solvecraft/docs/control-protocol.md

# Control protocol

The control channel is **on by default**. SolidCraft listens on `127.0.0.1` only, for JSON lines,
so agents can drive the app without a launch flag. Every connection still needs this launch's
token (below); nothing else on the machine, and nothing off it, can send a command.

| Launch | What listens |
|---|---|
| `solidcraft --control PORT`, or `SOLIDCRAFT_CONTROL_PORT=PORT` | exactly `127.0.0.1:PORT` (the flag wins over the variable), whatever the setting |
| neither, and Preferences > Assistant > "Let AI agents connect (control channel / MCP)" on (the default) | the default port **27878**, or the next free one up to 27893 when it is taken (a second window, another program) |
| neither, and the setting off | nothing |

The setting is read at start-up. Old preference files, which don't have it, load with it on. A
launch with `--control` or the variable behaves as it always did (the start page stays hidden,
the window doesn't ask for the foreground), because a scripted launch expects that; the default
channel changes neither for a normal launch.

### Finding the port

Each app that opens its channel writes the port to a discovery file beside the token files,
`control/current.port` (same folders and permissions as below), and removes it at exit if no later
app has replaced it. It holds only the port, never the token. `solidcraft-cli mcp` with no
arguments reads it, checks that something listens there and bridges to that app; with no app
running, or with `--headless`, it runs a session of its own. `--connect HOST:PORT` and the
other arguments still decide first. With several windows open, the most recently started one is
the one found; use `--connect` for another.

Requests are one line `{"id": …, "method": "…", "params": {…}}`; replies are described below. Each request is one line `{"id": …, "method": "…", "params": {…}}`; each reply is one
line `{"id": …, "ok": true, "result": …}` or `{"id": …, "ok": false, "error": "…"}`. Requests are
handled on the UI thread between frames; pointer and keyboard input is injected as real egui
events, one pointer event per frame. A connection that sent `control.subscribe` is also sent
event lines `{"event": "…", "params": {…}}`, which have no `id`
([Following the design](#following-the-design)).

### Token

Every connection must authenticate. At start the app makes a random 256-bit token for this
launch and writes it, as one line of hex, to a file only the user can read:

| System | Token file |
|---|---|
| Linux | `$XDG_DATA_HOME/solidcraft/control/PORT.token` (`~/.local/share/solidcraft/control/PORT.token`) |
| macOS | `~/Library/Application Support/SolidCraft/control/PORT.token` |
| Windows | `%LOCALAPPDATA%\SolidCraft\control\PORT.token` |

On Unix the folder is `0700` and the file `0600`; on Windows the file's inherited permissions are
replaced by a single entry for the user. `SOLIDCRAFT_CONTROL_DIR` moves the folder. The file is
removed when the app exits, and the next launch writes a new token. The token file's path is
printed to stderr at start-up. Beside it, `<port>.pid` holds the app's process id (and, on Linux,
its start time).

An app that is force-quit can't remove its files, so a later client may send that launch's token.
When the app refuses it, `solidcraft-cli mcp` names the token file it read and when it was
written, and says the file is stale when the process in `<port>.pid` has exited. Delete the file
or restart SolidCraft. On Windows, an app or client started from inside an MSIX-packaged app (and
the tools it launches) has its AppData redirected: it writes and reads
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\<package>\LocalCache\Local\SolidCraft\control\` before the folder above.

The first request on a connection must carry the token as a top-level `"token"` member
(`{"id": 1, "method": "ui.inspect", "params": {}, "token": "…"}`); later requests on the same
connection may leave it out. A first line without the right token is answered with
`{"ok": false, "error": "unauthorized: …"}` and the connection is closed, without running
anything. Tokens are compared in constant time.

`solidcraft-cli mcp --connect 127.0.0.1:PORT` reads the token file for that port by itself
(`--token T` or `SOLIDCRAFT_CONTROL_TOKEN` give one explicitly). For a test harness, or a
sandboxed package whose data folder the client can't see, start the app with
`SOLIDCRAFT_CONTROL_TOKEN` set to at least 32 hex characters (for example
`openssl rand -hex 32`) and the app uses that token instead of making one; the file is still
written. A one-line client in Python:

```python
token = (Path.home() / ".local/share/solidcraft/control/7878.token").read_text().strip()
sock.sendall((json.dumps({"id": 1, "method": "ui.inspect", "params": {}, "token": token}) + "\n").encode())
```

### Limits

The channel is untrusted input. A request line may be at most 16 MiB; a longer one is answered
with `{"ok": false, "error": "request too large"}` and the connection is closed, as are
connections that send eight lines that are not JSON. At most 16 connections are served at once
(further ones get `{"ok": false, "error": "too many connections"}`), at most 64 queued requests
run per frame so a flood cannot starve drawing, and a request that the UI thread has not
answered within 60 seconds (3600 seconds for `engine.batch`) is replied to with
`{"ok": false, "running": true, "error": "timeout: … is still running …"}`. The same 16 MiB line
limit applies to the MCP server.

A timed-out request has not failed: it is still running in the app, and a change still applies
when it finishes (a long fillet, say), so don't simply send it again. The timeout's text says
what it still does: a request that only reads (`ui.inspect`, `document.inspect`, an inspection
command) "only reads: nothing changes"; one that only writes a file (`file.export`,
`file.save`, `file.save_as`, `file.save_mesh`, another export given a `path`, `ui.render`, or
`ui.screenshot` with a `path`) "will still write the file when it finishes" and leaves the design
as it is; any other request "will still apply when it finishes". The connection keeps its reply (#1618). Ask for it
with `control.pending`: `{"pending": <id>, "method": …, "done": false}` while it runs, then
`{"pending": <id>, "method": …, "done": true, "reply": {…}}` (its own reply, once), and
`{"pending": null}` when nothing is outstanding. Until it lands, any other request on that
connection is refused at once with `{"ok": false, "busy": true, "error": "busy: …"}` and not
run, so nothing is queued to apply unseen behind it. `control.pending` belongs to the
connection: a new connection has nothing pending. The bridged MCP server does this itself
([mcp.md](mcp.md#long-running-requests)).

`control.pending` answers only for its own connection. `control.running` answers for the whole
app, the same on every connection, at once (it never waits behind a running request, and a
connection may ask it while it is `busy`): every request the app has been sent and has not
answered yet, oldest first, from any connection, including a timed-out one whose connection has
since closed:

```text
{"id":1,"method":"control.running","token":"…"}
→ {"id":1,"ok":true,"result":{"running":[
    {"connection":3,"id":17,"method":"engine.execute","command":"file.export","running_s":312.4,"queued":false},
    {"connection":5,"id":2,"method":"engine.batch","steps":12,"running_s":4.1,"queued":true,"self":true}]}}
```

`running_s` counts seconds since the request arrived; `queued` is true while it still waits its
turn behind another. `command` is the command id of `engine.execute` (a known one only) and
`steps` the length of `engine.batch` or `engine.script`; parameters are never shown, so file
paths and expressions stay with the connection that sent them. `self` marks the asking
connection's own request. `{"running": []}` when the app is idle.

Any request's `params` may carry `allow_paths: ["/abs/folder", …]`: every file that request
reads, writes or deletes (command paths such as `file.export`'s `path` or `doc.recovery_*`'s
`dir`, `ui.render`, `ui.screenshot`) must then lie inside one of those folders after `..` and
symlinks are resolved, or the request fails with `… outside the folders this agent may use …`.
The app adds its own recovery folder and, when it lies safely inside the home folder and not in
a hidden folder, the open design's folder (whose hidden files stay out of reach). The bridged
MCP server sends its folders this way on every request ([mcp.md](mcp.md)). Without
`allow_paths` file paths are not limited: a client holding the token can do what the user can.

## Engine

| Method | Params | Result |
|---|---|---|
| `engine.execute` | `command`: command id, `params`: JSON object | the command's result |
| `engine.script` | `commands`: `[{command, params}, …]` | results, stops at the first error |
| `engine.batch` | `commands`: `[{command, params}, …]` (at most 10 000), `rollback?`: bool (default true), `timings?`, `profile?`, `coalesce_parameters?`: bool (default false) | `{completed, results, undone}`, plus `failed: {index, command, error}` when a step fails, and with `timings` `timings: [{index, command, ms}]` (the failing step included) and `total_ms`; `profile` adds each step's `profile: {boolean_ms, tessellate_ms, other_ms}`. Runs the steps in one request, so within one frame, each as `engine.execute` runs it. The first failure stops the batch, and with `rollback` the design goes back to how it was before it (`undone`: the steps taken back, `rolled_back`: whether the design is back as it was, `false` only when the checkpoint could not restore it). Refused before anything runs, with an error starting `engine.batch unavailable`, while the agent cursor is shown or when a step loads a file (`doc.open`, `file.insert_step`, `file.insert_mesh`). Send such steps one by one. A step the batch would certainly refuse at its turn is found before the first step runs (#5853): a step without a command, an unknown command id (with the closest ids) or, with strict parameter checking, a call that breaks its command's contract. The reply is then that step's failure with `completed: 0`, `undone: 0`, `not_run` listing every step and a `note`; nothing has run. With `coalesce_parameters`, each run of consecutive plain parameter edits (`parameters.change` with only a name and an expression, or with `changes`) is set as one `parameters.change {changes}`, so the design rebuilds once for the run. Every step still gets its own result (with `coalesced`: the run's length), and the run is one undo step. The run skips the states between its edits: an edit that would be refused on its own, but not once the run's later edits are in, goes through. A run whose combined edit is refused (a new parameter, a bad expression) runs step by step, so the refused step is named. Answered when done, for up to 3600 s |
| `engine.commands` | — | every command: id, label, tab, panel, icon, shortcut, params doc, enabled |
| `document.revision` | — | `{document_id, revision}`: the active design's id and a number that moves whenever the design changes, for programs that follow it ([Following the design](#following-the-design)) |
| `control.subscribe` | — | `{document_id, revision}`, as `document.revision`; the connection is then sent a `design.changed` line whenever they change ([Following the design](#following-the-design)) |
| `document.inspect` | `measure?`: bool | parameters, timeline (errors, timings), bodies, sketches, selection (assembly joints: `engine.execute` `joint.inspect {joint?}`, which reads only: each joint's two origins with the occurrence, the snap as saved, the feature, face, edge or sketch curve its names refer to, and whether it resolves or why not; kind, offset, angle, flip, values, limits, expressions and motion links) |

Commands never open dialogs when run this way. `solidcraft-cli commands` prints the same registry.

### Following the design

A program that follows the open design (a renderer kept in step, a live link) asks
`document.revision`, which only reads and does not wait behind design changes (a slow command
computing, a file loading, the agent cursor acting one out), and exports only when the answer
changes (#6646):

```text
{"id":1,"method":"document.revision","token":"…"}
→ {"id":1,"ok":true,"result":{"document_id":"18f3a0c2d4e5b6a7-1","revision":3}}
```

- `document_id` names the active design (its tab) while it stays open, through edits, saves and
  renames. Two open designs have different ids even with the same name, and each design started
  or opened gets a new one, also one opened or started in the same tab. Ids of one run never
  match those of another. Treat it as an opaque string.
- `revision` moves whenever the design changes: an edit, a parameter, undo or redo, a design
  opened or started, what is hidden or shown (saved with the design), a component moved and not
  captured yet. It stays the same for reads, a selection, a camera move, a section or an analysis
  view. Revisions come from one counter for the whole run, so a revision never names two
  states, and it never goes back: changes undone before the next ask that end where the design
  was need no new one (its revision still names that design).

Switching tabs changes `document_id`; back on a tab its revision is the one it had, if nothing
changed it meanwhile. Compare both values, and export when either differs from the last
answer. The same answer comes from `engine.execute` `document.revision` (and so from scripts and
MCP `execute`), which waits its turn behind design changes like any command.

A client need not ask again and again: after `control.subscribe` on its connection, the app
sends it a line whenever the active design changes (#6985):

```text
{"id":1,"method":"control.subscribe","token":"…"}
→ {"id":1,"ok":true,"result":{"document_id":"18f3a0c2d4e5b6a7-1","revision":3}}
{"event":"design.changed","params":{"document_id":"18f3a0c2d4e5b6a7-1","revision":4}}
{"event":"design.changed","params":{"document_id":"18f3a0c2d4e5b6a7-2","revision":5}}
```

- The reply is what `document.revision` answers then (and, like it, does not wait behind design
  changes); no event comes before it. From there on, each `design.changed` line carries what
  `document.revision` would answer, sent when its `document_id` or `revision` differs from the
  last one this connection was told: an edit, undo or redo, a design opened or started, a tab
  switched.
- Lines are coalesced, not sent per frame: at most about ten a second, and changes made faster
  (a parameter dragged) are followed by one line with the latest. Once the design stops
  changing, the last line names it as it is.
- An event has `event` and `params` and no `id`; every reply still has its request's `id`. Each
  event is a whole line of its own, between replies, never inside one. Ignore events you don't
  know.
- Only connections that subscribed get events, until they close (or shut their sending side). A
  second `control.subscribe` on a subscribed connection is refused with `already subscribed`;
  ask `document.revision` for the design now. A `control.subscribe` that timed out or failed did
  not subscribe the connection: send it again.

### Slow commands and the window (#1989)

With the preference **Preferences > AI > Keep the window responsive while agents run commands**
on (`ui.prefs {"agent_off_thread": true}`; off by default), a design change in the desktop app
that takes longer than about 150 ms (an `engine.execute` of a
modelling command, an `engine.batch` of them) computes off the window thread, so the window keeps
drawing and answering while it runs:
- The command is evaluated ahead on a copy of the design, which also makes the display meshes of
  the bodies it ends with. Then it runs for real on the window thread, reusing every feature the
  evaluation computed (kept for it, whatever the bounded evaluation cache dropped meanwhile), so
  the window waits only for the bookkeeping. Its reply, undo step, autosave and crash journal are
  the same as before. With the agent cursor shown, the evaluation runs while the pointer glides
  to the button, and the pointer waits there until it is done.
- Meanwhile `ui.*` requests, `document.inspect` and `engine.commands` are answered at once
  (inspection shows the design as it was), also while the agent cursor acts a command out. Later
  design changes, from any connection, wait their turn and run in the order they arrived.
- A person's edit made meanwhile goes first. The agent's command is then computed again for the
  design as it is and lands after that edit, never in the middle of it. If the design was replaced
  (another tab made active, a new file opened), the request fails with `… the design was
  replaced … nothing was applied`.
- A chip in the view names the command, with **Stop**. Stop answers
  `{"ok": false, "stopped": true, "error": "stopped: …; nothing was applied"}` and the requests
  waiting behind it go on. The computation finishes unseen in the background.
- `file.export` and `file.save_mesh` change nothing in the design. They run on a copy of the
  design as it was when they were asked for, and nothing waits behind them.
- Batches with `timings` or `profile` still run on the window thread, so the times they report
  measure the real work.

Timeouts and `control.pending` work as described above. A slow command is still answered when it
is done, from a later frame. With the preference off, commands run on the window thread, and the
window waits for each one.

Product images use `render.preflight/start/status/cancel/export` through `engine.execute`.
Keep the returned session-scoped job ID for subsequent calls; status does not block or
render. See [render jobs](render-jobs.md) for capture, cancellation and export semantics.

While an interactive native file picker is open, `ui.inspect` reports `file_picker_busy: true`.
Engine commands, `ui.file` and `ui.home` requests wait for its answer; window resizing,
inspection and screenshots remain available.

Every `sketch.*` command that changes a sketch adds `created: {points, curves, constraints,
dimensions}` to its result (and `wires` for 3D curves): the ids of what it added, in creation
order, next to whatever else the command returns (`curves`, `sides`, `corners`…). Sketch ids are
stable and never reused, even after a delete (`l1`, `l2`, then `l3` once `l2` is gone; only undo
rolls the numbering back with the design), so they can go straight into later commands:

```text
{"id":7,"method":"engine.execute","params":{"command":"sketch.line","params":{"points":[[0,0],[40,0]]}}}
→ {"curves":["l1"],"created":{"points":["l1.start","l1.end"],"curves":["l1"],"constraints":["k1"],"dimensions":[]},…}
{"id":8,"method":"engine.execute","params":{"command":"sketch.dimension","params":{"entities":["l1"],"value":50}}}
```

A bare numeric `value` given to `sketch.dimension` (from the control channel, scripts or MCP) is
read in the design's units, exactly as if it were typed into the dimension box: in an inch design
`"value": 2` makes the line 2 in (50.8 mm) long. Point coordinates stay in millimetres. To pin a
unit regardless of the design, pass an expression with one: `"value": "50 mm"` or
`"value": "0.5 in"`. Angles are degrees unless the expression says otherwise.

The viewport also shows an X/Y/Z-aligned dimension chain between the endpoints of the
currently shown distance (centre, minimum or maximum), with each world-axis distance
labelled separately as an absolute value (including zero).
It uses the design's units and length precision, independently of the view or sketch plane.
Preferences → Graphics → **Show X/Y/Z distances** controls these extra lines and
labels (default on, saved between runs). Set `ui.prefs {"measure_axis_distances": false}`
to hide them while keeping the total distance and the dialog's ΔX/ΔY/ΔZ values. These
overlays remain visible until Measure closes.
Overlay handles `measure:label:x`, `measure:label:y` and `measure:label:z` identify the extra
labels; `prefs:measure_axis_distances` identifies the checkbox.

## UI

| Method | Params | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `ui.inspect` | — | UI state, pending file picker (`file_picker_busy`; compatibility alias `file_dialog_open`, no path), what is hidden (`visibility`: bodies, origin and construction items, sketches, joints (`hidden_joints`, joint ids); set it with the `browser.visibility` command), viewport rect, camera, active tool/dialog, the status line (`status`: text and whether it is an error), hover, renderer, timings, what the GPU drew last frame (`draw`: `draw_calls`, `triangles`, `line_segments`, `supersampled`; null without a GPU) and the graphics `adapter`, live preview (`active`, `busy`, `error`, `ms`, bodies it stands in for) |
| `ui.set` | any `UiState` field (`tab`, `perspective`, `showGrid`, `dark`, `layout`, …), and the browser's view of the design, saved with it: `showOrigin` (the Origin folder's eye), `showSketches` (the design's Sketches folder, `c0/sketches` in `hiddenFolders`), `hiddenBodies`, `hiddenOrigin`, `hiddenSketches`, `shownSketches`, `hiddenJoints`, `hiddenFolders`, `hiddenProfiles`, `shownDims`, `lockedBodies` (whole lists; `browser.visibility` changes single items) | `dark: false` switches to the light theme; `layout: "floating"` (default) or `"compact"` (`"docked"` is also accepted) selects the transient shell layout without saving a preference. Scenarios use `{"call":"ui.set","params":{"layout":"docked"}}` |
| `ui.view` | `view`: `front`, `back`, `top`, `bottom`, `left`, `right`, `iso`, `home`, `fit`; `animate` (bool, default false: snap) | |
| `ui.camera` | `target?`: `[x, y, z]` (mm), `yaw?`, `pitch?`, `roll?` (radians), `distance?` (mm), `fov?`, `up?`; `fit?`: `true`, `false` or `[occurrence id or name…]` (`root`: the bodies outside every component) | the viewport's orbit camera: it looks at `target` from `distance` away; `yaw` 0 looks along +Y (from the front), `pitch` is the elevation (±π/2: straight down or up), `roll` turns the image. Fields given are set first (the others keep their values), then `fit` frames the listed occurrences (or everything), keeping the direction. The reply, passed back, sets the same view again, so a framing can be stored and replayed. `fov` and `up` follow the perspective setting (`ui.set`) and the up axis preference (`ui.prefs`) and can't change here; a refused field changes nothing |
| `ui.start` | `command`, `params?` | like a toolbar click: starts the sketch tool or dialog for the command. `params` sets what the dialog opens on, and nothing runs until OK: `joint.drive` takes `joint` (id or name; without it, the joint picked in the browser, else the first joint that moves) and `values` (numbers in degrees or millimetres, or expressions); `motion.study` takes `study` (id or name), which opens that study to edit and chart. A command that takes no params is refused before it starts; a param the dialog doesn't take is refused and the dialog closes |
| `ui.click` | `x`, `y` (screen points), `button?`: left/right/middle, `shift?`, `ctrl?`, `double?` | real pointer input |
| `ui.move` | `x`, `y`, `shift?`, `alt?`, `ctrl?`, `cmd?` | pointer movement without a button; modifiers apply until the next synthetic move/click; a move with omitted modifiers releases them. With `nav: "touchpad"`, Shift pans and Alt/Option orbits. |
| `ui.drag` | `x0`, `y0`, `x1`, `y1`, `button?`, `shift?`, `ctrl?`, `steps?`, `hold?`, `hold_end?` | press, move, release; a left drag on the model is a box selection (left to right: window, right to left: crossing); with OpenSCAD navigation, plain left-drag on empty space orbits, Shift+left-drag box-selects, and drags starting on sketch geometry edit it; `hold` keeps the button down that many frames first (a right press-and-hold opens the marking menu, releasing over a direction picks it), `hold_end` that many frames at the end (a sketch drag shows its snap) |
| `ui.menu` | `x?`, `y?`, `target?`, `close?` | with a point: open a context menu there as a right-click would (the viewport's marking menu, or a browser menu with `target: {"type": "body", "name"} \| {"type": "sketch", "id"} \| {"type": "component", "id"}`); without: the open menu (`radial` and `items`: id, label, shortcut, enabled, icon, placeholder; blank icons on headings/separators have `placeholder: false`) |
| `ui.icon_audit` | `reset?`, `stop?` | `reset: true` enables collection on the UI thread and clears previous requests; returns `{requested: [{name, master, placeholder}]}` sorted by requested id. Each read drains names collected since the previous read/reset. Collection stays enabled until `stop: true` (which returns pending names before disabling it). Includes aliases, variable/table ids and cached paints. |
| `ui.menuPick` | `item`: id or label | runs an item of the open menu, as clicking it does |
| `ui.selectOther` | `x?`, `y?`, `pick?`, `add?`, `hover?`, `close?` | Select Other: with a point, list everything pickable there (as holding the left button does); `pick`: select row `pick` (`add`: as Shift-click; with a dialog open, into its active input); `hover`: light a row up; without: the open list (`open`, `at`, `total`: everything under the cursor, `rows`: label, icon, sel, at most 20 per kind, nearest first) |
| `ui.rename` | `text?`, `commit?` (default true) | finishes the rename box a Rename item opened |
| `ui.selection` | | the selection, the open dialog's inputs, the hovered item, and the active sketch's drawn dimensions (`dimensions`: id and text centre, `dimension_selected`, `dimension_editing`), and finished sketches' dimensions shown in the model view (`shown_dimensions`: sketch, id and text centre; a double-click there edits the value) |
| `ui.worldToScreen` | `points`: `[[x, y, z]…]` world points | their screen points |
| `ui.triad` | | screen points of the 3D sketch move triad's handles (`x`, `y`, `z`, `plane`) |
| `ui.sketchToScreen` | `points`: `[[x, y]…]` in active-sketch coordinates | their screen points (null when behind the camera) |
| `ui.dialogInput` | `index` | what clicking an input's Select chip does: picks go to that input |
| `ui.at` | `world: [x,y,z]` \| `sketch: [x,y]` \| `plane: "XY"` \| `axis: "Z"` \| `dimension: "d1"` (its value text) \| `handle: "arrow"` (a manipulator handle, see `scenario::publish_handle`) | the screen point (a scenario step's target; see `crates/ui-egui/src/scenario.rs`) |
| `ui.pick` | `pixels?: [[x,y]…]`, `rays?: [{origin, dir}…]`, `frame?: "window"\|"model"`, `width?`, `height?`, `edges?` (default true), `edge_px?` (default 6), `all?`, `include_ghosted?` | read-only geometry under each pixel or ray (#6304): one entry per input, `null` where nothing is hit — body, face index, exact world `point` and outward `normal`, `depth`, `occurrence`/`component` for placed parts, `edge`/`vertex` within `edge_px` of a pixel, `section_cap: true` on a cut face. `window` pixels are physical pixels of a window screenshot; `model` pixels are pixels of a `ui.render` of `width`×`height` (default 960×600), so it works headless. As `view.pick` through `engine.execute`/`engine.batch`. See `crates/ui-egui/src/view_pick.rs` |
| `ui.handles` | `prefix?` | the handles drawn last frame, `[{name, x, y}]`: toolbar buttons and drop-down items `toolbar:<command id>` (the button alone: `button:<command id>`; a drop-down row: `dropdown:<command id>`, highlighted `dropdown_hot:<command id>`, its pin `dropdown_pin:<command id>`; Customize Toolbar's check boxes `customize:<command id>`), ribbon tabs `tab:<name>` (MODEL, SURFACE, ASSEMBLE, INSERT, INSPECT, MANAGE, VIEW, SHEET METAL, WELDMENTS; contextual SKETCH; workspace RENDER), panel labels `panel:<tab>:<panel>` (also `ribbon:section:<TAB>:<SECTION>`), document overflow list `tab:overflow`, workspace column `ribbon:workspace`, command-search launcher `ribbon:search`, browser rows `row:<label>` and fold arrows `fold:<label>`, manipulator handles; signed-axis tips `axis_view:z`, `axis_view:-y`; optional cube facets `navigation_cube:top`, `navigation_cube:top_front_right`, controls `navigation_cube:control:home` (and other actions), plus signed-axis aliases for visible cube faces; Preferences navigator picker `prefs:navigator`, options `prefs:navigator:Signed axes` and `prefs:navigator:Cube`; in the Motion Study dialog, where the chart puts its first and last step `motion:chart_start` and `motion:chart_end`, the Check collisions button `motion:check` and each collision found `motion:collision:<n>` |
| `ui.editFeature` | `feature` (id or name) | what double-clicking a timeline item does: rolls back to it and opens its dialog filled in (sketches open in sketch mode) |
| `ui.scroll` | `x`, `y`, `delta?` | wheel zoom at the cursor |
| `ui.key` | `key` (egui key name, `Enter`, `Escape`…), `cmd?`, `ctrl?`, `shift?`, `alt?`, `pressed?` | By default, press and release, then release modifiers. With `pressed: true` or `false`, send only that edge; modifiers remain as given. `cmd` retains the legacy primary-modifier alias unless `ctrl` is explicit: `cmd:true, ctrl:false` sends physical Command, and both true sends Control+Command. `ui.move` can change modifiers between edges. |
| `ui.text` | `text` | typed text |
| `ui.screenshot` | `path?` | PNG of the window (needs a presented frame: a minimised or fully covered window answers at once with `hidden: true` and an error; use `ui.render`) |
| `ui.render` | `path`, `width?`, `height?`, `grid?`, `axes?` | Render of the model with the current camera (no window needed), drawn on the app's GPU device with the viewport's pipelines (the reply's `renderer`: `gpu`, or `gpu-software` on a software adapter), in the window's theme (light or dark; `solidcraft-cli snapshot` keeps the light colours); cut by the section the viewport shows (`inspect.section`, an open Section Analysis dialog's preview, a sketch's Slice), with the cut face capped. The ground grid and the origin's axes are drawn as the window shows them (`ui.set` `showGrid` and `showOrigin`, `hiddenOrigin`); `grid` and `axes` (booleans) say otherwise for this render |
| `ui.confirm` | `accept?`: bool | answers the Delete confirmation (shown when a delete takes other features with it or makes some fail); without `accept`, what it lists |
| `ui.messages` | `clear?`: `true` (empty the list), `open?`: bool (show or hide the Messages window) | every status message of this run, oldest first (the last 200; a message repeated in a row is one entry with a `count`): `messages` `[{text, error, at, count}]` (`at` in ms since the Unix epoch), and whether the window is `open` (#2763) |
| `ui.documents` | `action?`: `new`, `switch`, `close`, `quit`; `index?`; `force?` (close without asking); `answer?`: `save`, `dont_save`, `cancel` (answers "save changes?"); `open_elsewhere?`: `read_only`, `anyway`, `cancel` (answers "open elsewhere" for the first Open waiting); `changed_on_disk?`: `save_copy`, `overwrite`, `cancel` (answers "changed on disk" before a Save) | the open designs (tabs): names, unsaved flags, the active one, a pending "save changes?" prompt, whether a quit is asking, whether the active design is `read_only`, the Opens waiting for "open elsewhere" (`open_elsewhere`) and a waiting "changed on disk" (`changed_on_disk`) |
| `ui.file` | `path`; `insert?`: bool | starts an interactive background Open or Insert; poll `ui.inspect.file_busy` for completion; the window stays responsive |
| `ui.home` | `open?`: bool; `sample?`: index | the start page: show or hide it, open a built-in sample (once built); returns `open` and the recent designs |
| `ui.shortcut` | `command`, `key?`, `replace?` | a command's key, or rebinds it (`""` clears; a key another command uses is refused unless `replace`) |
| `ui.help` | `item?`: `about`, `shortcuts` (read only), `report` (opens a report draft for review), `crashes` (the Crash Reports window) | the version, commit, build date and diagnostic text |
| `ui.prefs` | any of `default_units`, `nav` (`fusion`, `solidworks`, `inventor`, `alias`, `blender`, `tinkercad`, `openscad`, `touchpad`), `zoom_reverse`, `pan_reverse_x` (default false: horizontal scrolling pans the other way), `zoom_to_cursor`, `smooth_wheel_zoom` (default true), `trackpad_pan` (default true: two-finger scroll pans, except Touchpad always zooms; pinch zooms), `orbit_around` (`view_centre` (default: what Pan moves and Fit frames), `origin` (the world origin stays still on screen), `cursor` (the model point under the pointer when the drag began); the older `orbit_cursor` boolean still sets `cursor` when true), `sketch_exit_view` (`keep` (default: the view stays where it is when a sketch ends), `previous` (back to the view from before the sketch), `unless_rotated` (back unless the sketch view was turned)), `look_at_anim`, `look_at_speed`, `middle_double_click` (`home` (default), `fit`, `off`), `msaa`, `show_frame_rate` (default false: frames per second in the view's bottom-right corner, counting the frames the view draws anyway; it reads 0 FPS once the view is idle), `window_system` (Linux: `auto` (default: XWayland whenever there is an X display, native Wayland on niri), `wayland`, `x11`; saved in `graphics.json`, applies at the next start; `SOLIDCRAFT_WAYLAND` overrides it), `graphics_adapter` (exact card name, or empty for Automatic; applies after restart; `WGPU_ADAPTER_NAME` takes precedence), `frame_rate_details` (default false: with the frame rate, a frame-time graph of the frames drawn with the triangles over it, a frame-time histogram and what the GPU drew; clicking the readout switches it), `length_decimals`, `angle_decimals`, `step_values` (default false: Up/Down and the wheel step a plain number in a focused value field), `theme` (`dark`, `light`, `system` or a theme file's id: a built-in one such as `gruvbox-dark`, or an imported one; the reply's `theme_ids` lists them), `viewport_theme` (`theme` (default: the theme's own), `light`, `dark`: the 3D view in the Light or Dark theme's colours whatever the window uses, #4146), `theme_import` (a `solidcraft-theme/1` file's JSON or text: adds the theme and turns it on; the reply's `theme_imported` is its id), `theme_remove` (an imported theme's id), `theme_export: true` (the reply's `theme_file` is the theme on now as a complete file; see [colour themes](book/src/guide/ui-tour.md#colour-themes)), `language` (`en`, `ar`, `ja`, `de`, `fr`, `he`, `ko`, `ms`, `ru`, `uk`, `zh`; see [localization](localization.md)), `ui_scale`, `ui_font` (an installed font family or a font file for the interface; empty for the built-in font), `up_axis` (`z`, `y`), `offer_stand_up`, `extrude_auto_to_object` (default false: in the Extrude dialog, with a profile picked, a face, vertex or parallel plane picked off its plane switches the extent to To Object; it applies to Extrude dialogs opened afterwards), `hole_snaps` (default false: a Single hole snaps to its face's middle and round edges' centres), `hole_moves` (default false: a placed Single hole has a drag handle (`hole:<n>`), and a pick on a face that has a hole moves it there), `placement_handles` (default false: handles on the preview of a Rest, Boss or Snap Fit that move it across the model and turn it), `color_vision` (`off` (default), `protan`, `deutan`, `tritan`: colour vision modes, #778), `view_confirm_corner` (default false: while a dialog or a sketch is open, a check and a cross at the view's top right, handles `view:confirm:ok` and `view:confirm:cancel`, do what the dialog's OK and Cancel do, or Finish Sketch and Cancel Sketch; the axis view or cube moves down below them, #6709), `history_sketches` (`in_order` (default), `under_feature`: the History at the left lists a sketch under the first feature built from it, #6489; the timeline at the bottom keeps the creation order), `dialog_buttons` (`bottom` (default), `top`: a feature dialog's OK, Cancel and Apply sit in its title row instead of under its inputs, #6708; the buttons keep their handles, and `dialog:close` is then Cancel's), `check_updates` (default true; [updates](book/src/guide/updates.md)), `nav_bridge_enabled` (default false) and `nav_bridge_port` (default 8765: a device's own app on this computer moves the view, [the navigation bridge](3d-mouse.md#device-apps-the-navigation-bridge)); `open` (a page: General, Interface, Design, Navigation, Keyboard Shortcuts, Sketch, Graphics, AI, Plugins; Shortcuts, Assistant and Sketch & selection are aliases, and the former Selection page opens Sketch) opens the Preferences dialog there; `button`: `ok`, `cancel`, `apply`, `defaults`; `stand_up: true` stands up a just-opened Y-up file, `stand_up: false` leaves it as it is ("Leave it": the offer closes and `offer_stand_up` stays on); the offer's buttons are the handles `stand_up:stand`, `stand_up:leave` and `stand_up:never` | sets preferences (kept between runs), returns them all plus `dialog` (the open page or null), `dark`, `viewport_dark` (whether the 3D view is dark) and `stand_up_offer` |
| `ui.capture` | `action?`: `capture`, `revert`, `cancel` | answers the Capture Position question (asked when a command starts or the design is saved while components were moved without capturing); without `action`, what waits |
| `ui.window` | `action`: minimize, maximize, restore, toggle, close | what the title bar's caption buttons do (on Windows and Linux the application bar is the title bar); close asks about unsaved designs first |
| `ui.agent_cursor` | `show` (bool), `speed`: a number from 1 to 5 (times the normal speed) or `"instant"` (no animation: the command runs at once and the pointer jumps to where it acted), `follow_camera` (bool); all optional | the settings. While the cursor is shown, `engine.execute` first glides to the command's toolbar button and to each pick, then runs and replies; later requests wait their turn. The pointer shows the command's localized name, including commands inside a closed toolbar group; an animated batch names each command it visits. It also follows the pointer input sent with `ui.move`, `ui.click`, `ui.drag` and `ui.scroll`, as each event reaches the app, and a press leaves a ripple. `"animate": false` on a call skips it |
| `engine.execute` → `view.layout` | `mode`: `floating` or `compact` | Apply and save the workspace layout without opening a dialog, changing the design, resetting the camera or cancelling its active tool. General preferences expose the same choice; `ui.prefs {"layout":"compact"}` also saves it. |
| `engine.execute` → `browser.expand_all` | `path?`: occurrence ids; `component?`: id; omit both for the whole tree | Open every Browser row under that scope, including folders that start closed (Origin, Named Views, Features). Display only: not saved in the design, not an undo step. |
| `engine.execute` → `browser.collapse_all` | same | Close those rows. The design row stays open when the whole tree is collapsed. |
| `engine.execute` → `view.history_layout` | `width?`, `dock?`: `bottom`, `left`, `under_browser`, `collapsed?` | Resize/dock the history without opening a dialog or changing the design. Contents respond to measured width; browser-stacked history shares its width and splits height equally. One folded header gives the expanded card the rest; two folded headers stay at the top. |
| `ui.agent_chat` | `features?`, `toolbar_button?`, `permissions?` (`ask`, `edits`, `all`), `add_agent?` ({`name`, `kind`: `acp`, `api` or `anthropic` (`api` is OpenAI-compatible, `anthropic` Anthropic-compatible), `command` or `base_url` + `model` + `request_timeout_s?` (seconds one model request may take, 300 by default, rounded and clamped to 30 to 3600)}; no keys), `add_dialog?` (`installed`, `custom`, `api`, `anthropic`, or `false` to close), `default_agent?`, `agent?` (the conversation's agent, by id), `mode?` (the agent's own mode), `provider?` (which provider's models the model picker lists, when they come from several), `model?` (one of its models), `open?`, `side?` (`left`, `right`), `minimized?`, `popped?` (in its own window), `width?`, `picker?`, `refresh?`, `connect?`, `stop?`, `attach?`: a file's path (a picture, a text file or a CAD file, for the next message; CAD files are imported at once), `remove_file?` (index of a file on the next message), `send?`: text (files alone make a message too), `attach_view?`, `attach_selection?`, `pick?` (true: open the context picker), `permission?`: an option id or `"cancel"` (the newest question of the agent's own), `approve?`: true, false or `"always"` (the oldest request held for Allow/Deny), `cancel?` (Stop: the queue stays), `send_now?` (stop the running step, then send the queued messages), `remove_pending?` (index), `new_chat?` (clear the chat, new session), `undo?` (the last message's changes) | the chat's state: `features`, `agents` (found and added), `currentAgent`, `state` (off, starting, ready, busy, auth, exited), `popped`, `window` (its place and size), `agent`, `modes`, `mode`, `models`, `model`, `modelWarning` (the model capability warning text, or `null` when unknown or tool support is reported; checked asynchronously and never blocks sending), `turnWarning` (the latest completed turn's no-tool notice, otherwise `null`; cleared on the next turn or new chat), `providers` (`name` and `count` of each, empty with one provider), `provider` (the one listed), `authMethods`, `toolsPort`, `pid`, `waiting`, `turn`, `pending` (queued messages, with their `files`), `attachments` (the files on the next message, by name), `loading` (pictures still being read for it, by name), `stopped`, `detection` and the conversation (`items`). With `features` off only the settings apply. Desktop only; see [Agent chat](agent-chat.md) |
| `ui.resize` | `width`, `height` | |
| `app.quit` | `force?` (quit without asking about unsaved designs) | `quitting` (the window closes), `asking` (a "save changes?" prompt is open) |

`ui.workspace {workspace?: "design" | "render"}` reads or changes the active workspace.
Entering Render requires finishing the current modelling operation; returning restores
the Design camera. See [the integrated Render workspace](render-workspace.md).

### Continuous camera motion

Continuous camera motion is also available through `engine.execute` with command
`view.navigate`: pass `camera` (from `ui.inspect`) and `motion: "pan" | "orbit" | "zoom"`.
Pan and orbit take `delta: [dx,dy]` in screen points (each within ±10000); pan also requires
`viewport: [width,height]` (each 1..1000000). Orbit accepts a world-space `pivot` with the
viewport size. Zoom takes `factor` (0.05..20, below 1 zooms in) and an optional world-space
`anchor`. The returned `camera` is applied immediately by the UI, without animation,
document edits, undo steps or a success-log entry per movement.

## MCP

`solidcraft-cli mcp --connect 127.0.0.1:PORT` bridges an MCP client (an AI agent) to this
channel; see [mcp.md](mcp.md).

## Example

```text
{"id":1,"method":"engine.execute","params":{"command":"sketch.create","params":{"plane":"XY"}}}
{"id":2,"method":"engine.execute","params":{"command":"sketch.rectangle.two_point","params":{"p0":[0,0],"p1":[40,30]}}}
{"id":3,"method":"engine.execute","params":{"command":"solid.extrude","params":{"distance":20}}}
{"id":4,"method":"engine.execute","params":{"command":"solid.fillet","params":{"edges":[[0,0,10]],"radius":3}}}
{"id":5,"method":"ui.screenshot","params":{"path":"/tmp/part.png"}}
```

Preferences → Navigation → View navigator offers **Signed axes** (the original default) and
**Cube**. This choice is saved independently of the mouse preset. The control channel selects it
with `ui.prefs {"navigator_style":"axes"}` or `ui.prefs {"navigator_style":"cube"}`.
Existing settings without this field keep signed axes. Signed-axis tips choose principal views;
clicking an aligned tip again reverses the view.

Hold Shift during an orbit gesture to snap to the nearest standard or diagonal view. This applies to
right-drag, the Orbit navigation tool, and dragging either view navigator. Under the default preset,
Shift+middle also orbits with snapping; middle alone pans. Cube faces choose principal views,
and corners choose isometric views. The middle of each cube edge belongs to its face. Face names
follow the up-axis preference; the small X/Y/Z triad shows world axes. Clicking the same face keeps that view.
The inward-pointing arrows orbit by 90 degrees; the curved arrows at the upper right roll the
view by 90 degrees. The Home button at the upper left returns to isometric and the lower-right circle
fits the model.

The cube is subdued while idle. Hovering its area brightens the cube and navigation bar and
reveals the surrounding controls; the picked face or corner gets a pale blue fill and
blue outline. Moving away restores the subdued state. Navigation-bar controls also brighten
when hovered or when a navigation tool is active.

The cube has six face targets and eight corner targets, with no edge targets. Corner picking
regions lie on the six flat faces, preserving sharp corners with no permanent subdivision
lines. Hovering a corner highlights its parts on the adjacent visible faces together.

The cube widget occupies a compact 112-point square in the viewport corner. A straight-on
cube face is approximately 55 points wide; painting and picking scale together. Face labels
are stretched vertically. View clicks ease through intermediate orientations when Navigation
animated view changes is enabled (the default), at the configured animation speed.

The cube runs `view.navigate` through the command engine. Programmatic callers pass `camera`
and either `direction: [x,y,z]` in the camera's up-axis frame or `action` (`left`, `right`, `up`,
`down`, `clockwise`, `counterclockwise`, `home`, `fit`). The result contains `camera` and `fit`;
UI callers apply the camera with their animation preference, without editing the design.

Shift-orbit snapping includes 45-degree edge views and isometric corner views, with a
lightly damped spring transition and a small boundary margin to prevent flicker.

### Command search

`ui.palette {text?, open?}` opens command search under the ribbon search field; `open: false`
closes it. `ui.start {command: "ui.palette"}`, clicking `ribbon:search`, and S open the same
popup. This is UI routing: `engine.execute` continues to run commands without opening dialogs.
The query is limited to 4096 Unicode characters, with at most 80 visible results.

`shortcut:search` and `palette:search` identify the editor; `ribbon:search_popup` and
`palette:outer` identify the popup. Command rows retain `menu:<command id>`; design rows use
`menu:search:design:<index>`. Up/Down choose an enabled row, Enter runs it, Tab fills its id or
name, and Esc closes. Typing `command.id {"parameter": value}` validates JSON live and runs
through the same engine entry as `engine.execute`. Shift+Enter runs JSON and keeps the query
open. Invalid JSON stays editable and reports the parser's error. Feature results open their
existing edit tools; parameter results open Change Parameters filtered to that name.