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PythonSCAD v1.0.0 "impletio" released

Hi everyone,

We are thrilled to announce PythonSCAD v1.0.0 — our biggest release so far. This version marks a milestone: PythonSCAD has grown from a promising OpenSCAD fork with Python support into a mature, first-class tool for script-based 3D modeling. We have landed 83 pull requests since v0.20.0, covering everything from fundamental API architecture to a real IPython shell, native vector math, a completely refreshed Windows experience, full rebranding, and dozens of bug fixes.

API

We have again worked hard on improving what you can do in your design code.

Polyline improvements

Polylines now participate correctly in difference() and intersection() operations (PR #572), and polyline preview has been improved (PR #575). After this fix, PythonSCAD is a great choice to "select" given areas from given imported 2D files and place correctly for an upcoming laser-cut. Polylines also work in 3D world, where they are a great choice to annotate direction vectors or even dimension arrows.

solid.c color property

A new read-only .c property on solid objects (PR #562) exposes the RGBA color of the root color() wrapper as a (r, g, b, a) tuple — useful for reading back colors from a colored solid in Python code.

Native vector operations

Solid geometry objects now support arithmetic operators directly (PR #588): addition (+), subtraction (-), scaling (*), dot product, and cross product. This makes geometric expressions in Python feel natural without needing to call helper functions for every operation. Any Vector returned by PythonSCAD supports these calculations. For others simply use the vector() function.

from pythonscad import *
c=cube(10,center=True)
vec1=c.position
vec2=vector(4,5,6)
print(vec1)
print(vec2)
print(vec1+vec2)
print(vec1.norm()) # vector size

New + operator for union (#658)

We've added a new + operator which allows you to union objects:

from pythonscad import *
show(cube(10) + sphere(5))

It is an alias for the already existing | operator. You can continue to use - for difference and % for minkowski as before.

MultiToolExporter

A new MultiToolExporter helper in the pythonscad module (PR #585) makes it straightforward to split a single model into multiple per-tool or per-color output files — a common need for multi-material or laser-cut workflows:

from pythonscad import *

background = cube([200, 100, 1]).color("blue")
star       = cylinder(r=20, h=2, fn=5).translate([100, 50, -0.5]).color("red")

exporter = MultiToolExporter("out/flag-", ".stl", mkdir=True)
exporter.append(("blue", background))  # blue part, minus the star area
exporter.append(("red",  star))        # red part (later entries win)
exporter.export()
# writes out/flag-blue.stl and out/flag-red.stl

# Or: one 3MF file with two named parts
export(dict(exporter.parts()), "flag.3mf")

Later entries "win" over earlier ones, so overlapping volume is assigned to exactly one output file.

Dynamic oversampling (new)

A new dynamic oversampling mode (PR #554) basically remeshes existing solids to a finer grid. Main purpose so far is to bake any texture onto the shape. The second parameter is the target grid to lay the texture on. Many different projection modes are possible, whereas triplanar might be the best starting point.

from pythonscad import *

model=cube([10,4,4],center=True) | cube([4,10,4], center=True) | cylinder(r=3,h=5,fn=20)


textured = oversample(
    model, 0.1, texture="../image/smiley.png", projection="triplanar",
    texturewidth=2, textureheight=2, texturedepth=0.2
)
textured.show()

Clean Python module layout: openscad / pythonscad / _openscad (new, breaking)

v1.0.0 restructures the Python surface into three distinct modules (PR #579):

  • _openscad — the C extension (renamed from openscad). Rarely imported directly; it is the engine room.
  • openscad — a pure-Python overlay that re-exports _openscad 1:1. The home for OpenSCAD-compatible additions and future per-symbol deprecation notices.
  • pythonscad — a pure-Python overlay that re-exports openscad 1:1. The home for PythonSCAD-only features.

The drop-in guarantee: openscad.cube is _openscad.cube and pythonscad.cube is openscad.cube, so switching between from openscad import * and from pythonscad import * requires no other code change. All three modules are shipped in the pip wheel, each with a PEP 561 type-stub package (-stubs/) so IDEs can provide autocompletion for whichever import style you prefer.

New scripts and templates use from pythonscad import *. Existing designs using from openscad import * continue to work unmodified.

This is an internal change, but it is very important for the future of the project, as it allows us to add new Python features written in pure Python without needing to implement anything with the more cumbersome Python C API (like the MultiToolExporter mentioned above).

Note: As some new features which are exclusive to PythonSCAD will only be added to the pythonscad package, we recommend everyone to switch to from pythonscad import *.

Note: The C extension rename from openscad to _openscad is a breaking change for code that imported openscad directly as a C extension (not via the overlay). Any code using from openscad import * is unaffected though.

UI improvements

Inline Python trust bar

The blocking modal trust dialog that appeared before you could even read a Python file has been replaced with a non-intrusive inline bar above the editor (PR #667). You can now open, scroll, and review a file before deciding to trust it. The bar appears at the top of the editor (pushing the text down, never overlapping it), Preview and Render are disabled until trust is granted, and once you click "Trust Design" the customizer populates immediately.

External-editor workflows are smoother too: if you edit a trusted file in VS Code while PythonSCAD is open, it auto-trusts on reload without asking again.

Bugfixes and improvements to session management

A feature we introduced in the last release is session management. You might have seen it in programs like Visual Studio Code or Notepad++ already. When session management is enabled, PythonSCAD will automatically save all open tabs with all their changes to a session file when you close the program. When you start PythonSCAD again, it will automatically restore all tabs with all their unsaved changes. So no more annoying "Do you want to save Untitled.py?" popups when closing the program. No more "PythonSCAD is preventing Windows from shutting down."

You close the program and when you come back everything is just as you left it.

On top of that this also adds periodic autosave. So in case PythonSCAD crashes, or during a power failure, you won't lose more than a minute of work.

Note: In v0.20.0 where session management was first introduced, it was disabled by default. As it is now stable enough, we enabled it by default in v1.0.0. But this means if you've ever used v0.20.0 you need to enable session management in "Edit > Preferences > Advanced > User Interface".

Real IPython shell (--ipython) and basic REPL (--repl) (new)

pythonscad --ipython now launches a genuine IPython interactive shell — the same rich In [N]: prompt, tab completion, history, and magic commands you get from the ipython command itself (PR #600). IPython is bundled inside the AppImage, macOS .app, and Windows installer so it is available out of the box without any extra pip install.

$ pythonscad --ipython
In [1]: from pythonscad import *
In [2]: cube(10).color("Tomato")

For a lighter, dependency-free prompt, the new --repl flag opens the basic embedded Python REPL. Distro packages (.deb, .rpm) declare python3-ipython as a recommended dependency rather than bundling it, keeping the package footprint small.

Title bar shows full path (new)

The main window title bar now displays the absolute file path of the open design (PR #576), so it's always clear exactly which file you're editing when working across multiple directories.

More PythonSCAD rebrand (new)

With v1.0.0, PythonSCAD is more thoroughly rebranded throughout (PRs #661, #669, #672, #676, #684, #686): About dialog, application metadata, desktop file IDs, localization strings, homepage URLs, and the macOS dock icon all show PythonSCAD consistently. Hopefully there are no more leftover "OpenSCAD" references in unexpected places.

Platform support

New Linux platform support

Pre-built packages are now available for Fedora 44 and Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (PR #624).

Windows improvements

v1.0.0 brings a significantly better Windows experience:

  • Per-user installer with on-demand UAC (PR #696): The installer no longer requires administrator rights by default. A "Just for me / For all users" page lets you choose. UAC elevation only fires if you explicitly request an all-users install — a UAC shield icon on the Next button signals when elevation will be requested.

  • Code-signed Windows installer (PR #703): The Windows installer is now signed with a Certum code-signing certificate (CN=Open Source Developer Michael Postmann), so Windows SmartScreen will recognize it as coming from a known publisher and will no longer show the "Windows protected your PC" error message.

  • MSIX package (PR #638): A Windows Store–style .msix package is now produced alongside the traditional NSIS installer and ZIP archive. The MSIX Package is signed as well. For the time being both the installer and the MSIX package will be supported.

PythonSCAD is now available on PyPI

PythonSCAD v1.0.0 is now available on PyPI, so you can install it with pip install pythonscad and get the latest version. This version will not have a GUI, but combined with the export() function, you can have self-contained projects where you just deliver your Python design file combined with a requirements.txt file that lists pythonscad as a dependency.

Users could then create a Python virtual environment:

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python design.py

Which would render your design into an output file. Great for automation.

Note: Be aware, though, that in this first iteration we do not yet provide pre-built wheels. This means that the pip install command will likely take 20+ minutes (depending on your machine of course). Also you're going to need a lot of build-dependencies installed on your system. The easiest way is to clone the repository and then run scripts/get-dependencies.py which will install all required dependencies for you. We are working on providing pre-built wheels for one of the next releases, which will make installation much faster and easier.

Reliability and bug fixes

v1.0.0 includes a large number of stability and correctness fixes across the board:

  • Resize now behaves consistently across all cases (#557).
  • Fillet calculation corrected (#625).
  • SVG import: title handling and osimport:stroke parameter fixed (#570, #577).
  • Session restore now persists per-window geometry (#627) and the macOS IPC socket name is shortened to fit system limits (#640).
  • Console output from compile and parse operations is now routed correctly to the console widget (#643).
  • Python binding robustness: multiple memory leaks, UB, and error-handling gaps resolved (#603, #608, #610, #611, #619).
  • CSG tree: missing CONCAT case in switch handled (#653).
  • Startup crash and double file dialog from the welcome screen fixed (#695).
  • Fontconfig 2.18.0 app-font scoring regression worked around (#691).
  • macOS: deprecated kUTTypePNG API replaced, dock icon corrected, theme mismatch in preferences fixed (#651, #675).
  • --define on the command line now works during animation too (#699).
  • Welcome dialog New button restored when Python support is disabled (#637).

Upstream changes

We have merged all changes from OpenSCAD into our codebase to bring in the latest bug fixes and enhancements from the upstream project (#559, #583).

Downloads

Pre-built packages are available for Linux (AppImage, .deb, .rpm), macOS (DMG), and Windows (installer, ZIP, and MSIX):

https://pythonscad.org/downloads/

As always, we would love to hear from you — feedback and bug reports are very welcome!