdf.
• Exporting an assembly to a UsdPhysics stage for a GPU physics simulator (format: 'usd-isaac') → also load kernelcad-urdf (USD section).
• Adding planning groups / end-effectors / allowed-collision data on top of a URDF → also load kernelcad-srdf.
• Exporting an assembly with closed kinematic loops or a native ball joint → also load kernelcad-sdformat.
• Producing a 2D engineering-drawing sheet (third-angle views, hidden lines, dimensions, title block) → also load kernelcad-drawings.
• Introspecting a running model via MCP (inspect({ of: 'features' }), edit ops, diagnostics) → load kernelcad-mcp instead of authoring.
• Feasibility gates on moving assemblies — collision sweeps across joint ranges, IK reachability, mounting-hole consistency, static-load capacity, gravitational actuator-hold checks, tolerance-range sweeps (checkSweptCollision, checkReachable, checkMountingHoleConsistency, checkLoadCapacity, checkStaticHold, sweepTolerance) → also load kernelcad-kinematic.
• An evaluation reported an error, a gate failed, or a feature came back degraded in featureHealth → load kernelcad-repair for the bounded repair loop (why_did_this_fail → repair_script).
• Will this part hold this load? Structural evidence — peak von Mises stress, deflection, safety factor against yield, named hot-spot regions, stress heatmaps — and a gate that fails the build when the margin is not met (shape.feaStudy({...}), run_fea, fea_summary) → also load kernelcad-fea.