Why Claude inside CAD, not in a browser
You work with an open document. Retelling it to a chat window, copying properties out and code back in, is slow and error-prone. So both plugins put the chat panel right into the program: a workbench panel in FreeCAD, a ribbon tab in AutoCAD. Claude sees what you see and answers from what is actually drawn.
FreeGAD — Claude in FreeCAD 1.0/1.1
- Sees the model and the 3D view. The object tree, sketches and their constraints, spreadsheets — and the viewport itself: after an edit Claude looks at the result and checks the part looks right.
- Measures. Distances, face areas, edge lengths, radii — on request.
- Builds and changes the model from a description. "Make a 120 mm flange with six M8 holes" — every edit confirmed, one undo step.
- Calculates engineering tasks straight from the model data.
- Remembers your standards and the specifics of each document.
AutoGAD — Claude in AutoCAD 2025/2026
- Answers about the drawing. How many fixtures on the plan, what is in the schedule, which layers are frozen.
- Calculates. Panel loads, currents, breakers — with formulas.
- Checks schedules against what is drawn.
- Changes text across the whole drawing in one confirmed pass: codes, title blocks, leaders, tables.
- Draws from a description — a plan with walls, doors, dimensions — and redraws sketches from photos or traces scans into lines.
- Remembers your rules and project specifics.
What they share
- Nothing changes without you. Before every edit a window shows the exact change: Allow, Allow all this session or Reject. Undo works as usual.
- The document is never sent anywhere. Claude receives a short description of the model or drawing and your messages. Nothing goes to the plugin author.
- Claude or ChatGPT — your choice, with your own key.
- Free, open source AGPL-3.0. You only pay for the model's answers — usually a few cents; the cost is printed under every answer.
- Five minutes to install, no admin rights, Windows.
What they do not do
They do not sign for the engineer: they know the codes and can check them online, remember company standards, calculate and show the calculation — a person checks and signs. A trace from a photo gives what is in the picture, not a survey. They do not run in AutoCAD 2024 or older, AutoCAD LT or FreeCAD 0.x.