alt.hn

5/8/2026 at 11:26:49 PM

Show HN: CADara – I made an open-source in-browser CAD

by ttouch

5/8/2026 at 11:33:51 PM

This is the pre-alpha/alpha release of a new CAD that I created. It uses OpenCascade 7.9 under the hood via WASM and a custom sketch solver written in typescript (substantially faster than I thought it would be)

Right now it can do most of the CAD stuff that one expects apart from anything that involves meshes or curved face manipulation - that'll come soon but I want to have a stable base first before I move any further

I hope you like it, I'm eager to hear your thoughts!

by ttouch

5/9/2026 at 12:27:34 PM

Will this project eventually be able to completely replace MechE software students need to use for classes or what is the intentions about your software’s scope

by citadel_melon

5/10/2026 at 12:59:24 AM

the target audience (which I'm a part off too) is hobbyist and small shops. Competing with the big giants I think is impossible (SolidWorks/Fusion/onShape/etc.) but I think that the vast majority of people use only a very small subset of features

Interoperability is of paramount importance and it's probably going to be the best deep dive

by ttouch

5/9/2026 at 12:24:55 AM

err.. seems like many of the UI elements taken straight from OnShape?

https://www.onshape.com

by seemaze

5/9/2026 at 2:01:38 AM

UI is a great place NOT to reinvent things that don't need to be reinvented. Rip off the best and forget the rest.

Whether OnShape is the "best" or not, I have no idea, but the point stands.

by CamperBob2

5/10/2026 at 3:56:31 PM

IANAL, but I'd be surprised if the UI icons are not covered under copyright.

by seemaze

5/9/2026 at 2:08:24 AM

that was the idea and this is such a huge project that I kept as much variables static as possible. I want the app to feel close to what people already know - and that applies to me as a user too (I want to use the app too after all!)

by ttouch

5/9/2026 at 12:37:22 AM

It's vibe coded, so not surprising that it replicates the patterns of existing systems.

by dave_universetf

5/11/2026 at 5:29:31 PM

The opportunity to vibe code and reinforce with something like claud code for example will poach any application that thinks they have the market share and charge whatever the hell they want. I am very excited for projects like this where you leverage open source for a very specific user and offer alternatives to SAAS. Keep iterating and solidy you security and make sure you get direct feedback from experienced CAD users, which I am not. good luck

by runfreeapps

5/10/2026 at 12:00:36 PM

Good job. How long did it take you to build it?

by horanglabs

5/10/2026 at 4:51:44 PM

interesting!

by smy_smy