CLI Quick Start

The vcad CLI brings the full parametric kernel to your terminal. You can create documents, inspect geometry, convert between formats, and even launch an interactive TUI editor -- all without opening a browser.

Installation

Install the CLI from source with Cargo:

cargo install vcad-cli

Once installed, running vcad with no arguments launches the interactive TUI. Every other operation is a subcommand.

Create a Document

The new command creates a .vcad file from a built-in template. Templates give you a starting point so you don't have to write JSON by hand.

vcad new box.vcad --template cube

Created box.vcad with template 'cube'

Three templates are available: empty (the default, a blank document), cube (a single 20mm cube), and assembly (a two-part base-and-pillar assembly). If you omit --template, you get an empty document.

Inspect a Document

The info command reads a .vcad file and prints its structure: how many nodes the parametric DAG contains, what materials are assigned, and what the mesh looks like after evaluation.

vcad info box.vcad

vcad document: box.vcad
  Version: 1.0.0
  Nodes: 1
  Materials: 0
  Scene entries: 1

Scene:
  1: Cube (material: default)

Mesh stats:
  Total triangles: 12
  Total vertices: 8

The node count tells you how complex the parametric history is. Mesh stats come from evaluating the document through the kernel, so they reflect the actual tessellated output.

Export to STL

The export command converts a .vcad file to a mesh or CAD interchange format. The output format is inferred from the file extension.

vcad export box.vcad box.stl

Exported STL to box.stl

Supported output formats:

Import STEP Files

If you have geometry from another CAD tool, import it into vcad with the import command:

vcad import housing.step housing.vcad

Imported 1 solid(s) from housing.step to housing.vcad

The part name defaults to the filename. Override it with --name:

vcad import housing.step housing.vcad --name "Motor Housing"

URDF robot descriptions work the same way:

vcad import-urdf robot.urdf robot.vcad

A Typical Workflow

Here is the pattern most CLI users follow. Import an existing STEP file, inspect it to verify the geometry came through correctly, then export to STL for 3D printing:

vcad import bracket.step bracket.vcad
vcad info bracket.vcad
vcad export bracket.vcad bracket.stl

For batch processing, wrap it in a shell loop:

for f in parts/*.step; do
  vcad import "$f" "converted/$(basename "$f" .step).vcad"
done

for f in converted/*.vcad; do
  vcad export "$f" "stl/$(basename "$f" .vcad).stl"
done

What's Next

The CLI has more to offer beyond file conversion. The REPL tutorial covers the interactive geometry shell where you can build parts command by command, and the TUI tutorial walks through the full terminal-based 3D editor with ASCII wireframe viewport. For a complete list of every command and flag, see the CLI Commands reference.