AnvilCAD
Free and open source parametric 3D CAD, written in Rust, with its own geometry kernels.
If you know SOLIDWORKS, the workflow will feel familiar: a feature tree, sketches on planes
or faces, fully defined sketches, extrudes and revolves, equations, custom properties and
templates. AnvilCAD is an independent project, not affiliated with Dassault Systèmes, and
it works without SOLIDWORKS installed (see INTEROPERABILITY.md).
The goal is a complete, free engineering stack: CAD now, then CAM, PDM and PLM (see
ROADMAP.md).
Status: early (0.1). The core modelling loop works end to end. Large parts of a full CAD
system are still ahead; see the roadmap.
Install
Download the package for your system from the
latest release. No Rust toolchain
is needed.
| System | Package |
|---|
| macOS 11 or later, Apple Silicon or Intel | AnvilCAD-<version>-macos-universal.dmg |
| Windows 10 or 11, x64 | AnvilCAD-<version>-windows-x64.msi (or the .zip) |
| Linux x86_64, glibc 2.35 or later | AnvilCAD-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage (or the .tar.gz) |
With a package manager:
# macOS (Homebrew); also links anvilcad-agent and anvil-bulk into your PATH
brew install --cask swperb/tap/anvilcad
# Windows (winget)
winget install AnvilCAD.AnvilCAD
The winget package is in review at microsoft/winget-pkgs#456878. Until it is accepted, use the
.msi. How releases reach both package managers is in
packaging/README.md.
- macOS: open the
.dmg and drag AnvilCAD to Applications. The app is signed with a
Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens like any other downloaded app. (The 0.1.0
.dmg was not signed. If macOS says it cannot verify the developer, click Done, open
System Settings > Privacy & Security, click Open Anyway next to AnvilCAD and confirm, or
upgrade to a newer release.)
The Windows and Linux packages are not code-signed yet, so their first launch takes one
extra step:
- Windows: SmartScreen says "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run
anyway. The installer adds AnvilCAD to the Start menu and puts
anvilcad-agent,
anvil-bulk and anvil-migrate on the PATH.
- Linux:
chmod +x AnvilCAD-*.AppImage, then run it. The bundled tools run as
./AnvilCAD-*.AppImage anvilcad-agent ... and ./AnvilCAD-*.AppImage anvil-bulk ....
If the AppImage does not start, install your distribution's fuse3 package or add
--appimage-extract-and-run.
The .tar.gz and .zip archives hold the plain binaries, for scripts and servers. On
macOS the command-line tools are also inside the app, in
/Applications/AnvilCAD.app/Contents/MacOS/.
What works today
Sketching
- Line (chained), centerline, rectangle, circle, centerpoint arc
- Snapping to existing points and the origin, automatic horizontal/vertical relations
- Relations: coincident, horizontal, vertical, parallel, perpendicular, equal, tangent,
concentric, midpoint, point on line/circle, fix
- Dimension tool that infers the dimension from the picks and where its value is placed:
length, horizontal/vertical/aligned distance, point-to-line and parallel-line distance,
diameter, radius, arc length, angle in the chosen sector, and diameter about a
centerline; values take arithmetic and units; over-defining dimensions can become
reference dimensions (spec)
- Constraint solver with degree-of-freedom reporting (under / fully / over defined, with
conflicting relations highlighted)
- Drag points and circles while relations stay satisfied
- Construction geometry
- Convert Entities: a face's edges copied into a sketch as fixed curves
This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗
