Interoperable parts
Every part in a System is defined to work with every other part. Dimensions, connection points, tolerances, and constraints are encoded — not guessed.
About Axle KeysGive building
Give building
knowledge a
structure.
Axle Keys is a platform for creating configurable CAD models of physical objects. Built for people who make things: designers, builders, fabricators, shops, and product developers turning practical knowledge into repeatable, buildable structures.
What
Axle Keys
is.
Axle Keys is not an AI CAD generator. That category is too small, too crowded, and too easy to commoditize. Every major CAD company is adding AI chat. Competing on AI generation alone is a losing position.
The larger category Axle Keys is defining is Programmable Physical Ecosystems: platforms where craft knowledge becomes configurable, reusable infrastructure. Where the knowledge of how things are made becomes as callable and shareable as software.
Most people who build physical things carry a large amount of knowledge in their head. They know how panels go together. They know which dimensions matter. They know what can be adjusted and what should stay fixed. They know where the mistakes usually happen. But that knowledge is difficult to reuse — buried in drawings, old files, estimates, screenshots, and one-off models.
Axle Keys exists to make that knowledge more reusable. Not by replacing the builder, designer, or fabricator — but by giving their knowledge a digital structure.
Design inside
a System.
A System is a structured way to create a family of physical objects — with parts, parameters, connection rules, materials, constraints, and fabrication logic. Instead of generating anything from nothing, a System gives the model context. That context is the product.
Fabrication-aware output
Every model can produce the output a shop builds from — dimensioned drawings, cut lists nested on real stock, STEP, STL and DXF. What a System adds is better decisions: the thicknesses, clearances and conventions of how that thing is really made.
The boundary is the product
Infinite freedom sounds powerful, but physical objects need rules. The constraint of a System is what makes models reusable, fabricatable, and safe to configure with agents.
View Systems →The
platform.
One workspace that ships today, two public spaces still being built, and the structure underneath them all — connected by a common model format and permission layer.
Studio
The main workspace. Create projects, choose Systems, generate models, edit parameters, inspect parts, prepare outputs, and publish. Not just a chat box — a CAD workspace, project manager, file manager, and agent-assisted environment.
LAYER/studio · The workspace
Exhibition ⏳
On the roadmap, not live. The planned public browsing space — where configurable models will be shown, studied, shared, and eventually remixed. Simple by design — focused on making public models useful, understandable, and discoverable.
LAYER/exhibition · Public gallery · Coming soon
Showroom ⏳
On the roadmap, not live. The planned branded product-line space for shops and businesses. The engine already ships — a model can be published as a live configurator and embedded on your own site today. A Showroom would become the commercial face of a maker, shop, or brand.
LAYER/showroom · Commercial layer · Coming soon
Systems
The structure underneath everything. A System captures how a family of objects is actually made. One is live today — Open Design, the base knowledge every model builds on. Named Systems for specific trades are in development and added as building methods are proven.
LAYER/docs/systems · Core infrastructure
Who Axle Keys
is for.
Different people come to Axle Keys for different reasons. All of them are working with physical objects.
Make repeated knowledge reusable
For people who turn materials into real objects and want a better way to encode, share, and reuse how they build.
Configurable models, structured output
For people who need variations, visual studies, parameter controls, and a clear path from concept to structured fabrication output.
Product lines and configurators
For teams that want product configurators on their own site, or repeatable workflows for quoting and presentation instead of redrawing the same thing at new dimensions.
Connect AI and automation workflows
For people who want to connect AI assistants, local tools, coding environments, or custom automation to structured CAD projects through MCP and API.
Read MCP docs →Explore and learn
For people who want to explore configurable objects and understand how physical things are made — no prior CAD experience required. A public space to browse models is on the roadmap.
See the roadmap →What Axle Keys is notThree things
Three things
we are not.
Not just an AI CAD generator
AI can help, but the deeper product is the System. Prompt-to-CAD without structure produces geometry that looks plausible but has no real connection to parts, materials, rules, or fabrication. Axle Keys uses AI where it's useful — the constraint is what makes the output trustworthy.
Not a generic CAD replacement
Axle Keys is not trying to replace every professional CAD tool. It is focused on configurable, repeatable, buildable object families — especially where parts, dimensions, rules, and outputs matter. Professional tools, fabrication expertise, and human review still matter.
Not fabrication without responsibility
Axle Keys can help create models and prepare outputs. Physical objects require review. Materials, hardware, tolerances, loads, safety requirements, and site conditions can all affect whether something should be built. Axle Keys does not remove responsibility from the person choosing to fabricate, install, or sell the result.
Start building
with Systems.
Open Studio, choose a System, and create a configurable model. Or explore the public surfaces to see how models become public objects and product configurators.