Atech Atelier

Atech Atelier, powered by FreeCAD.

<sub>BASED ON

        
FreeCAD  ·  Atech Studio</sub>

Install · Common questions · Discord · hello@atech.dev · atech.dev

Atech Atelier is a CAD app you talk to. Describe a part in plain language, such as "a 40 mm cube with a 10 mm hole through the middle", and the agent writes a FreeCAD script, runs it, measures the result and shows it in the 3D view. The volumes and sizes it reports are measured off the solid. The result is an ordinary FreeCAD model, so you can keep editing it by hand, save it as .FCStd or export it as STEP or STL for printing.

It also knows the Atech hardware: the 14-port board and its plug-in modules ship inside the app, so you can design enclosures and parts around real modules that sit where they really go.

What you can do

• Describe it, get a real model. The agent writes, builds and measures every part, and you can ask for changes in the same chat.
• Start from one of 24 example projects, each a complete build around real Atech modules: a toy car, desk robot, RC tank, 4WD rover, self-balancing robot, robot arm dock, room air monitor, motion night light, smart speaker, video doorbell, mini arcade, pet feeder, macro pad and more. Open one from Home and ask the agent to make it yours.
• Edit by hand, TinkerCAD-style. Press R to add boxes, cylinders and other shapes, type exact sizes in mm (imported STEP and STL parts too), move, turn, and cut holes. More below.
• Build around real hardware. Place modules on the 14-port Atech board, shown as in Atech Studio; each one is checked for fit.
• Get back to your projects anytime. Click the Atech logo or press Ctrl+0 for Home.
• Export as STEP or STL for printing, or keep the .FCStd.

Atech Atelier is the official FreeCAD 1.1.3 release, with FreeCAD's program files unmodified (no FreeCAD source patched or recompiled), plus the Atech workbench, theme and module library. Atech changes only the launcher (AppRun), the icon and the desktop/AppStream entries, and adds a FreeCAD branding file; ATECH_CHANGES.txt lists every change. It comes as a macOS app (Apple silicon and Intel) and a Linux AppImage (x86_64), installed with one command, and nothing is installed system-wide.

Atech Atelier is built on FreeCAD ((C) 2001-2026 FreeCAD contributors, licensed "LGPL2+": the GNU LGPL version 2 or any later version). It is not endorsed by, affiliated with, or a product of the FreeCAD project or the FreeCAD Project Association.

FreeCAD itself is free: you can download it from freecad.org and use it on its own. The FreeCAD inside Atech Atelier is FreeCAD's official release with its program files unmodified, and the complete source of FreeCAD and of every copyleft library it bundles is published on each release page.

Status: a preview. The latest release is 0.1.3: Simulate, starter projects, assembly videos, gears that mesh, and the Sesame walker. Expect rough edges, and please report them.

---

Screenshots

Starter projects, built around real Atech hardware. All 24 open from Home. Each one is shown finished, cut open to the Atech board and modules inside, and exploded:

Product	Inside (the Atech hardware)	Exploded
a 4WD explorer rover: four DC motors, a distance sensor, an orientation sensor, lights
a self-balancing robot: two DC motors and an orientation sensor at the axle, a screen face
a robot arm dock: the robot arm integrator on port 3, a screen, a jog dial, REC and PLAY keys
a room air quality monitor: a CO2 sensor and a temperature/humidity sensor in a vented chamber, a screen, a status light
a motion-sensing night light: a PIR sensor, four lights behind a frosted moon, a mode key
a toy car: four DC motors (one per wheel), headlights, a distance sensor
a desk robot: a screen face, a speaker and a microphone, a button on its head
a smart speaker: a light ring, two buttons, a speaker and a microphone
a bedside lamp: three lights in a frosted globe, a touch button on the base
a handheld console: a big screen, a D-pad and A / B buttons
an alarm clock: a screen face, a speaker, a snooze bar and keys
a desk fan: a DC motor drives the fan; a button and a light on the foot
a weather station: a screen, and a temperature / humidity sensor in a louvred hut
an RC tank: two DC motors drive the tracks; lights and a distance sensor
a smart planter: a soil and air readout, a temperature / humidity sensor, a status glow
a pet feeder: a motor turns the portion rotor; a FEED key, a light and a screen
a video doorbell: a glowing button, a distance sensor, a microphone and a speaker
a mini arcade: a spinner, two buttons, a screen and a speaker
a music box: a speaker, a lit LED window and a knob on a glowing ring
a parking sensor: a distance sensor, a traffic light and a screen
a desk organizer: a screen, a temperature / humidity sensor and a key
a photo frame: a portrait screen, a backlight, an orientation sensor and a key
a metronome: a tempo dial, a click speaker, a BPM screen, a beat light and a tap key
a macro pad: two keys, a label screen, a status strip and a volume dial

To see your own design these ways in the app: E (or Exploded view in the view bar) pulls the parts apart and puts them back; the slider in Show and hide sets how far. To see inside, pick the shell in Show and hide and choose See-through (or select it and press T), or cut the model open with Section view (Shift+S).

Light and dark.

---

Install

One command, on macOS or Linux:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/atechdotdev/atech-atelier/main/install.sh | bash

It finds the newest release for your computer, downloads it and that release's SHA256SUMS over HTTPS, and installs nothing unless the file's checksum matches. It needs no sudo and installs only for you:

• macOS: the app goes into /Applications (or ~/Applications). Its code signature is checked before it is copied.
• Linux: the AppImage goes into ~/.local/share/atech-atelier/, with a menu entry and the command atech-atelier.

Then it checks for Claude Code (below) and tells you the next step. It does not install Claude Code unless you say yes (or pass --with-claude).

Prefer to read it first? Download install.sh, read it, and run bash install.sh. Options: --version X.Y.Z, --file <download> (installs a file you downloaded, which must have SHA256SUMS next to it), --uninstall, --help.

Requirements

• macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later, on Apple silicon or Intel, or Linux x86_64 with a desktop session.
• Claude Code, Anthropic's command-line agent, installed and signed in. The chat runs on it, and Atech Atelier does not include it. Claude Code needs a Claude account that includes it; see Anthropic's setup page (https://code.claude.com/docs/en/setup) for which plans do.
• Linux only: FUSE to run AppImages directly (most desktops have it; the installer tells you if not), and optionally bubblewrap (bwrap) for the design sandbox (see below). On Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install bubblewrap.

Design scripts run in a sandbox. Every script the agent writes is built in a separate process that can't read your files, can't reach the network and can write only to that chat's own folder. On macOS this is the built-in macOS sandbox, and nothing needs to be installed. On Linux it's bubblewrap. Without bubblewrap the app still works, and tells you once what a design script can still reach.

Download by hand

From the Releases page, download the file for your computer and SHA256SUMS:

computer	file
Mac with Apple silicon (M1 and later)	AtechAtelier-<version>-macOS-arm64.dmg
Mac with an Intel processor	AtechAtelier-<version>-macOS-x86_64.dmg
Linux x86_64	AtechAtelier-<version>-x86_64.AppImage

(The files keep the earlier name, Atech Atelier, for now. 0.1.1 and earlier are Linux only.)

macOS: check the download, then open the disk image and drag the app to Applications:

shasum -a 256 -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS

If macOS says the app "cannot be opened" or that Apple "could not verify" it, that release was not notarized by Apple. Install it with bash install.sh --file <the .dmg> instead, which checks the same checksum and the app's signature.

Linux:

sha256sum -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS
chmod +x Atech*-x86_64.AppImage
./Atech*-x86_64.AppImage

Atech Atelier opens on its own workbench. The sidebar has a project picker at the top (open, recent and new projects), then 3D CAD (the chat with the agent) and Atech modules (the board). The app comes with ready-made example projects (24 of them: a toy car, a desk robot, a 4WD rover, a video doorbell, a mini arcade and more) in your projects folder. They are all on Home (the Atech logo, or Ctrl+0).

Set up Claude Code (once)

1. Install it

The installer recommended on Anthropic's setup page (https://code.claude.com/docs/en/setup):

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

It puts the claude command in ~/.local/bin/claude, the first place Atech AI CAD looks (on macOS too; Homebrew's /opt/homebrew/bin/claude and the common Node installs are also found). Check that it works:

claude --version

2. Sign in

claude auth login

Follow the steps it shows (it opens your browser). On an older Claude Code without claude auth, run claude, type /login, and /exit when done. Check it with:

claude auth status

Atech Atelier uses this same sign-in. It never asks for your password or an API key.

If you skip either step, the chat tells you what is missing and shows the same commands, as text you can copy, with a Retry button.

3. Build something

Type a request in the chat and press Enter. Before your first message is sent, the app shows what leaves your computer (below) and asks you to continue.

Atech modules

The Atech modules page and the Atech → New Project menu place real Atech hardware modules (the 14-port board and its plug-in modules) from the library inside the app. Nothing extra is downloaded. If the page says "Atech modules are missing from this installation", the download is incomplete: download it again.

Edit by hand

Not everything needs the chat. Press R (or the Edit shapes button in the view bar) and select a part:

• Add a shape: a box, cylinder, sphere, cone, torus or roof, 20 mm, set down beside the model.
• Type its size: width, depth and height in mm, with Keep proportions. This works for imported STEP, IGES, BREP and STL parts too.
• Place it: X and Y, and the elevation of its bottom; the arrow keys nudge it.
• Turn it 90°, or tilt it.
• Make it a hole, then Combine: holes are cut out of the solids, as in TinkerCAD.

Every change is one undo step (Ctrl+Z). Parts the design agent built change their sizes with Dimensions (D), so its next build keeps them.

Home: click the Atech logo, or press Ctrl+0, to see all your projects and the examples at any time. Esc goes back.

Privacy: what is sent, and what is stored

The chat runs Claude Code on your computer, signed in to your own Claude account. Atech does not run a server, and nothing goes to Atech.

Sent to Anthropic, through your Claude Code account, each time you send a chat message:

• what you type;
• a summary of the open document: its name, each solid's name, volume and size, the Atech board and modules on it, and what you have selected in the 3D view;
• any picture of the 3D view you attach with Add view or Ask about this view;
• the files the agent reads in that chat's own folder while it works: its design script, the pictures it renders of its own build to check it, the Atech reference files copied there, and what its build check (./check) prints, measurements included. The agent is started with that folder as its only working folder.

Claude Code also includes what it adds to any session, such as the chat folder's path and the name of your operating system. What Anthropic does with all of this is set by the terms of your Claude account.

Stored on your computer (Linux paths; on macOS, ~/.local/share/Atech AI CAD/ is ~/Library/Application Support/Atech Atelier/, ~/.config/Atech AI CAD/ is ~/Library/Preferences/Atech Atelier/, and the cache is under ~/Library/Caches/):

what	where
one folder per chat (design script, pictures)	~/.local/share/Atech Atelier/v1-1/agent/
the list of agent builds you accepted, and which chat belongs to which document	~/.local/share/Atech Atelier/v1-1/AcadAgent/, .../agent/sessions.json
the design script of every document the agent built into	inside that .FCStd file, wherever you save it
Agent Settings (engine, model, budget, claude path)	~/.config/acadagent/settings.json
app preferences (theme, layout)	~/.config/Atech Atelier/ and ~/.config/Atech/
cache	~/.cache/Atech Atelier/
Claude Code's own conversation history	~/.claude/ (managed by Claude Code)

Chat folders are kept until you delete them: Agent Settings → Clear old chat workspaces. To reset Atech Atelier completely, close it and delete the folders above.

Your normal FreeCAD installation, its settings and its addons are not touched: Atech Atelier keeps its own profile.

Common questions

Do I need Atech hardware to use Atech Atelier? No. It is a full CAD app on its own. The Atech board and modules are built in for when you want to design around them.

Where are WiFi and Bluetooth? On the board. Every Atech motherboard (the 14-port and the 10-port) carries an ESP32-S3, so WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0 LE come with the board itself. No extra radio module is needed. WiFi is 2.4 GHz only. A board talks to your computer or phone over WiFi or USB serial, with a simple JSON protocol.

Can I wire the modules myself, without the board? Yes. Every Atech port carries the same six lines: two data lines (DATA1, DATA2), GND, 3.3 V, 5 V and 12 V. A module only uses the lines it needs. You can connect one to your own ESP32 or other microcontroller with jumper wires: ground, the supply voltage the module needs, and its data line(s) to two GPIO pins. Before you power anything, check which pin is which on your module. We are still writing the public wiring guide, so ask us for the pinout of your module on Discord or at hello@atech.dev, and we will send it.

Does it work offline? The CAD side does: modelling, measuring and exporting all run on your computer. The chat needs the internet, because Claude Code runs on Anthropic's servers.

Which systems does it run on? macOS (Apple silicon and Intel, macOS 11 or later) and Linux x86_64. The same one-line installer works on both, and nothing is installed system-wide.

Is it free and open source? Yes. Atech's code is open source under the LGPL v3 (or later): anyone may use, change and share it, also commercially, as long as they credit Atech and FreeCAD. FreeCAD is LGPL2+. The Atech board and module 3D models are CC BY-NC 4.0. See Licences. The chat needs a Claude account that includes Claude Code.

Is this the app that was called Atech AI CAD? Yes. Version 0.1.2 showed the name Atech AI CAD inside the app; from 0.1.3 it is Atech Atelier everywhere again. The app, its profile folders and your projects never changed name, so nothing needs moving. (On first start it also copies an old Atech Studio profile across.)

How do I reach the team? Join the Atech Discord to meet other Atech builders, show what you made and get help. You can always mail anyone on the team (see atech.dev), or write to hello@atech.dev. Bugs and feature requests are also welcome as GitHub issues.

Troubleshooting

macOS: "cannot be opened", or Apple "could not verify" the app. The release you downloaded in a browser was not notarized by Apple. Install it with the installer instead (curl ... | bash above, or bash install.sh --file <the .dmg>). It checks the published checksum and the app's signature, and the app then opens normally.

macOS: "Terminal would like to manage apps" or "Operation not permitted" while installing or updating. macOS protects installed apps. Allow it once (System Settings → Privacy & Security → App Management), or quit Atech AI CAD and run the installer again.

"Permission denied" when starting. Run chmod +x on the file (see above).

"AppImages require FUSE to run" / libfuse.so.2 not found. Install FUSE 2 from your distribution (Ubuntu 24.04: sudo apt install libfuse2t64; Ubuntu 22.04: sudo apt install libfuse2), or run without FUSE:

./AtechAtelier-*-x86_64.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run

The chat says Claude Code is not found. Check claude --version in a terminal. If it works there but not in the app, the app does not see the same PATH (a shell function or alias does not count; on macOS, an app started from the Dock never reads your shell's PATH). Set the full path to the program in Agent Settings (for the official installer: ~/.local/bin/claude).

The chat says you are not signed in. Run claude auth login in a terminal, then press Retry in the chat.

The 3D view is empty on first start. Use Atech → Open Sample Crane to load the bundled example.

Anything else. Start the app from a terminal and keep what it prints. The Report view (View → Panels → Report view) also shows errors from inside the app.

Licences

Atech Atelier contains parts under different licences. Each applies only to its own files.

what	licence	text
Atech's code: the Atech workbench (addon/AcadAgent), the branding and build scripts	LGPL-3.0-or-later, with one added term: anyone who shares or sells it, or a product built on it, must credit Atech and FreeCAD	LICENSE, LICENSE-ATTRIBUTION.md
Atech board and module 3D models, and presets.yaml	CC BY-NC 4.0: share and adapt for non-commercial purposes, crediting Atech, keeping the notices, linking the licence and saying if you changed them	LICENSE-models.md
FreeCAD and the libraries it bundles	their own licences (FreeCAD: "LGPL2+", the GNU LGPL version 2 or any later version, per its LICENSE.html; its source files mostly carry LGPL-2.1-or-later)	FreeCAD's list: share/doc/FreeCAD/ThirdPartyLibraries.html; every package: packages.txt (Linux: at the image root; macOS: Contents/packages.txt); texts: share/doc/<package>/, share/licenses/, site-packages/*.dist-info/ in the app
third-party components Atech added (FreeCADMCP, Lucide, Feather, the AppImage type-2 runtime and the libraries it statically links), theme files derived from FreeCAD's own, and licence texts Atech adds for bundled libraries that lacked them	their own licences	share/doc/atech-atelier/third_party/ in the app

Building on Atech Atelier? You are welcome to, commercially too. Keep this line in your app's About or Credits screen and in your documentation (LICENSE-ATTRIBUTION.md has the exact terms):

Based on Atech Atelier by Atech (https://studio.atech.dev), built on FreeCAD (https://www.freecad.org).

Releases up to 0.1.2 were LGPL-2.1-or-later without this term.

Inside the app, share/doc/atech-atelier/ also holds CREDITS.md, SOURCE_OFFER.txt (where to get the source) and ATECH_CHANGES.txt (every file Atech added or changed compared with the upstream FreeCAD image, measured file by file). On a Mac that folder is in Atech Atelier.app/Contents/Resources/ (right-click the app, Show Package Contents). On Linux it is in usr/ inside the AppImage; to browse it without running the app, run ./AtechAtelier-*-x86_64.AppImage --appimage-extract and look under squashfs-root/usr/share/doc/.

Source code. Atech's own source is this repository. The complete corresponding source of FreeCAD and of every bundled copyleft (GPL, LGPL, MPL, EPL) library is attached to each release: freecad_source_<version>.tar.gz, the copyleft-sources-*.tar files (each library's upstream source plus its build recipe and patches) and SOURCES.md, which says what is where.

Claude Code is a proprietary Anthropic product. It is not part of Atech AI CAD: the app runs the copy you installed, under Anthropic's terms. Atech AI CAD is not endorsed by or affiliated with Anthropic.

The FreeCAD logo is a registered trademark (Benelux) of the FreeCAD Project Association AISBL (FPA), which holds the rights over commercial use of the FreeCAD name and logo. We use the FreeCAD name and the official, unaltered FreeCAD wordmark (top of this page, from the FPA's logo kit) only to say that Atech Atelier is built on FreeCAD and to link to freecad.org, as the FPA's brand guidelines and FreeCAD's licence page allow. It is not Atech's logo. These licences do not grant any right to use the names "Atech" or "Atech AI CAD" or the Atech logos except to describe where the software comes from.

Credits

Atech Atelier stands on FreeCAD. Thank you to the FreeCAD project and its community for the modeller, the geometry kernel integration and the whole application this is built on, and to the people behind Open CASCADE, Qt, Coin3D, Python and the many other open-source projects FreeCAD brings with it.

CREDITS.md lists the main projects we build on or ship (and every component Atech adds), with the version we ship, its licence and where its licence text is in the app; packages.txt at the image root lists all 326 bundled packages. In the app: Help → Credits & Open-Source Licences (also in the Atech menu).

Building from source

The AppImage is assembled from the official FreeCAD 1.1.3 AppImage (fetched from FreeCAD's GitHub release and checked against a pinned sha256), the Atech workbench and branding in this repository, and the Atech module library. FreeCAD itself is not recompiled.

./branding/build_appimage.sh --tree-only   # build and verify the app folder
./branding/build_appimage.sh               # ...and pack it into dist/AtechAtelier-<version>-x86_64.AppImage
dist/build/squashfs-root/AppRun            # run the built folder directly

On a Mac, the same app is built from FreeCAD's official macOS release (its disk image is pinned by sha256 in branding/upstream.env, and the build refuses it unless the FreeCAD Project Association's signature on it is valid):

./branding/build_macos.sh --app-only       # build, verify, sign and smoke-test the .app
./branding/build_macos.sh                  # ...and the disk image dist/AtechAtelier-<version>-macOS-<arch>.dmg

Without a Developer ID the app is ad-hoc signed. Set ATECH_MAC_SIGN_IDENTITY and ATECH_NOTARY_PROFILE to sign it with your Developer ID and have Apple notarize it (see ./branding/build_macos.sh --help).

Packing needs appimagetool. The build also needs python3 with numpy, Pillow and scipy, inkscape, curl, and the Atech module library (--artifacts DIR). The build checks itself and fails loudly when anything is missing. See branding/README.md for every option and dependency.