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Panels in Detail

⚙ Settings Panel

The panel is scrollable — all sections are accessible even in a small dock window.

QUICK START

Three profile buttons set template, temperature, mode and thinking to proven values with one click:

🎯 FreeCAD Code – Part-Script template, temperature 0.2, expert mode
💬 Explanation – Python Expert template, temperature 0.7, beginner mode
🧠 Thinking – Part-Script template + Extended Thinking (Anthropic only)

AI SOURCE

AI source select (dropdown with all 19 providers)
🔄 Reload models – fetch a fresh model list from the provider
🔌 Connection test – checks without an AI request whether Ollama is reachable or an API key is stored; result appears as a label below the model box

PRESET

Menu button ("── Choose preset ──"): the ★ Quick presets appear at the top level, all other categories (🔧 Code · ⚡ FC: Performance · 🧱 FreeCAD: Create · 🔍 FreeCAD: Analyse · 📦 FreeCAD: Extend) as submenus.

MODEL PARAMETERS

Temperature 0.0–2.0 (recommended: 0.0–0.3 for code, 0.5–0.8 for documentation)
Top-P · Top-K · Max Tokens · Context — all values are saved per model and loaded automatically on switch

MODE

🟢 Beginner – detailed explanations in plain language
🔵 Expert – concise, technical responses
Selection is automatically restored on the next start

COLOUR SCHEME

🌙 Dark / ☀ Light – switches all colours immediately, selection is saved

API KEYS

Enter & auto-save API key per provider
Alternative: enter file:/path/to/key-file → key is read from the file at runtime

SYSTEM PROMPT ADDITION

Free text field for custom instructions to the AI
📋 button opens a template menu with predefined prompts:
- 🧱 FreeCAD Part-Script (forces Part.makeBox + .cut(), no Part::Cut)
- 🤖 FreeCAD AI FC14 JSON Tools (for JSON tool-calling with FC14)
- 🐍 Python Expert (standard)
- 🔍 Code Analysis
- 📐 Parametric Model
- 🛡 Security Review
The template can be edited directly in the field after loading
If the text starts with "You are" → it replaces the base prompt entirely
Otherwise → it is appended to the base prompt

RETENTION

Max. sessions – maximum number of stored chat sessions

AUTO-INSERT

When active: AI response is automatically inserted at the found position after stream end (equivalent to manually clicking ➕ Insert)

THINKING (ANTHROPIC)

Off (default) – normal mode
On – Extended Thinking with 8,000 budget tokens; temperature and top_p are automatically omitted (API requirement)
Only effective with Anthropic models

🤖 AI Panel

One combined field for input and response, subdivided internally by labels only:
- ❓ Question: at the top – enter a question or task freely (overrides the selected preset)
- Code block: below – paste code to analyse or edit (type /snippetname → snippet autocomplete opens)
- AI response: at the bottom – response appears live-streamed; same green background as the input areas, separated only by the label
- All three areas are freely resizable — drag the boundary between them with the mouse
- Question + code block are sent to the AI together on 🤖 Ask
Project context – collapsible section (▶ 📌) at the bottom of the panel; its content is sent with every AI call as background information. Collapsed by default so the input and response fields get the full panel height
Search/Replace (Ctrl+F) – directly in the panel
💾 Save session – save chat history + AI response + provider as .json
📂 Load session – restore a saved session
🧹 Reset history – clears the entire chat history and display
Chat history with automatic compacting

🎛 Actions Panel

All action buttons at a glance, grouped into sections:

Search field / AI input

Button	Function
📥 Load	Load selected code from editor into AI input field
🔍 Mark	Search & highlight AI input field content in editor
🗑 Clear	Empty the AI input field

AI Actions

Button	Function
🤖 Ask	Query the AI (with current preset); turns into ⏹ Stop while streaming to cancel the request
🔎 Analyse	Explain entire code immediately (no selection needed)
🔍 Plan	Plan mode – display and confirm AI response before inserting
✅ Replace	Replace highlighted block with AI response
➕ Insert	Append AI response after the highlighted block
👁 Preview	Run AI response (or editor code) directly in FreeCAD → embedded 3D viewport opens as an editor tab (▶ Run turns into ⏹ Stop while running)

Running your own editor code: press F5 (whole macro) or F9 (selected lines only) — no button needed. Press F5 again to abort a running execution.

File

Button	Function
💾 Save	Save current file
💾✕ Save & close	Save and close tab
↺ Reload	Reload file (discards unsaved changes)
↩ Backup	Load newest .bak backup into editor

Editor

Button	Function
☰ Select all	Select all code
✕ Delete	Delete selection
✨ autopep8 / 🪄 Indent	Auto-format code

Library

Button	Function
📚 Save	Save current editor content to the macro library
🤖📚 AI→Lib	Save the AI response to the macro library (flagged as AI-generated)

Navigation (jump to line, code tree, bookmarks), Edit & Check and Cleanup live in the 🔧 Tools panel — see below.

🧩 Snippets & API Panel

📦 Snippets and 💡 API Hints share one panel with two sub-tabs (open it via the 🧩 toolbar button, then switch between the sub-tabs).

📦 Snippets (sub-tab)

Local (Offline)

Categories: Document · Part · Sketcher · Mesh · Draft · PartDesign
Click snippet → preview appears
↪ Into editor or double-click → insert at cursor position
📋 Copy → to clipboard

Custom Snippets

Select code in editor → 💾 Save selected code as snippet
Enter a name → appears under ⭐ My Snippets
Saved permanently in FreeCAD settings

Online (GitHub)

Loads real FreeCAD macros directly from the official FreeCAD GitHub repo
Preview loaded asynchronously (no UI freeze)
Preview cache (max. 50 entries) for fast re-display

Quick access in AI input field

Type / → popup opens automatically
Continue typing to filter the list live
Enter or click → snippet is loaded into the input field

💡 API Hints (sub-tab)

Offline quick reference for all important FreeCAD Python commands:

App · Part · Sketcher · Mesh · Draft · Placement · Selection · GUI/View
Search field: multiple words at once (e.g. part shape, mesh vector)
Click a command → description appears below
📋 Copy signature → paste directly into editor or AI input field

📂 File Browser

Freely resizable (drag the panel edge)
Navigation: ⬆ folder up · 🏠 home directory · 📁 macro folder — compact icon buttons with tooltips; the path field sits on its own full-width row below (Enter jumps to the path)
Filter: .py only / .FCMacro only / all files
Double-click: .py/.FCMacro → open in editor · other files → copy path
Right-click on a file/folder → context menu: 📂 open in editor · 📁 navigate here · 🗂 set as macro path · 📄 new file here · 📋 copy path · ★ bookmark
Bookmarks: ☆ button → remember folder

🧰 Tools & Library Panel

🛠 Tools and 📚 Library share one panel with two sub-tabs (open it via the 🧰 toolbar button, then switch between the 🛠 KI-Tools and 📚 Library sub-tabs).

🛠 KI-Tools (sub-tab)

Contains three sections as collapsible areas:

📄 FreeCAD Document Context Current document state (objects, types, placement) is automatically appended to every AI prompt. → The AI "sees" what is currently open in FreeCAD.

🛠 Direct Tools Predefined, safe FreeCAD operations — no coding required:

Tool	Parameters
Create primitive	Type (Box/Cylinder/Sphere/Cone/Torus), dimensions, position
Boolean operation	Type (Cut/Fuse/Common), base object, tool object
Set placement	Object name, X/Y/Z, rotation axis, rotation angle
List objects	— (shows all objects + TypeId)
Run macro	Free Python code as fallback

Every operation runs inside a FreeCAD undo transaction → fully reversible. Result buttons: ▶ Run · 📥 Into editor · ➕ Append

📋 Log All executions with timestamp, ✅/❌ status and output. 🗑 Clear button.

📚 Library (sub-tab)

See Macro Library for details.

🔧 Tools Panel

Code tree: all def/class listed automatically → double-click jumps to definition

Navigation

Function	Description
Jump to line	Enter line number → Enter
Bookmarks	＋ set · ↑↓ navigate · 🗑 delete

Edit & Check

Button	Function
→ Indent / ← Unindent	Indent/unindent selection by 4 spaces
# Toggle	Add or remove comment character
⧉ Duplicate	Duplicate selection/line
✂ Delete	Delete selection/line
⬆ / ⬇ Move	Move line(s) up/down
ABC / abc / Abc	Transform case
↺ Statistics	Lines, comments, def, class, import, characters
▶ Syntax check	Check Python syntax → error location with line number

Cleanup

Button	Function
␣ Trailing spaces	Remove whitespace at end of lines
⬜ Max 2 blank lines	Trim more than 2 consecutive blank lines
¶ Trailing blank lines	Remove blank lines at end of file
Remove BOM	Remove UTF-8 byte-order mark from file

♿ Help+Access Panel

One dock with four tabs: 🤝 Assist. (interactive assistant) · 🔧 Helper (dyslexia assistant + vision) · ♿ Access (accessibility settings) · ❓ Help (built-in documentation). The individual tabs are described below.

❓ Help Tab

Searchable, collapsible built-in documentation covering all panels, workflows, shortcuts and known limitations. The search field filters sections live — matching sections expand automatically.

🔧 Helper Panel (Accessibility & Vision)

A chat tab (in the ♿ Help+Access dock) with two functions:

Dyslexia Assistant

Convert freely written text (spelling errors OK) into a clean FreeCAD description:

i need a box with hole to screw on the wall
→ AI corrects → "A rectangular bracket with mounting hole for wall attachment"

Real-time spell checking while typing (using pyspellchecker)
Diff view of corrections (red = removed, green = added)
Result can be transferred directly into the editor

Send Text + Image to AI (Vision)

📎 Attach image – file dialog with provider-specific formats
📋 From clipboard – Ctrl+V or button
Drag & Drop – drag image file directly into the input field
Thumbnail preview with image size display and ✕ button
Warning when the selected model does not support vision
Allowed formats are loaded automatically per provider (no hardcoding)

Provider	Vision models	Formats
Ollama (Local)	llava, bakllava, moondream, minicpm-v	JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP
Anthropic (Claude)	claude-3+	JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP
OpenAI (ChatGPT)	gpt-4o, gpt-4-turbo	JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP
Gemini (Google)	gemini-1.5+	JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, HEIC + more
OpenRouter (Cloud)	model-dependent	JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP

⚠ Error Panel

One single surface (no page switching): output, runtime errors and the test sandbox share the same field. Buttons: 🧪 Test · 🔧 AI fix · 🔍 Translate ⇄ 🔙 Original (in place) · 🐛 AI explains · 🗑 Clear.

See Error Panel & Sandbox / Backup System for details.

🎤 Voice Control Panel

Operate the workbench by voice — fully local and offline (Vosk + PulseAudio), no external provider. Navigate panels, trigger actions, and dictate text into the editor or the AI question field. Click 🎤 Zuhören or press F4; it stops automatically at the speech pause (no key to hold). Three big mode buttons switch between 🧭 Befehle, ✍ Editor and ✍ KI.

See Voice Control for the full command list and setup.

🤝 Assistant Panel

An interactive step-by-step assistant with two modes:

Normal Help Mode

Answers questions about the editor and highlights the relevant buttons and panels directly.

Usage:

Click 🤝 Assist. in the toolbar
Type a question in the input field, e.g.:
- "how do I translate an error?"
- "how do I set up Ollama?"
- "how do I use plan mode?"
Press ❓ Ask or Enter
The AI responds in numbered steps
The mentioned panels/buttons light up automatically in sequence (2.2 s interval) – closed panels open automatically

Notes:

Works with the currently selected AI provider (⚙ Settings)
For Ollama (local) a compact system prompt is used — for cloud providers the more detailed one
🗑 Clear history empties the chat display

🔤 Technical Language Mode (Natural Language → FreeCAD Terminology)

Toggle at the top of the Assistant panel → the assistant translates free-form descriptions into structured FreeCAD terminology.

Why this is useful: Ollama produces significantly more reliable code when given structured terminology as input instead of free-form text. Technical language mode is the first step in the two-stage workflow:

[Technical language mode ON]
Input:   "Sphere 30mm radius. Cylinder 10mm radius 60mm height through the centre"
Output:
  Part::Sphere Radius=30 mm, centre at origin.
  Part::Cylinder Radius=10 mm, Height=60 mm, Placement.Base=App.Vector(0, 0, -30).
  Part::Cut: Base=sphere, Tool=cylinder.

[Technical language mode OFF]
Paste this terminology into the FC11 input field → generate code

The terminology can be reviewed and corrected before being passed on.

♿ Accessibility Panel

Adjustments for visual impairment, motor difficulties, and personal preferences. All settings are saved and automatically restored on the next start.

👁 Visual

Setting	Function
UI font size (slider 8–24 pt)	Adjust font size of all labels live
Editor font size (slider 8–24 pt)	Adjust font size in the code editor
High contrast	All UI elements: white on black (overrides the theme)
Icons with text	Toolbar buttons show emoji + short name, e.g. `⚙ Settings` instead of just `⚙`

🖐 Motor

Setting	Function
Button size Normal / Large / Extra large	Height of all buttons: 26 / 34 / 42 px
Keyboard mode	Alt+1 to Alt+0 open the panels; shortcut shown in tooltip
Simple view	Hides rarely used panels from the toolbar

💬 Plain Language

Setting	Function
AI responds in plain language	AI uses short sentences, avoids jargon
Explain technical terms automatically	AI explains terms it uses immediately after
Keep AI responses shorter	Compact answers without long explanations

⚙ General

Setting	Function
Tooltips always visible	Tooltip appears immediately on hover (no delay)
Reduce animations	Button highlight lasts 300 ms instead of 1,800 ms