Claude 驱动的 SOLIDWORKS 图纸一键审查工具

A one-click drafting review for SOLIDWORKS drawings, done by Claude.

Run the macro on an open drawing. A few minutes later a review opens in your browser: findings ranked Critical / Major / Minor, each one with a numbered balloon on the drawing where the problem is.

Built for SOLIDWORKS 2025 on Windows. Uses Claude Code (the default mode) or Claude Desktop.

What it checks

The checklist lives in review-instructions.md, and you can edit it freely. Out of the box it covers:

• Title block: part number, description, material, finish, revision, drawn by and date; scale and sheet count; the tolerance block.
• Dimensions: missing, duplicate or over-dimensioned features; sensible and consistent tolerances; complete hole callouts; overridden or dangling dimensions.
• Views: coverage, scales, section and detail labels, crowding, center marks.
• Notes, GD&T and manufacturability: general notes, datums that are referenced but never defined, valid feature control frames, inside corner radii, thread depths.
• Assemblies: BOM against balloons.

Claude doesn't have to read small print off a picture. The macro pulls the exact values out of SOLIDWORKS and gives Claude those alongside the PDF. A value that prints differently from what's stored (someone typed over a dimension) is flagged as Critical.

How it works

SOLIDWORKS drawing
   │  macro (VBA)
   ├─► <drawing>.pdf          every sheet
   └─► drawing-data.md        the checklist, then every dimension, tolerance, note, GD&T frame,
                              datum, table, property and view, with sheet positions, plus
                              "pre-flags" (overridden/dangling dims, undefined datums, blank
                              title-block fields)
   │  run-review.ps1 → Claude Code, read-only, confined to the run folder
   └─► review.md  →  review.html   findings beside the drawing, one balloon per finding

Each run gets its own folder under %TEMP%\ClaudeDrawingReview\. Nothing is written next to your drawing, and run folders older than 14 days are deleted automatically.

Setup

Requirements

• Windows with SOLIDWORKS 2025 or newer.
• The Claude Code CLI for the default background mode. The installer below can install it and open a sign-in window for you. Claude Code needs a Claude Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise or Console account; the free plan doesn't include it. Reviews count toward that plan's usage.
• Claude Desktop only if you use one of the Desktop modes (see LAUNCH_MODE below).

Install (recommended)

1. Download ClaudeSolidWorksReview-<version>.zip from the latest release.
2. Extract it (right-click → Extract All).
3. Double-click Install.cmd. The installer:
   • checks for SOLIDWORKS, Claude Code (offering to install it with Anthropic's official installer and to sign in), and Claude Desktop;
   • checks whether Group Policy blocks scripts;
   • unblocks the downloaded files;
   • copies the prebuilt macros to a folder you choose (default: Documents\SOLIDWORKS Macros\Claude Review). If you've customised review-instructions.md, it's kept on upgrade.

The installer is a plain PowerShell script (installer/Install.ps1), so you can read it before running it. Windows may warn that the files came from the internet; that's expected for an unsigned script.

Or build from source

The repo holds readable source. SOLIDWORKS runs a binary .swp, which you build once:

1. Clone or download this repo.
2. In SOLIDWORKS: Tools → Macro → New… and save it as ClaudeReviewDrawing.swp in the repo folder, next to review-instructions.md and run-review.ps1.
3. In the VBA editor, remove the empty default module.
4. Go to File → Import File… and choose src\ClaudeReviewDrawing.bas.
5. Under Tools → References, make sure SOLIDWORKS 2025 Type Library and SOLIDWORKS 2025 Constant type library are checked. New macros normally have both.
6. Run Debug → Compile VBAProject, then save and close.

Tip: add a toolbar button. Go to Tools → Customize → Commands → Macro → New Macro Button, pick the .swp, and set the method to Main.

Run it

1. Open a drawing. It doesn't need to be saved; the review covers what's on screen.
2. Run the macro.
3. Keep working. review.html opens in your browser when Claude is done, usually within a few minutes.

Try it on a demo drawing

demo/BuildDemoDrawing.bas is a macro that builds DEMO-100, a small mounting plate, and its drawing, with mistakes planted for the review to find:

• an overridden dimension (4.00 shows as 4.10);
• holes without locations;
• a hole callout with no 4X or THRU;
• blank title-block fields;
• a misspelled note.

The installer puts it in demo\BuildDemoDrawing.swp in the install folder. If you build from source, build it into a .swp in the demo folder the same way as above. Run it, then run the review macro on the drawing it leaves open. The screenshot above is that review.

It uses the AutoDrawing macro for the drawing layout when it's installed next to this repo (..\automate-drawing\AutoDrawing.swp). Otherwise it uses a simpler built-in layout.

The report

• Findings list (left): sorted by severity, with tabs to filter it. Each finding has its location, the issue and a suggested fix, plus a Fixed checkbox that's remembered when you reopen the page.
• Drawing (right): every sheet, with a numbered balloon for each finding. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan, and double-click to fit. The Markup switch hides the balloons.
  • Click a finding and the drawing zooms to its balloon. Click a balloon and the list jumps to that finding.
  • Findings that aren't about one spot (e.g. missing general notes) get a dashed balloon in the list and none on the sheet.
• Looks good and Questions follow the findings. The page prints cleanly.
• Link to a finding: clicking one puts #finding-N in the address. Copy it, and the page opens with that finding selected and zoomed, also when you paste it into a page that's already open.
• Light or dark: the page follows your Windows setting. The Dark / Light button in the header switches it, and the choice is remembered. Adding ?theme=light or ?theme=dark to the page's address forces one, e.g. for screenshots.

Claude places each balloon from a Pin column in its findings (x,y as percent of the sheet). Where it can, it uses the sheet positions the macro records for every view, dimension and note.

To ask follow-up questions, open a terminal in the run folder and run claude --continue.

Settings

Settings are constants at the top of src/ClaudeReviewDrawing.bas. Edit the file, re-import it, and recompile.

Launch modes

Modes 0, 1 and 3 use Claude Desktop's claude:// links. Desktop asks you to approve folders and files that arrive through a link; that's a security check, so it can't be skipped.

Changing what Claude checks

Edit review-instructions.md. You don't need to rebuild anything: it's read on every run and placed at the top of drawing-data.md. Add your shop's rules (standard notes, preferred tolerances, title-block conventions) under the checklist headings. Keep the How to answer section, because the report page reads that format.

The installer keeps an edited checklist when you upgrade, and replaces one you never changed. The current default is always beside it as review-instructions.default.md.

Privacy and security

What leaves your machine. The drawing PDF and drawing-data.md go to Anthropic, for Claude to read. That covers:

• every dimension, note, table and custom property;
• file names (not full paths).

Don't run it on drawings you're not allowed to share with a third-party service, e.g. under an NDA or export controls (ITAR/EAR). See Anthropic's privacy policy for how data is handled.

What Claude can do in the background mode. run-review.ps1 starts Claude Code with:

claude -p --restricted --strict-mcp-config --tools Read --allowedTools Read

• --tools Read: Read is the only tool. Claude can't run commands, edit files or browse the web.
• --restricted: confines that tool to the run folder and ignores your user and project Claude Code settings.
• --strict-mcp-config: no MCP servers.

Claude's answer is written to review.md by the script, not by Claude.

Text inside the drawing. Notes, properties and table cells are drawing content. The checklist tells Claude to treat them as data and to report anything that reads like an instruction as a finding. Even so, check reviews of drawings from outside sources with care.

-ExecutionPolicy Bypass. The macro starts run-review.ps1 with this so it runs on PCs where scripts are disabled by default. It applies to that one PowerShell process only. Group Policy and AppLocker still take precedence: on a locked-down PC the script may be blocked, and no review appears.

Troubleshooting

Limits

• Claude reviews; it doesn't change the drawing. Fixes are yours to make.
• It's an assistant, not a checker sign-off. Expect the occasional false alarm or miss, and have a person approve releases.
• Text typed over a dimension value isn't visible through the API. Claude catches it by comparing the PDF with the stored values.
• GD&T created in SOLIDWORKS 2022 or later is passed to Claude as the frame's XML. The "datum used but never tagged" pre-flag only checks older frames; Claude checks the newer ones itself.
• Geometry isn't measured. Claude sees the views, not the 3D model.

Development

• src/ClaudeReviewDrawing.bas is the source of truth. If you edit inside the VBA editor, right-click the module, choose Export File…, and overwrite the .bas before committing.

• Releases: rebuild both .swp files from their .bas (import, compile, save), add a CHANGELOG section, then run powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tools\make-release.ps1 -Version <x.y.z> -Upload. The script refuses a .swp older than its source.

• run-review.ps1 must stay ASCII-only: Windows PowerShell 5.1 reads scripts without a BOM in the ANSI code page.

• Rebuild a report page from an existing run without asking Claude again:

  powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File run-review.ps1 -Folder "<run folder>" -RenderOnly
  

├── README.md
├── CHANGELOG.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, SECURITY.md, LICENSE
├── review-instructions.md     ← what Claude checks (edit freely, no rebuild)
├── run-review.ps1             ← background review and report page
├── installer/                 ← Install.cmd + Install.ps1 (shipped in the release zip)
├── tools/make-release.ps1     ← builds the release zip and publishes it
├── src/
│   └── ClaudeReviewDrawing.bas  ← the macro (import into a .swp)
├── demo/
│   └── BuildDemoDrawing.bas     ← builds a demo part and drawing to try it on
└── docs/
    └── review-light.png, review-dark.png

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome: see CONTRIBUTING.md. Report security or privacy problems privately, as described in SECURITY.md.

License

MIT. Not affiliated with Dassault Systèmes or Anthropic. SOLIDWORKS is a trademark of Dassault Systèmes; Claude is a trademark of Anthropic.