PartCAD
A Python-based part library and package manager for parametric CAD that versions reusable parts and assemblies through git and cloud storage.
What it does and how it connects
PartCAD is a programming language for manufacturable things. A package is a Git repository with a partcad.yaml that declares parts, whether CAD scripts or files, assemblies, materials, and requirements. PartCAD renders, tests, simulates, analyses, and documents them, and produces the bill of materials, the sourcing, and the assembly instructions from that same source. Everything is text, so it is versioned, reviewed, and generated like software, by people and by AI agents.
It installs as the pc command line tool, from the PartCAD IDE installer, from pip, or as a Visual Studio Code extension, and it is also available on PyPI. The README links documentation, the partcad.org website, demos, and a Discord community.
The README positions PartCAD as the standard for documenting manufacturable physical products, also called the Digital Thread or TDP. It is the only tool in this batch whose discipline is PLM rather than a CAD editor or an agent bridge: it manages the package, not the modeling session.
Alternatives
Compare side by side- tscircuit
Designs boards in TypeScript and React (TSX) in a browser or CLI workflow, rather than a package manager for parametric CAD parts.
- atopile
A code-first language and compiler for electronics, rather than a package manager for parametric CAD parts.
- freecad-mcp (neka-nat)
The most widely used FreeCAD MCP server, with an addon plus server split and FEM analysis, rather than a package manager for CAD parts.
- PartForge evals
A standing CAD-agent evaluation of hard CAD tasks rerun against each model release, published as model comparisons, rather than a package manager for CAD parts.
- ProductFlo
An orchestration layer with a graph index and review gate across schematics, firmware, CAD, and BOMs, rather than a package manager for CAD parts.
Sources
Not verified
- No independent user voice found: recent issues are by the maintainer.
- Pricing: none stated on the repo; core is Apache-2.0 open source.
- The directory record calls the tool type api; PartCAD is a CLI plus package ecosystem, and no single tool type value fits exactly, so api is kept as an approximation.
Last verified November 6, 2026. Listings are informational. The evidence score measures public, verifiable evidence and is not an endorsement or a compatibility claim.