Vcad: Free BRep CAD in the Browser • Hacker News Board

Re: Vcad: Free BRep CAD in the Browser

#21

Post by ecto » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 11:21 PM UTC

fainpul wrote: post #4

Vibe coded? Nothing works.

I just built it last night, what bugs are you running into?

Re: Vcad: Free BRep CAD in the Browser

#22

Post by ecto » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 11:21 PM UTC

ikeough1 wrote: post #5

And now you know why CAD is hard.

its not really

Re: Vcad: Free BRep CAD in the Browser

#23

Post by ecto » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 11:22 PM UTC

RobotToaster wrote: post #3

This seems to have the same weakness as OpenSCAD, no relative positioning.

I added this to the kernel but it isn't exposed to the UI yet. What is your use case? id love to support it

Re: Vcad: Free BRep CAD in the Browser

#24

Post by ecto » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 11:22 PM UTC

witherk wrote: post #2

Nice UI. Pretty cool to see a CAD program in the browser, without even an annoying login to try screen. On the other hands it seems to be pretty choppy and I was visual artifacts about 5 seconds into the tutorial. I got the same artifacts in Zen and Chrome.

Thanks for the feedback, I will test in other browsers!

Re: Vcad: Free BRep CAD in the Browser

#25

Post by ecto » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 11:23 PM UTC

phcreery wrote: post #7

Why is right/middle click both orbit and pan? Why is scroll wheel vertical orbit? This feels like it was vibecoded using a macbook touchpad

I built it for my trackpad. What mouse settings would you prefer? Or configurable?

Re: Vcad: Free BRep CAD in the Browser

#26

Post by ecto » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 11:23 PM UTC

jevndev wrote: post #11

Neat example of the strengths and weaknesses of vibe coding… But if anyone here is looking for a solid browser-based parametric CAD solution, [onshape]( https://www.onshape.com ) is the best there is. It’s missing a few tools that more complex alternatives have but if all you need is something easy to learn so you can make things to 3d print it’s a good choice

this is free and open source :) also runs directly in your browser / offline. onshore requires an account and internet connection because it streams to your browser

Re: Vcad: Free BRep CAD in the Browser

#27

Post by ecto » Sat, Jan 31, 2026, 12:21 AM UTC

fainpul wrote: post #16

lambda wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, vibe coded. The author has posted several other articles about this whole vibe coding project, like this one: https://campedersen.com/brep-kernel

This guy is a machine! Like Terminator vs. HN and Autodesk :)

<3

Re: Vcad: Free BRep CAD in the Browser

#28

Post by ecto » Sat, Jan 31, 2026, 12:22 AM UTC

delusional wrote: post #18

lambda wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, vibe coded. The author has posted several other articles about this whole vibe coding project, like this one: https://campedersen.com/brep-kernel

That website has literally caused my window manager (sway/wlroots/wayland) to bug out and consume 90% of a core.

thanks for the heads up! I'll work on perf this weekend

Re: Vcad: Free BRep CAD in the Browser

#29

Post by ecto » Sat, Jan 31, 2026, 12:22 AM UTC

fsloth wrote: post #10

ikeough1 wrote: post #5

And now you know why CAD is hard.

That it is. I’ve been doing one for a sideproject for years. And I worked in CAD professionally for over a decade. Vibecoding expedites the easy parts fantastically. But the hard parts are hard. Really, damn hard.

What are the hard parts?

Re: Vcad: Free BRep CAD in the Browser

#30

Post by RobotToaster » Sat, Jan 31, 2026, 1:15 AM UTC

ecto wrote: post #23

RobotToaster wrote: post #3

This seems to have the same weakness as OpenSCAD, no relative positioning.

I added this to the kernel but it isn't exposed to the UI yet. What is your use case? id love to support it

Interesting, that would be a big plus once it works.

I don't have a concrete use case, I just know that it's generally easier to "attach this cube to this face", than having to work out the formula to position it correctly, especially once you start working with weird angles, or wanting something to be tangent to a circle. That is how every professional CAD package I've ever used works.