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Mechanical Design

Create, build, import and review parametric 3D designs, enclosures and assemblies in the Mechanical workspace.

The Mechanical workspace holds the 3D side of a project: enclosures around your PCB, brackets, mechanisms and full assemblies. Designs are project files the agent writes and edits; Embedr builds them in the cloud into a STEP model you can review, measure, annotate and export. Open it from the Add tab menu, under the workspaces group next to Schematics and Board.

Builds, imports, blueprints and snapshots run in the cloud, so you need to be signed in.

Designs and project files

Each design is a manifest plus a Python source file under mechanical/:

mechanical/
  board-enclosure.cad.json     # manifest: name, parameters, inputs, checks
  board-enclosure.py           # generator source (build123d)
  imports/
    bracket.step               # an imported model
    main-board.step            # the PCB as a STEP model
  assembly/
    board-enclosure-v1.json    # an assembly guide

The manifest lists the design's name, its source, editable parameters, recorded assumptions and the checks a build must pass:

{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "id": "board-enclosure",
  "name": "Board enclosure",
  "source": "mechanical/board-enclosure.py",
  "inputs": { "board": { "path": "pcb/layout/main.kicad_pcb" } },
  "parameters": {
    "wall_thickness": { "type": "number", "label": "Wall thickness", "value": 2.4, "unit": "mm", "min": 1.2, "max": 6, "step": 0.1 },
    "include_lid": { "type": "boolean", "label": "Include lid", "value": true }
  }
}

Parameters can be number, boolean, select or text. Units are millimetres.

Create a design

  • Ask the agent. The empty workspace offers Ask agent to design, and the prompt bar under the viewport ("Describe a change, ask a question, or create a design…") sends a request through the chat.

  • New design. Click New design in the header (or the + beside DESIGNS) and pick a starting point:

    • General model: a parametric solid to grow into a part, assembly or mechanism.
    • PCB enclosure: starts from the routed PCB outline and thickness.

    Give it a name and confirm. Embedr writes the source and builds it.

  • Import CAD. See Import a STEP model.

Example prompts:

Design a two-part snap-fit enclosure for the main board with a USB-C cutout and M3 bosses at the mounting holes.
Add a 2 mm fillet to the lid edges and make the wall thickness a parameter.
Make the hinge open to 110 degrees and add assembly motion.

The header

Control What it does
Design menu Switch between the project's designs.
Build state Building, Not built, Changes pending, Build failed, Needs review, Validated, or the files that changed since the last build.
New design Create a design.
Sidebar button (T) Show or hide the design browser and model tree.
Inspector button Show or hide Parameters and validation.
Camera (Render cloud snapshot) Render a still image of the revision in the cloud.
Download (Export STEP) Save the built revision as a STEP file where you choose.
Build model / Save & build Build the current source and parameters. Reads Save & build when parameters or source have unsaved changes.

The rail on the left opens Design browser, Parameters, Review geometry, Revision history and Mechanical workflows.

Parameters, builds and revisions

The inspector has four tabs:

  • Params: a slider or field for each parameter in the manifest. "Changes not built" appears until you build. Open source in Code opens the Python source. While you drag a slider the viewport shows "Release to rebuild", then rebuilds the geometry when you let go. Imported models have no parameters.
  • Review: VALIDATION lists each check with pass or warning. ASSUMPTIONS lists dimensions the design relies on and how sure they are (measured, datasheet, user, inferred, assumed, unknown). PCB-based designs show BOARD CONTEXT: outline, thickness, mounting holes and component count.
  • History: every cloud revision. Click one to load it; the current one has a check mark.
  • Workflows: shortcuts that fill the prompt for common follow-ups: Materials & motion, Engineering drawing, Robot model, Manufacturing review, Export model or animation (STEP, STL, 3MF, GLB, video), Find a standard part, Slice & print handoff, and SendCutSend preflight.

Every build creates a new revision. The state badge tells you whether what you see matches the files: Changes pending means the source, parameters or inputs changed since the shown revision was built.

Import a STEP model

Click Import STEP in the viewport toolbar, or Import CAD in the empty workspace, and choose a .step or .stp file of up to 20 MB. The model becomes a design of its own (shown as "Imported model" in the browser) and is stored as mechanical/imports/<design>.step.

Imported models do not expose parameters, but you can review, annotate, blueprint and write assembly guides for them like any other design.

View a local GLB opens a .glb file in the viewport for reference without importing it; Built model returns to the design.

Input files for a design

A design's source can read other project files: reference CAD, meshes, drawings and textures. The agent lists them in the manifest's inputs.files. Supported formats:

.step, .stp, .stl, .3mf, .glb, .obj, .dxf, .svg, .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .json

A design can list up to 16 input files, 16 MB in total. When you ask for a standard part (a screw, bearing or connector model), the agent can download its STEP file from a public site into mechanical/ (up to 20 MB per file).

Bring the PCB in

Two ways connect a design to your board:

  • PCB enclosure designs read the board outline, thickness, mounting holes and component positions, shown under BOARD CONTEXT. Designs built from a board show "PCB-derived" in the browser.
  • Ask the agent to export the board as STEP. It writes the board with its component models to mechanical/imports/<board>-board.step, already aligned with the enclosure's coordinates, so a design can fit around real connectors and parts.

For a design built from a board, tick Active PCB under REFERENCES in the sidebar to show the board's 3D model inside the design.

The viewport

Model tree

Open the tree with the sidebar button or T. BODIES lists the model as nested groups and parts: a group with several parts can be collapsed, and single-part wrappers are folded away. Type in Filter bodies (or press /) to narrow it. Hover a row for Isolate and Hide; when parts are hidden, "N hidden · Show all" appears in the heading.

In the tree, ↑ and ↓ move between rows and ← and → collapse or expand a group.

Picking parts

The left mouse button picks; the camera moves with the right and middle buttons.

Action Picks
Click The object the part belongs to (the touching parts of its group).
Double-click, or ⌘/Ctrl+click The single part.
Shift+click Adds a part, or takes it back out.
Drag a box to the right Everything fully inside the box.
Drag a box to the left (dashed) Everything the box touches.
Click empty space Clears the selection.

Picked parts show through whatever is in front of them. The bar under the viewport shows the selection's name with Fit selection (F), Isolate (I), Hide (H), Add selection to chat and Clear selection (Esc).

The click bar and notes

Clicking a part opens a small bar at the spot:

  • Colour: give the part a colour from the app palette. Colours are remembered per project and design.
  • Show on its own (I): isolate it.
  • What should change here?: type a note. Press Enter to keep it, or ⌘Enter to send it straight away.

A kept note becomes a chip on the chat composer and a numbered pin on the part. The pin stays attached to the part when you explode the model. The chip tells the agent which part you mean, its place in the assembly, its size and the exact point you clicked, so you can write "make this wall thicker" without describing where. Click a pin to edit its note.

Shading

Hold Z and flick toward a choice in the menu that appears around the pointer, tap Z to open it as a click menu, or press D (Shift+D backwards) to step through:

Shading Shows
Materials The model's own colours and finishes.
Solid Flat colours from the app palette, boards in green.
Glass See-through palette colours.
Wireframe Feature edges with hidden lines removed.
Outline Every edge.

G toggles the grid, which is ruled in millimetres with the CAD axes through the origin.

Section

Press S (or use Section in the toolbar) to cut the model. A fresh cut removes the half nearer the camera; drag the handle to move it. While the cut is open, X, Y and Z choose the axis. The menu also offers Tilted cut, Show the other half, Reset cut and No section. Cut faces are capped in each part's colour with hatching, and overlap between parts is marked in red.

Explode

Press E to pull the model apart into pieces (groups of touching parts), press E again to separate every part, and keep pressing to go back and forth. Esc puts it together. The Explode slider runs from 0 to 2 and opens at half.

Hide, isolate and find

  • H hides what is picked (with nothing picked, it shows everything). Shift+H shows all bodies.
  • I shows the selection on its own and frames it; I again or Esc returns.
  • ⌘/Ctrl+F opens Find parts by name and tags matching parts in the view.
  • ⌘/Ctrl+. clears the side panels, then everything over the view.

Esc steps back one thing at a time: search, the note bar or shading menu, explode, then the last mode you entered (section, isolate, hidden parts), then the selection.

Undo

⌘/Ctrl+Z takes back the most recent of your last view action (hide, show, isolate) or the agent's last turn; Shift+⌘/Ctrl+Z puts it back. To undo the agent's turn, press ⌘Z a second time within six seconds: the first press only says what it would take back ("Press ⌘Z again to take back the agent's last turn: …"). Taking back a turn restores that turn's checkpoint and trims the conversation.

Reference scenes

⌘/Ctrl+/ or the armchair button sets the model in a scene for scale:

Scene Size Chosen for
Table Desk 58 × 29 in Things that stand on a desk
Room Room 12 × 10 ft Things that stand on the floor
Person Person 5 ft 9 in Things too big for a room

Embedr picks one by the model's size unless you choose one for that design. While a scene is up the camera stays upright, and leaving the scene returns the camera.

Default controls:

Input Action
Right drag Orbit
Shift + right drag Pan
Middle drag Zoom
Wheel, or Ctrl + wheel Zoom about the pointer
Two-finger scroll (trackpad) Orbit
Shift + two-finger scroll Pan
Pinch Zoom
Space or F Fit selection or model

View settings offers Mouse buttons like with presets for Embedr, Blender, Fusion, Onshape and SolidWorks, Wheel zooms the other way, and Keep the model upright.

Set views are orthographic. Click a view in the toolbar, the corner axis gizmo, or use the keys:

View Key Command
Isometric 0 ⌘/Ctrl+1
Front 1 ⌘/Ctrl+2
Back 4 ⌘/Ctrl+3
Top 2 ⌘/Ctrl+4
Bottom 5 ⌘/Ctrl+5
Right 3 ⌘/Ctrl+6
Left 6 ⌘/Ctrl+7

Orbiting out of a set view blends smoothly back to perspective. Clicking an axis on the gizmo twice goes to the opposite view. The keyboard icon in the toolbar lists every shortcut; see also Keyboard shortcuts.

When a design has assembly motion, the toolbar adds an animation clip picker, play and pause, a time slider and playback speed.

Blueprint sheets

Press B or click the ruler button (built revisions only) to draw the model as ten sheets: four corner views and six sides, with hidden lines removed. Drawing happens in the cloud and takes a few moments.

  • The sheets follow the view: hidden parts are left out, and an exploded model is drawn exploded.
  • Toggle Exploded, Dimensions (overall extents on the side sheets, in mm or in) and Labels (part names with leaders).
  • Click a sheet to open it full size; page with the arrow buttons or the mouse wheel. Esc returns to all sheets, and B returns to the model.
  • Save a sheet as SVG from its download button, or use Download all SVG.

Assembly guides

Press A or click the numbered-list button (built revisions only). Assembly guides lists the latest version of each guide for the design.

  1. Click Ask for an assembly guide. The agent works out the order the parts go on in and writes the steps, with what you need to hand (tools, or "Hands only").
  2. Open the guide. Each step picks out its parts in the viewport and frames them; a sub-assembly's own steps come first, then the step that fits it.
  3. Click Save as a page to write one self-contained HTML file with a picture of every step, ready to send.

Guides are saved as mechanical/assembly/<name>-v<N>.json. Each new version gets the next number and never overwrites an earlier one. A guide written for an earlier revision is marked "Written for an earlier revision" in the list, and opening it shows "This guide was written for an earlier revision; parts it names may have changed."

Captures for the agent

On desktop, the agent can capture the current Mechanical view to check its own work; the Mechanical tab must be open with a built design. Render cloud snapshot renders a still on demand.

Exporting

  • Export STEP in the header saves the built revision's STEP file.
  • For STL, 3MF, GLB, drawings (PDF, DXF) or an animation, use the Workflows tab or ask the agent, for example "Export the lid as 3MF for printing."

Related: Board and KiCad, Embedr agent, Sharing projects.

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