nurb

nurb

Describe-it CAD for 3D printing

WHO USES ITMakers with a 3D printer · Hobbyists who never learned CAD · Developers using AI agents

Install to use

Describe a part in words; AI models a real CAD solid, checks printability, exports a 3MF.

★ 539▲ 2 HNAs of 09-16 21:00 UTC

539 stars · checked on GitHub 09-15 19:35 UTC GitHub check 30 h late · no 7-day star increase observed (GH Archive) (as of 09-16 21:00 UTC) · 2 Show HN points observed 09-13 14:48 UTC

BACK CATALOG

The nurb app: project rail, agent chat, and the live 3D viewer showing a part

TESIGN TAKE

The bottleneck in AI CAD is not modelling but knowing whether it will print, and nurb turns that check into a tool.

AT A GLANCE

WHY IT MATTERS

A nurb part is not a mesh but a true B-rep solid on the OCCT kernel (via build123d), so chamfers and fillets are real operations and STEP export opens in Fusion or FreeCAD. Because the AI cannot see, `nurb check` runs thirteen printability rules — overhangs, thin walls, floating regions, warp risk and more — against the exact solid and pins each finding to the face it fired on. It runs locally with the AI subscription you already have, with no account or cloud.

BUILD FROM THIS

Set up a personal workflow where you measure a hose adapter or shelf bracket and order it in words, or put `nurb check --strict` in CI to gate a parametric parts library on printability.

WHO IT'S FOR

Makers with a 3D printer: design and print custom parts by describing them
Hobbyists who never learned CAD: adjust dimensions with sliders and print variants
Developers using AI agents: keep parts as Python functions and build, check and export from the CLI

START IN 5 MINUTES

# Mac app: download nurb.dmg (Apple silicon) or nurb-intel.dmg from GitHub Releases
# curl -fsSL https://nurb.dev/install.sh | sh   # one-line install (uv, nurb and the agent skill)
# # or: uv tool install nurb   (or pip install nurb) — then add the skill separately with the next line
# npx skills add shpigford/nurb --skill nurb   # installs the agent skill
# nurb update   # upgrades nurb and the installed agent skill together

CAVEATS

Licence is FSL-1.1-MIT (confirmed from the LICENSE file): source-available for any purpose except building a competing product, converting to MIT two years after each release. It is not a conventional open-source licence, so read the terms before commercial use. The first build takes about 45 seconds while the CAD kernel loads; `nurb slice` needs OrcaSlicer or Bambu Studio installed; only `nurb render` needs a browser (Playwright chromium). Support for platforms other than the Mac app is [확인 필요]. Free; you supply your own AI subscription.

RECEIPT

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Up to five from HARDWARE by ★ total: edited entries first, then repository cards; this entry is highlighted. Drawn from the same stored snapshot as the rankings — a comparison, not a recommendation. As of 09-16 21:00 UTC

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