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Kindred Create
An engineering-focused parametric 3D CAD platform built on FreeCAD 1.0+
Website • FreeCAD Documentation • FreeCAD Forum
MVP Release - Kindred Create is currently in active development. Features and interfaces may change.
Overview
Kindred Create is a fork of FreeCAD 1.0+ that integrates custom workbenches and tooling for professional engineering workflows. It combines the power of FreeCAD's parametric modeling with purpose-built extensions for part design, assembly management, and parts database integration.
Key additions over base FreeCAD:
- ztools Workbench - Unified interface consolidating part design, assembly, and drawing tools with custom engineering features
- Silo Integration - Parts database system for tracking, versioning, and managing CAD files across teams
- Catppuccin Mocha Theme - Dark theme optimized for extended work sessions
Kindred Create is maintained by Kindred Systems LLC.
Features
ztools Workbench
The ztools workbench provides a unified interface that consolidates functionality from multiple FreeCAD workbenches while adding custom engineering-oriented tools.
Consolidated Toolbars (17 total)
ztools exposes commands from PartDesign, Sketcher, Assembly, and Spreadsheet workbenches through a single unified interface:
- Structure & Sketcher Tools - Body/Sketch creation, editing, mapping, validation
- PartDesign Datums - Planes, lines, points, coordinate systems, binders, clones
- Additive Features - Pad, revolution, loft, pipe, helix, and primitives
- Subtractive Features - Pocket, hole, groove, loft, pipe, helix, and primitives
- Transformations - Mirror, linear pattern, polar pattern, multi-transform
- Dress-Up Features - Fillet, chamfer, draft, thickness
- Boolean Operations - Union, intersection, difference
- Assembly Tools - Create assembly, insert link, insert new part
- Assembly Joints - 13 joint types (fixed, revolute, cylindrical, slider, ball, distance, parallel, perpendicular, angle, rack-pinion, screw, gears, belt)
- Assembly Management - Toggle grounded, solve, create view, create BOM, export
- Spreadsheet Tools - Create, import, export, aliases, merge/split cells
Custom Datum Tools
ztools includes a custom datum creation system with 16 creation modes, using a purpose-built attachment system that stores geometry references for reliable parametric updates.
Datum Planes (7 modes):
- Offset from Face - Distance offset perpendicular to a face
- Offset from Plane - Distance offset from an existing datum plane
- Midplane - Plane equidistant between two parallel faces
- 3 Points - Plane defined by three vertices
- Normal to Edge - Plane perpendicular to an edge at a specified parameter
- Angled - Plane rotated about an edge by a specified angle
- Tangent to Cylinder - Plane tangent to a cylindrical surface
Datum Axes (4 modes):
- 2 Points - Axis through two vertices
- From Edge - Axis aligned with a linear edge
- Cylinder Center - Axis at the center of a cylindrical face
- Plane Intersection - Axis at the intersection of two planes
Datum Points (5 modes):
- At Vertex - Point at a selected vertex
- XYZ Coordinates - Point at absolute coordinates
- On Edge - Point at a parameter along an edge
- Face Center - Point at the centroid of a face
- Circle Center - Point at the center of a circular edge
Custom Pattern Tools
- Rotated Linear Pattern - Linear pattern with incremental rotation per instance
- Assembly Linear Pattern - Pattern assembly components linearly with spacing control
- Assembly Polar Pattern - Pattern assembly components around a rotation axis
Enhanced Pocket
SOLIDWORKS-style "Flip Side to Cut" feature that removes material outside the sketch profile instead of inside, using boolean operations internally.
Spreadsheet Formatting Tools
Dark-theme compatible formatting commands for spreadsheets:
- Bold, italic, underline toggles
- Left, center, right alignment
- Background and text color pickers
- Quick alias creation from cell labels
Silo Parts Database
Silo is a parts database system designed for managing CAD files, part numbers, and revision history across engineering teams.
Architecture:
- Server Daemon - Go-based REST API server
- PostgreSQL - Relational data storage for part metadata, relationships, and revision history
- MinIO - S3-compatible object storage for CAD file versioning
- FreeCAD Workbench - Integrated commands for check-in, check-out, and synchronization
Core Capabilities:
- Configurable part numbering schemas defined in YAML
- Full revision history with status tracking (draft, review, released, obsolete)
- Bill of materials management with relationship types and quantities
- Project-based organization and tagging
- CSV import/export for bulk operations
- Web interface for browsing and searching parts
FreeCAD Integration:
- Open, save, and commit files directly to Silo
- Pull latest revisions and push changes
- View item metadata and revision history
Silo documentation is available in the mods/silo/ directory.
Catppuccin Mocha Theme
A comprehensive dark theme using the Catppuccin Mocha color palette, applied across:
- Main window, toolbars, and menus
- 3D viewport backgrounds and selection colors
- Sketch editor colors for edges, vertices, and constraints
- Python console and code editor syntax highlighting
- Spreadsheet backgrounds and text
- Property editor and tree view
- All dialog and widget styling
The theme is automatically applied when using Kindred Create.
Installing
Prebuilt Binaries
Prebuilt packages for Linux are available on the releases page.
Building from Source
Kindred Create uses the same build system as FreeCAD. Build instructions for each platform:
Usage
Getting Started
Kindred Create is compatible with standard FreeCAD workflows. The FreeCAD wiki provides documentation on general usage:
ztools Workbench
The ztools workbench is available from the workbench selector. On activation, it presents consolidated toolbars and applies the Catppuccin Mocha theme to spreadsheets.
Silo Setup
Silo requires a running server instance with PostgreSQL and MinIO. See mods/silo/README.md for server deployment instructions.
Configure the FreeCAD workbench with environment variables:
SILO_API_URL- Silo server API endpoint (default:http://localhost:8080/api)SILO_PROJECTS_DIR- Local projects directory (default:~/projects)
Project Structure
kindred-create/
├── src/ # FreeCAD core source
├── Mod/ # FreeCAD modules
├── mods/ # Kindred Create addon modules (git submodules)
│ ├── ztools/ # ztools workbench
│ │ ├── ztools/ # Workbench package
│ │ │ ├── InitGui.py # Workbench registration
│ │ │ └── ztools/ # Commands and resources
│ │ └── CatppuccinMocha/ # Theme preference pack
│ └── silo/ # Silo parts database
│ ├── cmd/ # Go entry points
│ ├── internal/ # Go packages
│ ├── pkg/freecad/ # FreeCAD workbench
│ └── deployments/ # Docker configuration
└── resources/ # Branding and preferences
├── branding/ # Splash screens and logos
└── preferences/ # Default preference packs
The mods/ztools and mods/silo directories are git submodules. After cloning, initialize them with:
git submodule update --init --recursive
Reporting Issues
When reporting issues:
- Specify whether the issue is with Kindred Create additions (ztools, Silo, theme) or base FreeCAD functionality
- Include version info from
Help > About FreeCAD > Copy to clipboard - Provide steps to reproduce the issue
- Attach example files if applicable (FCStd as ZIP)
For base FreeCAD issues, consider also checking the FreeCAD issue tracker.
License
Kindred Create is licensed under the LGPL-2.1-or-later license, consistent with FreeCAD.
Acknowledgments
Kindred Create is built on FreeCAD, an open-source parametric 3D modeler. We acknowledge the FreeCAD community and contributors for their foundational work.
Underlying Technology:
- OpenCASCADE - Geometry kernel
- Coin3D - 3D scene representation
- Qt - GUI framework
- Python - Scripting and workbench development
- Catppuccin - Color palette