OpenCADStudio
Rust CAD program for 2D and 3D drawing with DWG and DXF support that exposes its live editor to AI clients over MCP.
What it does and how it connects
OpenCADStudio is an open-source 2D drafting and 3D modeling application for desktop and web, built with Rust. It reads and writes DWG and DXF drawings natively, with a shared editing core across the desktop and browser versions, and GPU-accelerated rendering.
For automation, the desktop binary supports one-shot conversion, a persistent headless server, and a client-neutral MCP endpoint for AI applications. The self-contained MCP endpoint exposes the live desktop editor through the same tools to every compatible client, and its audit and save_verified operations check an explicit DWG/DXF target version, lossy records and raw DXF handle references, and return a SHA-256 hash. A client connects by launching OpenCADStudio --mcp.
The project is under active development and the README asks users to keep backups of important production drawings and report reproducible problems through GitHub Issues. An experimental IFCCAD format choice exchanges supported CAD drawings in .ifccad files; general IFCX BIM models are not supported by that drawing route, and later versions may not reopen those files.
What engineers report
When edition text the text is quite small. Is it possible to make the text size in the editing window configurable or make it WYSIWYG so the text displays at the size it was on the screen when you selected it for editing.
2026-11-06Read the original
Alternatives
Compare side by side- SolidCraft (tangency-labs)
An open-source parametric 3D CAD application in Rust with a built-in MCP server, rather than a 2D and 3D drafting program with DWG and DXF support.
- OpenGeometry
A browser-native CAD geometry kernel for web apps and AI CAD, rather than a 2D and 3D drafting program with DWG and DXF support.
- AutoCAD MCP Pro
An AutoCAD MCP server with live COM and headless ezdxf engines, rather than a Rust CAD program with DWG and DXF support and its own MCP endpoint.
- text-to-cad
A text-to-CAD plugin and skills set that generates CAD geometry from prompts, rather than a 2D and 3D drafting program with an MCP endpoint.
Recurring errors it addresses
Error Index entries this tool is built to reduce or work around.
- OpenCADStudio STEP export turns cube faces into triangles when imported into FreeCAD.Error Index
- DXF files from AutoCAD came in without layer colours, lineweights, linetypes or blocks, and a 13 MB file with 21,455 objects held the window for minutes because the session journal wrote each object out as its own temp file.Error Index
- Rhino DXF import skipped a repeated vertex in a self-retracing LWPOLYLINE, so a horizontal edge disappeared and a new diagonal appeared. AutoCAD and Illustrator open the same file correctly, silently changing laser-cut geometry.Error Index
Sources
Not verified
- Pricing: none stated on the repo; the application is free open source.
Last verified November 6, 2026. Listings are informational. The evidence score measures public, verifiable evidence and is not an endorsement or a compatibility claim.