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Power users hub

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This is the place to come if you are an experienced user and want to learn more about customizing and extending FreeCAD.

FreeCAD is extensible by Python code that is run directly in the Python console, or that is loaded from modules at startup. This means that you can modify FreeCAD without needing to recompile the program. For example, you can:

  • Create and modify geometry: you can create a new object type, either from scratch or by adapting an existing type.
  • Create custom tools and commands: add your own set of tools that run your code.
  • Modify the interface: create toolbars to put your tools, create special windows, panels, or interfaces for interacting with your tools.
  • Modify the scenegraph representation: FreeCAD has separate processes for building up the geometry and displaying that geometry on screen. You have full access to the way the scene contents are displayed on screen, therefore you can modify that representation, interact with it, or add custom behaviour to it. You can also add custom screen widgets, like information, draggers, anchors or temporary entities.

If you'd like to contribute content to these pages, request a wiki account with editor permissions in the forum, and read the WikiPages for the general guidelines that you should follow. For other ways to contribute with the project, see the Help FreeCAD page.

Customizing FreeCAD​

Scripting in FreeCAD​

General​

Modules​

The functionality of FreeCAD is separated into Modules which deal with special data types and applications. FreeCAD has built-in modules and Extension Modules (plug-ins). Once plugin modules are installed, they become available to you as easily as the built-in modules. The modules described below are the default modules, included in every FreeCAD installation.

  • The built-in modules are the principal FreeCAD modules. They contain tools for manipulating general FreeCAD configurations, documents and their contents.
  • Workbench creation shows you how to create your own workbench.

Working with Meshes​

Working with Parts​

Accessing the Coin scenegraph​

Controlling the Qt interface​

Working with parametric objects​

Examples​

  • Code snippets: A collection of pieces of FreeCAD Python code, to serve as ingredients in your scripts.
  • Line drawing function: How to build a simple tool to draw lines
  • Dialog creation: How to construct dialogs with Qt designer, and use them in FreeCAD
  • Embedding FreeCAD: How to import FreeCAD as a Python module in other applications
  • The Draft Workbench adds basic 2d drawing functions to freecad. It is written entirely in Python, so it can be a good example if you want to write your own modules.
  • FreeCAD vector math library: A couple of handy functions to manipulate FreeCAD vectors. This library is also included in the Draft module.

API Functions​

The complete API documentation of FreeCAD is located here. It contains both C++ and Python APIs, and is not totally well formatted yet, which can be confusing when looking for python-only code. An easier to browse version can be found here. Note that it can be incomplete, since it is updated manually. For more accurate information, browse the modules directly from FreeCAD's Python console.

Related: Exposing C++ to Python

Advanced modification​

Python tutorials​

These are good generic tutorials, not specific to FreeCAD, that might interest you if you are totally new to python.

Python​

PySide - How to create and manage FreeCAD's Qt UI interface from python

The following two references are PyQt specific (not PySide) but may offer some information of use:

Pivy - How to interact with FreeCAD's 3D scenes

Community projects​

On the Community portal, you can find other FreeCAD-based projects run by the FreeCAD users community. If you are starting a new FreeCAD project, be sure to list it there! We also have a page with things you can do if you would like to Help FreeCAD.