Launch HN: Adam (YC W25) – Open-Source AI CAD
Hey HN! I'm Zach from Adam ( https://adam.new/ ). We're building AI agents for mechanical CAD software. We’ve built the company on two fundamental beliefs: - AI will be the primary medium for creating mechanical designs just like it is in software today. - The best paradigm for CAD generation is to generate CAD as code (text -> code -> CAD). We’re building CADAM, an open source Text to CAD platform. It's a React app (TanStack Start) with a Supabase backend for auth, database, and file storage. Think of it like AI TinkerCAD. Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iESOr7EGWqk Try it: https://adam.new/cadam/ What it does: - Generates parametric 3D models from natural language, with support for both text prompts and image references. - Outputs OpenSCAD code with automatically extracted parameters that surface as interactive sliders for instant dimension tweaking - Exports as .STL or .SCAD (plus OBJ, GLB/GLTF, FBX, and DXF) Under the hood: - One agentic endpoint with two modes that swap system prompts and tools: a parametric mode that writes/edits OpenSCAD via a build_parametric_model tool, and a mesh mode that generates 3D textured meshes. - Simple parameter tweaks bypass the model entirely; adjusting a slider does a deterministic regex update on the SCAD source, requiring no LLM call. - Model-agnostic via the Vercel AI SDK: Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), and OpenAI/others through OpenRouter, with adaptive thinking auto-enabled on newer models. Surprisingly, in our evals Gemini 3.1 Pro is the top model. - Runs fully in-browser by compiling OpenSCAD to WebAssembly (in a Web Worker, so the UI never blocks) and rendering with Three.js via React Three Fiber - Supports BOSL, BOSL2, and MCAD libraries, plus custom font support (Geist) for text in models Future improvements: - Support both build123d and CadQuery. This will allow us to move beyond CSG primitives to constraint-driven modeling and provide direct comparisons to other code-as-CAD primitives. - Better spatial context: UI for face/edge selection and viewport image integration to give LLMs spatial understanding You can clone the repo and run it locally! Contributions are very welcome.
Discussion Highlights (20 comments)
jrflo
Can you talk more about the UI for face/edge selection that you're working on? Is that only going to be in the OnShape/Fusion plugins?
paulglx
It could be a nice touch to give some examples of what it's possible to ask CADAM!
_pdp_
Very cool. Why not start with an MCP instead? An existing LLM could drive the generation while the MCP can render the final result?
zardo
FYI there is already a product with a very similar name, CADEM.
q3k
> A complete V8 internal combustion engine Yeah, no, that's a lie. This isn't a CAD model. It's a fantasy 3d model that looks like it's straight out of Gearhead Garage (1999). Any time I see these 'AI CAD' solutions it's always toys, toys, toys. Show me something functional that you've actually manufactured (shitty 3D prints don't count). Or at least show me something that can actually be assembled and isn't just a bunch of boxes with no fasteners to hold them together.
dvh
I asked it to create 3d model of "AMF-O97L45-DB". It pulled datasheet and generated 3D model. Left is reality, right is what was generated: https://imgur.com/a/oNaz51q - wrong pitch - wrong pins position - missing pins
cui
Can you claim your product here? https://thecadhub.com/details/adam-cad/
murkt
I find all current LLMs to have pretty poor spatial awareness. It is becoming better, but still very poor. How are you dealing with that? Got any special tricks, any advice?
dgellow
I'm pretty skeptical of AI products, but your onboarding and first design experience has been pretty awesome. I will definitely spend a bit more time experimenting with this
8note
why is text the setup, rather than sketches? pictures? ive found a process by which the llm gives me a picture, then i draw on it and hand it back works fairly well
lukasm
"I need an engine mount for 1999 toyota land cruiser j90 for the 1kz-te engine with a manual gearbox. Can you generate me a cad to send to a company in China to 3d print it?" "Done — I've created a heavy-duty, fully parametric engine mount bracket that fits a typical four-bolt block pattern and a single-stud chassis isolator with an alignment pin, much like what the 1KZ-TE requires." I dont think it's even close :( PS. Your entry message should be "Madam, I'm Adam" ;)
fkilaiwi
I have a general question regarding 3d design using LLMs. My understanding is that all current applications have been trying to deal with 3d design/CAD as text/code. LLMs are clearly good at those but do you see this as the long term approch for 3d designs? do you see world models eventually evolving to produce 3d spaces or point clouds or CAD designs instead of doing video? is this approch explored? Congrats on the launch!
mips_avatar
Cool that you licensed it with GPL, what was your thinking on the license?
criddell
Can it work from photos? I'm specifically thinking about stuff like this: https://www.tooltrace.ai/
Doerge
Is CADAM also what's used for the commercial product adam.new? How did you manage to write all those plugins? If it is also CADAM isn't stuff getting lost in the Fusion/Solidworks/Onshape -> OpenSCAD -> back process? Do constraints and everything just seamlessly import/export? Some comments here mention tolerances/functional requirements. Do you think the LLM/screenshot loop will scale to that too? Maybe rendering subassemblies individually until they make sense? Still feels like a full functioning V8 engine block needs _a lot_ of ghost-view screenshots to verify it works. What's your thoughts on a "simulation" approach, since it's not aligned with your bitter-lesson-blog-post? Are you able to reveal more about what kind of traction you have? 10s/100s/1000s of companies? Very cool open source project, and thanks for sharing so much!
jetter
https://modelrift.com/blog/openscad-llm-benchmark/ LLMs are still weak at spatial reasoning, but it gets better. Check out modelrift.com for another alternative
incorene2
What exactly is the use case for this? Just making pretty little 3d models? There are so many reasons why I, as an engineer, will never even attempt to use AI for mechanical design, that trying to list them all is about to give me an autistic screeching fit. Even if all I need is a simple little bracket or something, I can model that and know it's right much quicker than I can ask the AI to do it and then check it's work. There is no time savings here. Heck, for any of the stuff I need that is simple enough to plausibly ask AI to draw, I don't even bother to model in the first place, I would either sketch it with a pencil or just make the piece right off the top of my head. If it's more complicated than that, then my approach grows to include things like what stock I have available, what tooling, fixturing and machines are present, whether I can use any COTS hardware to simplify the design, the tolerancing scheme I want to use...and my output needs to include not just the model, but toleranced drawings and any other assemblies and such that are required. And besides all of that, and with love....OpenSCAD is a joke, and if you seriously try to tell me that "the best paradigm for CAD generation is to generate CAD as code", I cannot take you seriously.
echoangle
> Simple parameter tweaks bypass the model entirely; adjusting a slider does a deterministic regex update on the SCAD source, requiring no LLM call. Why do you use regex for that? OpenSCAD allows you to pass data natively, no? What’s the advantage of the regex over using that?
vablings
sigh, another text to cad startup. You guys really don't get it; Engineering is about 5% of your time modeling in CAD. The other 95% is the actual hard annoying work. GO AUTOMATE THAT FIRST!
dofm
OpenSCAD. Oh well. :-(