dcc-mcp-openscad

Production OpenSCAD adapter for deterministic model inspection, validation, geometry export, and PNG rendering through DCC-MCP.

Illustrative workflow based on the live OpenSCAD → FreeCAD → Blender/Godot acceptance run; generated source is retained in docs/images/dcc-mcp-openscad-showcase-source.png.

Part of the DCC-MCP host matrix

dcc-mcp-openscad — OpenSCAD adapter for deterministic model validation, export, and rendering.

It is one of 47 host adapters in the DCC-MCP catalog. Every adapter speaks the same MCP protocol and builds on the same core runtime contract; each one exposes the tools its own host needs on top of that.

• All host adapters and install metadata
• Host matrix on the core README
• Showcase

This block is generated from the catalog entry in dcc-mcp-catalog.yml. Re-run the generator after changing the catalog.

Capabilities

• Detect the standalone OpenSCAD CLI and report version-specific capabilities.
• Inspect modules, functions, variables, and include/use references without executing source.
• Validate a parameterized model with structured warning/error diagnostics.
• Export STL (explicit binary or ASCII), 3MF, AMF, OFF, CSG, DXF, SVG, PDF, and OpenSCAD diagnostic formats.
• Render bounded PNG previews or full geometry renders with typed camera, projection, color-scheme, size, and parameter inputs.
• Stage outputs atomically, read the artifact back to prove the write landed, and return file size plus SHA-256 provenance.

The adapter does not accept arbitrary OpenSCAD command-line arguments or raw -D expressions. JSON scalar/array parameters are encoded by the adapter.

Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• dcc-mcp-core 0.20.36+
• OpenSCAD inside the verified compatibility matrix

Supported ranges are declared in compat_matrix.json and enforced before any tool runs: OpenSCAD 2021.01.x and 2026.09.x. A host outside the matrix is refused with an explicit error code rather than run unverified, and dcc-mcp-openscad doctor --json always reports the version it found together with that verdict.

On Windows, point to openscad.com when possible; if openscad.exe is configured and a sibling openscad.com exists, the adapter selects the console launcher automatically.

Runtime boundary

OpenSCAD is not a Python host and has no embedded interpreter for the adapter to run inside. The adapter is a Python process that supervises an openscad CLI child process:

host side (this adapter)               OpenSCAD side (child process)
-----------------------------------    ---------------------------------
external Python 3.7+                   `openscad` CLI executable
dcc_mcp_openscad.bridge                --version / --help probes
dcc_mcp_openscad._process              one supervised process tree per call,
                                       bounded by a single absolute deadline
dcc_mcp_openscad._probe_supervisor     owning the child's stdout/stderr files

What follows from that boundary:

• The Python version that matters is the host-side one that owns the wheel. There is no second interpreter, so there is no host/embedded version mismatch to diagnose.
• Every CLI call is a fresh process with a bounded deadline: no persistent session, no in-process state, no shared memory.
• Arguments cross the boundary as an argument vector, never through a shell, so a model path or parameter is never interpreted as shell syntax.
• Results come back as files plus bounded captured output, and a mutating tool re-reads the artifact to prove the write landed (see docs/write-contract.md).

Install

See install.md for wheel-only setup, platform discovery, the official six-verb Install SOP lifecycle, ownership receipts, rollback, and troubleshooting.

python -m pip install dcc-mcp-openscad
dcc-mcp-openscad doctor --json
dcc-mcp-openscad install --yes --json
dcc-mcp-openscad

For an explicit standalone readiness check:

dcc-mcp-openscad verify --executable "C:\Program Files\OpenSCAD\openscad.com" --json

For development:

python -m pip install -e ".[dev]"
python -m pytest

Configuration

The service registers as a standalone DCC-MCP instance. It has no bound GUI PID and needs no OpenSCAD window.

Agent workflow

Use the standard discovery path:

dcc-mcp-cli list
dcc-mcp-cli search --query "OpenSCAD validate export STL"
dcc-mcp-cli load-skill openscad-pipeline --dcc-type openscad --instance-id <instance-short>
dcc-mcp-cli describe openscad.<instance-short>.openscad_pipeline__validate_model

Then call inspect_source → validate_model → export_model or render_preview. Long calls are asynchronous and should be polled through the core job tools returned by the call.

examples/production_smoke.scad is a parameterized enclosure used by the live acceptance test. Override width, depth, height, wall, corner_radius, or vent_count to verify safe parameter encoding and reproducible artifacts.

Safety contract

• Source and output paths must remain under configured allowed roots.
• Existing outputs are never replaced unless overwrite=true is explicit.
• Exports use sibling temporary files and become visible only after success.
• A mutating tool returns only after re-reading the artifact and proving the write landed; a mismatch is an explicit error naming the expected and actual values instead of a reported success.
• Parameter names, values, nesting, count, image dimensions, formats, and deadlines are bounded.
• Cancellation and timeouts terminate the owned OpenSCAD child process.
• Captured process output is limited to 64 KiB per stream.

Verification

CI installs a real OpenSCAD for every supported range -- each binary pinned by version and SHA-256 -- and runs the end-to-end case that validates, exports STL, and renders PNG. The job fails if that case is skipped, so a missing host cannot look like a pass. See install.md for the ranges and the error codes.

OpenSCAD CLI reference: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/Using_OpenSCAD_in_a_command_line_environment