Skip to content

Getting started

From nothing to a first exported part.

Run N3XD

Use a hosted instance if you have one, or run the stack locally. Local development needs Python >= 3.13, uv, Node >= 22 and bun.

# one-time: install backend and frontend dependencies
make install

# terminal 1: backend (FastAPI + uvicorn, hot-reload on :8000)
make dev-backend

# terminal 2: frontend (Vite dev server on :5173, proxies /api and /ws)
make dev-frontend

Open http://localhost:5173. The root route / is the local welcome workspace; a project opens at /p/<project-id>, and that URL survives reloads.

Docker

make up (a single docker compose up) starts the whole stack: backend, Redis and the Nginx-served frontend.

Guided tutorial

On a hosted instance the dashboard has a Guided tutorial card next to "New project". It creates a fresh project and walks you through building your first part: the instructions appear in the AI chat panel and the next button to click pulses in the interface. You drive every action yourself and the walkthrough advances when you do. Skip tutorial in the chat header exits at any time, and the project stays on your dashboard. Desktop only.

Your first part

The workflow is project, then part, then sketch, then features.

  1. Create a project. With nothing open the app shows an empty workspace; use the sidebar Manage section. A project is always an assembly.
  2. Add a part inside the assembly.
  3. Start a sketch on an origin plane (XY, XZ, YZ) or on an existing face. See Sketching.
  4. Draw a closed profile, constrain it, then exit to part view.
  5. Extrude it into a solid. See Modeling features.
  6. Add a hole to try face selection. Click the solid to select the body, then click a planar face and the face tools appear (the toolbar follows the selection, see Working in the viewport). Click Hole, pick a size and type (simple, counterbore or countersink), apply.
  7. Add a fillet to try edge selection. Click the solid, then click an edge (clicking on or near the edge line picks the edge instead of the face), then Fillet with a radius. Chamfer, shell and the other 3D features work the same way.
  8. Export to STEP, STL or 3MF, or capture a PNG. See Import and export.

From here, combine parts into assemblies with mates, drive dimensions with parameters and configurations, or run a stress simulation.

Working in the viewport

  • One click selects a body. A second click drills into the face or edge under the cursor. Escape steps back out (face/edge to body to nothing).
  • The part toolbar follows the selection: body, face and edge tools appear as you select those. Everything is also on the F1 command palette regardless of selection.
  • Escape cancels any open panel or the active sketch tool. Every panel also has a Cancel button.
  • Switch theme (Dark / Light / Auto) from the sidebar View section, which is there whether or not a project is open.