add_mate
adds a mate (coincident, concentric, parallel, perpendicular, tangent, distance, angle, lock) using robust index-based entity selection.
How to use it
add_mate is exposed by the MCP Server Solidworks MCP server. Add the server to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf and others), and the add_mate tool becomes available to the model automatically. See the full listing for setup details and every tool this server provides.
Install MCP Server Solidworks
pip install -r requirements.txtOther tools in MCP Server Solidworks (39)
switches between open documents.
adds a dimension to the sketch.
adds a single dimension by sheet coordinate.
adds a model view: front, top, right, isometric, back, bottom, left; orthographic views default to Hidden-Lines-Visible per drafting convention (displaymode overridable).
fillet or chamfer on a solid edge (chamfer: distance-angle at any angle, or distance-distance).
adds a sheet-metal flat-pattern view (the unfolded blank with bend lines and bend notes); the correct, standard way to detail sheet-metal parts.
adds a hole callout on a hole edge.
reference plane, axis, or point.
adds a sketch relation (horizontal, coincident, etc.).
adds a sketch entity: line, circle, arc, center arc, ellipse, spline, rectangle, fillet, chamfer.
reads components (tree order with full transforms, incl. a flattened leaf view across nesting levels), mates (creation order, locale-proof enum types, entity anchors), or one component's face/edge lists.
geometry, massproperties, bodies (per-body fingerprints for multibody parts), features (a compact feature-level recipe), edges, faces, sketch (one sketch's exact segments on demand), and featuremap (per-feature consumed/created topology — the source of the reference-resolver anchors) modes.
automatically inserts center marks and centerlines on every hole/slot.
transfers the model's driving dimensions into the views (the "Insert Model Items" automation) — the robust alternative to placing dimensions by coordinate.
closes the document.
objective assembly diff (component set, per-component transforms to ≤1 µm, mate count + types, mass properties) with the verified verdict.
objective two-part diff (topology, volume, area, center of mass) with the project's verified verdict (topology-exact and ΔV ≤ 1% and ΔA ≤ 1%).
creates a drawing document (A3 sheet).
linear or circular pattern.
rib feature from an open sketch profile.
starts a sketch on a plane or a selected face.
suppresses, unsuppresses, deletes, or renames a feature.
reopens an existing sketch for editing.
launches SolidWorks via COM and attaches if it is closed (does not open a document).
boss, cut, revolve, sweep, loft.
reads the geometry the user selected in the SolidWorks GUI and maps it to the analyze index.
inserts a part file as a component: insertion point or a full 13-number transform, fixed or floating.
changes the value of a named dimension (the basis for variants).
opens an existing file from disk (native .sldprt/.sldasm/.slddrw; imports .ipt/.CATPart/STEP/IGES via 3D Interconnect when the translator is available, otherwise returns a clear OPENFAILED).
opens a new blank assembly document.
opens a new part document.
the reverse IR door: runs an artifact's IR block through the deterministic compiler to rebuild the part — or assembly — in a fresh document, and warns when the source file has changed under the artifact (sourcestale).
writes an analysis artifact for a part or assembly file (feature recipe / component + mate tree, driving parameters, and an optional Feature Graph IR block) to <folder>/.solidpilot/.
extracts one body of a multibody part into its own part file (for flattened assembly STEP imports).
saves the part or drawing to disk.
assigns a material to the part.
sheet metal: baseflange, edgeflange (incl. custom-profile flanges), sketchedbend, flatpattern.
the forward IR door: builds a part or assembly from a Feature Graph supplied directly by the model (design intent, no original to copy), through the same compiler — two doors, one compiler.
returns the current state and feature tree.